Rev. Rob Jones
July 18, 2026

Matthew 13:10–17
Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen but never understand, and you will indeed look but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they might not look with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn— and I would heal them.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you; many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

There is an old story told about a master novelist who took an apprentice into his study. On the desk lay scattered pages, crossed-out lines, fragments of dialogue, vivid descriptions, and half-formed images waiting to find their place. To the apprentice, it all looked like clutter. He could read the words, but he could not yet see the world they were building. He could admire a phrase, but he did not understand why one image belonged and another had to be cut. Then the master began to explain. He showed how a single word could open a scene, how an image could carry meaning beneath the surface, and how what looked like ordinary language was slowly becoming a living story. The difference was not that the words changed. The difference was that the apprentice was brought near enough to hear the master’s voice and learn the master’s intention.

That is close to what is happening in Matthew 13. Jesus has just told the parable of the Sower. You know the parable? A farmer went out to sow seed. Some seed fell on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good soil. Both the crowd and the disciples heard the story. Both could hear the words and picture the field. But the disciples came closer and asked, “Why do you speak in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom, but to them it has not been given.” Like apprentices drawn into the workshop, they were being brought near to the Master so he could unfold the purpose of what they had heard.

That answer may unsettle us. Many of us grew up thinking parables were simply illustrations—earthly stories with heavenly meanings. I remember learning the parables in Sunday school as a kid. I’m sure my Sunday school teacher thought they were good moral lessons to help shape young minds. But Jesus tells us that it is something deeper. Parables do not merely make simple moral truths. They both reveal and conceal. They open the kingdom to those given ears to hear, and they expose the blindness of those who refuse the Master’s instruction.

Parables Reveal the Kingdom to Those Given Grace to Hear

But do not be disillusioned, because Jesus says, “To you it has been given.” Notice that the first note of his explanation is grace. The disciples do not understand because they are naturally sharper than the crowd, nor do they grasp the parable because they possess some spiritual superiority. At this stage in Matthew’s gospel, the Disciples are still very immature spiritually. They know enough to ask questions, but they do not yet fully comprehend the magnitude of what Jesus is teaching. They see because sight has been given through Jesus. They hear because hearing has been granted through Jesus.

The “secrets” or “mysteries” of the kingdom are not riddles for clever people to solve. No matter what late-night cable TV or Netflix documentaries tell us. What some see as a mystery, Jesus tells us is a truth God must reveal. And this is the truth Jesus reveals: the kingdom has arrived in him. Not in the way people expected. Not with armies, banners, and political triumph. The kingdom comes through a Sower scattering seed, a mustard seed growing quietly, leaven hidden in dough, and treasure buried in a field. Through the parables, we learn that the King is here, but his glory is covered in humility. His reign advances slowly while His people are gathered by grace. And we know the story… His victory will come through the cross before it comes in visible glory.

So, we, like the disciples, come to learn that Jesus’ parables are not just religious entertainment with a moral; they are a revelation. Parables show us what God is doing in Christ. But they also show us that only God can make the heart receive what the ear hears.

Imagine two people hearing the same parable from Jesus. One hears only a story about seed, soil, birds, thorns, and harvest. The other begins to see the kingdom: the Word going forth, hearts being exposed, grace bearing fruit where God gives life. Same story. Same preacher. Same words. But one remains outside the workshop, seeing only scattered pieces, while the other is drawn near to the Master and taught what could never be discovered by human cleverness. The difference is not spiritual intelligence, religious background, or natural sensitivity. It is the mercy of God, who opens blind eyes, unstops deaf ears, and gives the heart grace to receive what Christ reveals.

Parables Conceal the Kingdom from Hardened Hearts

The disciples have the ultimate advantage because they have the Master Wordsmith, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Jesus tells them, then referring to the crowd, he quotes Isaiah 6: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

In Isaiah’s day, the prophet was sent to a people who had heard the Word of God repeatedly yet refused to bow before it. Their dullness, as Scripture calls it, was not innocent ignorance. It was covenant rebellion. They had eyes and ears, but they closed them. They had hearts, but their hearts were lazy and unresponsive. 

Jesus says that the same pattern is being fulfilled in his ministry. The crowds have seen miracles. They have heard the Sermon on the Mount. They have watched demons flee, lepers cleansed, paralytics rise, and sins forgiven. Yet they want a kingdom without repentance, a Messiah without a cross, a miracle-worker without lordship. Their problem is not a lack of evidence. Their problem is a love of comfort.

