BIBLE QUESTION
Why Did Jesus Teach the Kingdom Using Parables?
Jesus taught in parables to fulfill prophetic Scripture and to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to humble seekers while concealing them from those whose hardened hearts refused to truly hear and see.
Answer
When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the crowds in parables, He answered that knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven had been granted to them but not to the crowds. As He explained, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given" (v. 11). This shows that parables are not merely illustrations but a divinely selective teaching mode tied to the spiritual condition of the hearer.
Jesus then quoted Isaiah's prophecy to explain the concealing side of parables: the crowd's heart had grown dull, their ears heavy, and their eyes closed, so that even seeing they would not perceive, and hearing they would not understand, lest they turn and be healed (vv. 14-15). The parable form deliberately engages attentive listeners while leaving the half-hearted hearer on the surface. As verse 12 puts it, "whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath," meaning spiritual responsiveness determines whether a person gains or loses insight.
At the same time, parables are revelatory. Jesus pronounced the disciples blessed because their eyes see and ears hear what prophets and righteous people of old longed to see and hear but did not (vv. 16-17). Verse 35 confirms that this was a fulfillment of prophecy: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." So the parable is a hidden revealer, veiled to the careless but unveiled to those who come to Jesus privately and ask, as the disciples did in verse 10.
Context
The passage does not say parables are puzzles designed to be unsolvable. Jesus' own explanation of the Sower, the Tares, and the other kingdom parables (vv. 18-23, 37-43) shows that parables have real, given meanings to those granted to understand. The disciples' question in verse 10 is answered by Jesus' contrast between the crowds who see but do not perceive, and the disciples who are given to know.
Two things are joined in Jesus' answer: divine sovereignty ("to you it is given") and human responsibility ("He that hath ears, let him hear," v. 9, v. 43). The hardness of the crowd is described in Isaiah's terms, yet the disciples are told they are blessed precisely because their eyes and ears respond. The parable form, then, is neither opaque cruelty nor plain open lecture; it is a sifting medium.
Related scriptures
- Matthew 13:10 The disciples' question, 'Why speakest thou unto them in parables?', is the very verse that triggers Jesus' explanation of the dual purpose of parables in this passage.
Common questions
Are parables meant to hide truth or reveal it?
Both. Jesus teaches that parables reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to those given to understand, while concealing them from hearts that have grown dull, as Isaiah's prophecy cited here shows (vv. 11-15).
What does it mean that 'it is given' to know the mysteries?
It indicates divine grant: understanding the kingdom's mysteries is not earned by effort but granted by God to those who respond to Him, even as the disciples did by coming privately to ask Jesus (v. 10-11).
Why are the disciples called blessed in verse 16?
Because their eyes and ears were spiritually responsive, they saw and heard what Old Testament prophets and righteous people longed for but did not attain (v. 17).