Sermon Transcript:

This morning we continue our series, working our way passage by passage through the Gospel of Matthew. Last week Pastor Chris preached through the Parable of the Sower, also called the Parable of the Soils. You may have noticed that he skipped several verses in the middle of the chapter. The reason is that when Jesus told this parable, He did not immediately explain it. Instead, His disciples asked why He was teaching in parables, and only after answering that question did Jesus explain its meaning to them. This morning we will look at that answer.

It is often observed that Jesus is a master at using illustrations to help people comprehend His teaching. Parables are a kind of illustration and so it would be easy to assume that He does this simply as a technique to help people better understand Him. But that explanation doesn’t really work. The answer Jesus gives as to why He is speaking in parables goes far deeper than teaching style. He tells them that the purpose of the parables is both to reveal and to conceal. That is our main point today.

The parables of Jesus both reveal and conceal the Kingdom of God.

Up to this point, Jesus has been teaching and preaching plainly. He has been clear and direct and His message has been confirmed with signs and wonders. Yet, He is increasingly resisted and rejected, especially by the leaders. This escalated in the last chapter where they accused Him of being in league with the devil. It is only at this point in Matthew that Jesus begins speaking in parables when He teaches about the Kingdom of Heaven. 

We pick up in verse 10, just as he finishes the parable of the soils.

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

Parables can be a powerful teaching tool because they explain unfamiliar truths through familiar experiences. Take the parable from last week, for example. We cannot see the condition of a person's heart, so it can be difficult to understand why some hear the gospel and bear fruit while others reject it or quickly fall away. But everyone understands that a seed will only grow in good soil. By placing those two realities side by side, Jesus helps us understand that just as a seed requires good soil to produce a harvest, the word of God bears fruit only under the right conditions.

But parables only clarify if you know what the picture represents. Without that key, the illustration becomes a riddle rather than an explanation. That is exactly what happens here. The disciples hear the parable, but they don’t understand it. So they come to Jesus asking why He is speaking this way.

It is a good question. Jesus has commissioned them to proclaim the Kingdom and He has been announcing it from the beginning, yet He is now speaking in metaphors and figurative language rather than plainly. Why would He do this? His answer is direct and many find it uncomfortable, but it is what Jesus Himself says, so we must accept it. Verse 11,

11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Jesus makes a distinction between His disciples and the crowd and their leaders. This distinction is not based on anything in them, but in what God has done. To you it has been given, but to them it has not been given. The secrets of the Kingdom are a gift. They are not worked out through human wisdom. They are received as gifts of grace by those to whom God gives them.

The disciples do not come to understand the parables because they are more spiritual, wiser, or more naturally perceptive than others, but because it has been given to them. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that the natural man cannot see the kingdom. One must be born again. It is an unseen reality that can only be entered if one is born from above. To see and understand must be granted to us by the Spirit of God.

The disciples were not more worthy than anyone else. Nor are any of us. We have no understanding except that which has been given to us. It is by grace that our eyes have been opened to the truth of the gospel, which Jesus calls “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." 

This is not "earthly" knowledge that can be discovered through observation or reasoning. Not because reason is opposed to them, but because reason alone could never arrive at them. They are truths that God Himself must reveal. Apart from His grace, they remain hidden, appearing as foolishness to the world. That’s why in Colossians 1:26, the apostle Paul refers to the gospel as

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

God promised redemption, but that the Son of God would become man, die for sinners, rise again, fulfill the Scriptures, and secure every promise was a mystery that would have remained hidden had God not revealed it Himself. He must reveal it not only in history, but to every heart.

Two people can hear the same gospel preaching. It can be clear as crystal, but one will respond in deep faith and repentance and another will be unmoved. The understanding Jesus is talking about is not simply knowing the facts, but recognizing their significance. Hearing them as God’s loving message to you, a guilty sinner, as a gift to your soul.

It isn’t simply a matter of hearing or learning in the natural sense. The crowds and religious leaders heard the same messages as the disciples. Judas had the same training as Peter and John. For us to receive the word with gladness, it must be given to us to understand. As Jesus describes it elsewhere, we must be born again. God must remove the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. The word of God must be illuminated by the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 reminds us,

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.       

