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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Mark 4:10
Comments
‘When he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve’ – the twelve disciples he had called, and an unknown number of others who followed him most closely – asked the meaning of the parable. Matthew tells us that they also asked about his use of parables in general. The answer that he gives teaches them not just about this one parable, but about all parables. He explains his method of teaching and why he chooses to speak using parables which do not directly explain things in plain terms, but must be ‘translated’ from the language of the parable to the reality of the kingdom of heaven. They add a certain level of obscurity. At times Christ did choose to speak to the disciples in plainer language, as the disciples noted (John 11:14; 16:25-29), but parables and proverbs were reserved for those that were without the kingdom.Why did he teach in this way? Was the Lord adopting parables to obscure the message from the unconverted, the message of salvation, lest they should believe it and be saved? That would be to misunderstand the passage, his explanation. No, the problem is on the hearers’ side. Parables are employed, yes, to obscure, to some extent, because these people, these unbelievers – and this is really all of us as we are by nature, before God shakes us and works in our hearts – fear the possibility of believing and being converted. All of us are afraid of this life transforming experience called conversion. We fear the forgiveness of sin. So, instead of the way of salvation being declared plainly and clearly in a didactic manner, there is a degree of obscurity. The people who do not want to hear, and won't hear; they will not press on through that degree of obscurity. They are impatient; they are resistant; they will not listen. Christ used parables for a number of reasons, but one reason was that they illustrate the obscurity that the gospel has for the unbelieving mind. In the darkness of his understanding the gospel has no attraction to the unconverted.But the disciples had also started life as unconverted people. How was it that they had come to understand Christ’s message? Christ gives the answer: ‘He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.’ Understanding of the gospel is a gift from heaven. Let those who love God’s word acknowledge this. They have been given something which they could never have obtained for themselves. That should humble us greatly, and not allow our knowledge to puff us up. Christ’s explanation of the parable that follows will illustrate the understanding which the Spirit of God gives to all who are born again. There are others however who are without, without the kingdom of heaven, and therefore shut out of its gift of understanding. They will not receive this private explanation.
Application
Salvation, turning to God and finding him, is something that has to be done with great sincerity. There has to be genuine repentance; there has to be a longing and a desire for salvation. But by nature, as we are, we don't have that desire; we don't want that. We are committed to our own lives and our own way. We think this world is, on the whole, wonderful. We are going to make our way in it. We are going to make it work for us. We are going to be happy in it. We are going to be free to do what we like, to sin as we like. We don't want to be tied to the standards of God; we recoil from that. And so we will not hear and grasp this message. The degree of difficulty presented by a parable will completely put us off.
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