Jesus Explained His Parables to His Disciples Because He Was Forming Witnesses

I read somewhere that the disciples were often portrayed as dumb, as if they were always missing the obvious. But that is not quite fair. They may have been slow to understand, but they were wise enough to ask the question. They came to Jesus and asked, “Why?” They asked the question we sometimes forget to ask when reading Scripture: “Why?” “What does that mean?” In the Gospels, this is not an isolated moment. Again and again, Jesus teaches publicly and then draws his disciples near and explains the lesson. In the parable of the Sower, he explains the weeds, rocks, and good soil. He unfolds what they could not yet decipher. He corrects their misunderstandings. He tells them plainly that the Son of Man must suffer, die, and rise.

But asking the question is not the same as demanding an answer on our own terms. Today we do not have the luxury the disciples had. At least not in the same way. We seek understanding in the places where Christ has promised to meet and teach us: in prayerful dependence upon the Spirit, in careful study of the Word, in the fellowship of the saints, and in the worship of His church. We should never come to Scripture as masters over the text, but as servants under the Word, trusting that the same Lord who speaks is also the Lord who gives ears to hear.

This is how disciples are formed. We pray, “Lord, open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” We study, not to collect religious information, but to be corrected, humbled, and conformed to Christ. We come into fellowship because private interpretation is not the whole life of faith; Christ places us in a body where brothers and sisters sharpen, encourage, and admonish one another. We gather for worship because God has appointed the preaching of the Word, the prayers of the church, the sacraments, and the communion of the saints as ordinary means by which he strengthens faith and grants understanding. The question “Why?” becomes faithful when it drives us nearer to Christ through the means of grace he has given.

The Parables Ask What Kind of Hearer We Are

Matthew 13 is not merely about “them” back then. It presses upon us now. We can sit under the Word and become harder. We can know religious language and remain strangers to grace. We can admire Jesus as a teacher and still refuse him as Lord. We can hear parables and never hear the kingdom.

But someone will hear His voice today; do not harden your heart. If you see even a glimpse of Christ’s beauty, give thanks. If the Word wounds you, do not run from the wound. The same Lord who exposes blindness gives sight. The same King who speaks judgment also says, “Turn, and I will heal you.” The aim of the Word is not merely information; it is conversion, healing, and communion with God through Christ.

And here is the comfort for every believer who feels weak in understanding. The disciples did not always understand immediately. They had to ask. They had to be taught. They had to come near. That should encourage us all. It certainly encourages me. The mark of a true disciple is not instant mastery but humble dependence. Just as disciples come to Jesus with their questions, we too must come. Do not stand over his Word as judges; come sit beneath it as learners.

Ask the Spirit to teach you. Pray before the open Bible, “Lord, give me ears to hear.” Bring your children and grandchildren near to the Word. Bring your doubts. Bring your dullness. The kingdom is not seized by the proud; it is received by those who ask for clarity of spirit. I will leave you to ponder this in your hearts in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Selected Scholarly Notes and Citations

• The Greek term, often translated “parable,” conveys the idea of placing one thing alongside another for comparison; see the discussion of parabolē in standard lexical and exegetical treatments, reflected in comments on Matthew 13 and the Septuagintal background of māšāl.
• On Matthew 13 as a turning point in Jesus’ ministry amid increasing opposition, see D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984) comments on Matthew 13, and Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13, Word Biblical Commentary 33A (Dallas: Word, 1993), comments on Matthew 13:1–23.
• On the “mysteries/secrets of the kingdom” as revealed divine truth concerning the kingdom’s present manifestation in Jesus’ ministry, see W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991), comments on Matthew 13:10–17.
• On parables as both revealing and concealing in relation to the hearer’s response, see Mark L. Bailey, “Guidelines for Interpreting Jesus’ Parables,” Bibliotheca Sacra 155, no. 617 (1998): 29–38.
• On Isaiah 6:9–10 as the Old Testament background for judicial hardening in Matthew 13:14–15, see R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 271–272.
• On Jesus’ private instruction of the disciples and their privileged role as recipients of kingdom revelation, compare Matthew 13:16–17, 13:36–43, Mark 4:10–12, and Luke 8:9–10.