When the disciples of Jesus came to Him, to ask Him about a parable that He had spoken, He said to them: "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables; That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." (Mark 4:11-12)
To the casual reader, and especially to the one who reads with prejudice against the Lord and His Word, these words seem to indicate unfairness on the part of God; let us therefore give them a little further examination.
In the first place we notice that it is the people themselves who have closed their eyes against seeing, and have dulled their ears and harden their hearts: "Therefore I speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." (Matthew 13:13-15)
Then reading further in the 4th of Mark we find these words: "And He said unto them: Is a lamp brought to be put under the bushel, or under the bed, and not to be put on the stand? For there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light." (Mark 4:21-22,RV)
So we find that things are hidden only in order that they may be revealed. Just as when Jesus thanked the Father that these things were hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes. "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes." (Matthew 11:25)
No one can complain of such a "hiding" of things as consist in revealing them to babes. But where are these things hidden? In Christ, we are told, "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3)
But He is "the Light of the world," (John 8:12) and whosoever follows Him shall not walk in darkness: "Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Now a light is not brought in to be put under a measure, or under a bed, but in order to be put on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house. "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house." (Matthew 5:15) "For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad." (Mark 4:22)
Thus in the same connection in which Christ says that to the disciples it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom, while to the others all things are spoken in parables, He plainly shows that all the hiding of the things of God is of such a nature as to make them more apparent.
That this is so, is still further seen by what we learn of the nature of parables. Many people doubtless imagine that parables were used by Jesus to conceal His meaning from the multitude, whereas just the opposite is the case. "All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke He not unto them; That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 13:34-35) "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done." (Psalm 78:1-4)
Why was it, then, that Jesus said that to the disciples it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but that to the others it was not given? "And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables." (Mark 4:11) "He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." (Matthew 13:10)
Why was it given to the one, and not to the other? The answer is obvious,--it was because the disciples asked Jesus the meaning of what He said, while the others did not care enough about what He said, to take that trouble.
No person, young or old, can ever expect to learn much if he never asks any questions. If the rest of the people had the same interest to know the truth that the disciples had, they could have learned it in the same way that they did, namely, by asking. For Jesus himself, in encouraging men to ask, said, "Everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened." (Matthew 7:8) "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5) "For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:6)
God is a God that hides himself, yet only in order that He may be found; for He says, "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 45:22) "That which may be known of God is manifest [not only to the heathen, but] in them; For ever since the creation of the world the invisible things of Him, even His everlasting power and Divinity, are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made; so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:19-20) "Verily You are a God that hides yourself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." (Isaiah 45:15)
No man on earth has any excuse for not knowing the Lord. Let us use our eyes, or, if they are closed, ask the Lord for the anointing which He so freely gives, in order that we may know all the things that are so freely given to us by Him.--Present Truth, March 10, 1898--Timeline: IV-24 (Sermon by the Sea)--Mark 4:11-22.