Jimmy Akin explains some of the meaning behind Mark 4:11-12 and why Jesus would have wanted to conceal the truths of parables to some people, and further explains how this relates to predestination.
Transcript:
Host: Go to Justin in Hamilton, Ohio listening on the Catholic Answers app. Justin, you are on with Jimmy Akin, what’s your question?
Caller: Hi Jimmy, my question is, well I was reading reading my Bible and I was coming across a verse in the Gospel of Mark chapter 4 where he says, “He answered them, ‘The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables so that, “they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand; in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”‘” What exactly is he trying to say? Like when I’m reading and I have a hard time understanding, is he saying that he’s saying these things in parables so people don’t understand?
Jimmy: This is one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament and I won’t really be able to do it full justice here. You might want to check out my commentary on Mark which is just called “Mark: A Commentary,” it’s by Jimmy Akin, it’s available on Verbum Bible Software. But I can give you a brief explanation here.
Now one of the things that God often does in Scripture is he often uses things like parables. Prophecy is also frequently given in a kind of symbolic, almost parable-like way rather than just an explicit straightforward statement, and there seem to be a couple of reasons for that, at least a couple. One of them is that sometimes truths are complex, and they’re rich, and in order to fully mine them it’s helpful to use an analogy rather than simply having a short statement. If you made a short statement, it would tend to flatten them out, whereas if you give them in a symbolic form, and you’re forced to think about it and wrestle with it, you may notice additional dimensions that you wouldn’t if just a short statement were given. And so the richness of these things is part of why God gives us parables and prophecies.
Also there’s a certain intrigue factor to them. We’re more likely to wrestle with them and absorb their message if they’re given to us in this somewhat enigmatic way, because our minds are attracted to mysteries and enigmas, and so if God gives us a mysterious, enigmatic statement we’re gonna be inclined to think about that more deeply than if he just told us something flat-out. We’re likely to learn our lesson better.