We cannot create this in ourselves. It is given to us as a gift of grace. It is exactly what God promised He would do in the New Covenant. He would put His Spirit in His people, write His law on their hearts, and cause them to walk in it. That is exactly what happens when God saves us. By grace He gives us a new heart, and we then respond in faith to His word. Listen to how the apostle Paul describes it in Ephesians 2:1–5,

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—    

What is the difference between the one who repents and believes and the one who doesn’t? Grace. That means God has given to us something that we did not deserve. We didn’t earn it, we didn’t produce it. We had no right to expect it. Just to be sure we don’t miss it, in verse 8, Paul says,

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Jesus says “to you”, to the believers, to the ones who repent, believe, and follow Jesus, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Like the woman Lydia in Acts 16, the Lord must open our hearts to pay attention to the things of God. This is both beautiful and mysterious.

That doesn’t mean we will understand everything immediately. Remember, Jesus had to explain this parable to the very men He tells have been given the secrets. But after hearing it, they desire to understand it better. This is what it looks like to have our hearts opened. When we hear the word, we want to understand it better. We ask for wisdom, and He gives it generously.

But Jesus says of those in the crowd who do not repent and believe, “to them it has not been given.” Not everyone receives this enabling grace. God is sovereign over salvation. This is a difficult truth, and it is a stumbling stone to many, but it is an unavoidable truth running throughout the Bible. One of the titles the Bible gives the people of God is the elect or chosen.

The night before Jesus is crucified, as He is praying, He says the following in John 17:6 and 9

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me…

Then in verse 9,

9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

Listen to how Luke describes what happened when Paul preached in Acts 13:48,

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

If simply knowing what Jesus said and did were enough, Judas would have been saved. He heard every sermon, saw every miracle, and walked beside Jesus for three years. But that is not enough. God must open the heart. Jesus tells us in John 6:44,

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…

Some prefer to ignore this truth, others distort it and confuse it, twisting it into fatalism or some kind of random or impersonal determinism. That is never how the Bible presents it. Indeed, if Jesus’ first comment exalts the sovereign grace of God, what He says next affirms the responsibility of mankind.

These two truths are never at odds in the Bible. They are compatible. Human beings are responsible for our sin, not God. If we reject the gospel, it is because of our own sinful hearts, and God is just to punish us for it. But at the same time, we cannot cause ourselves to be born again or make ourselves heirs of the Kingdom and its secrets. Only God can do that. These are complementary, not contradictory truths. Listen to what Jesus says next.

12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 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 isn’t talking about wealth, He is talking about spiritual light. Those who have understanding will receive more, but those who do not respond in faith, even what little understanding they have will be taken from them. Jesus, speaking of the religious leaders and the crowd who have rejected Him, says they see, but they don’t see. They hear, but they don’t hear.

Until now, Jesus has taught plainly and clearly. His signs were done in the open. Crowds and the scribes and Pharisees have been around Him from the beginning. They have seen and they have heard, but they did not respond. Seeing, they didn’t see. Hearing, they didn’t hear. Rather than seek understanding, they rejected the message. They refused to believe and repent, so now Jesus will speak in parables as a judgment upon them. 

We must never presume upon the grace of God. If you hear His voice today, obey today. Do not put it off for tomorrow assuming you will have the same opportunity. The parables are both illustrations and riddles. They help the believer to understand, but to those who have refused to believe, they conceal. Jesus is judging those who have refused the light they have been given. The longer they love darkness, the harder it will be to see the light. God is giving them over to their depraved minds. Their consciences are seared and they have grown insensitive. 

Jesus says, beginning in verse 14, 

14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Jesus says this is a fulfillment of a prophecy. It is not, however, that God has refused to be gracious, it is that they love the darkness. Look at verse 15. They closed their eyes. He doesn’t say God closed them, but that they closed them. This is not simply misunderstanding; it is a refusal to see. Had they turned, which is just another word for repenting, Jesus would have healed them, but they did not want to be healed by Jesus. They hardened their hearts. They closed their eyes to His message. There was no love for the truth in them.

They don’t want to see, they don’t want to hear. They don’t want to turn and be healed. In their hearts, they would rather remain in their sin than be humbled and serve God. If they had turned and followed Jesus, they would have been saved, but they insist on going their own way. So their darkness is increased as they continue down the path to eternal judgment.

No person can blame God for their unbelief. God is willing to forgive and to save. God sent His son into the world, so that “whoever” believes shall have eternal life. There is no sin that can keep you from heaven except being too proud to repent and believe. Jesus says that even these Pharisees, with all their venom and arrogance, would have been saved if they had turned and followed Him.

It is important for us to understand that when the Bible talks about God’s electing grace, it always describes it as a choice to have mercy on guilty sinners. We are all born enslaved to a love for sin. What God is choosing in election, is to form a people for His Kingdom and His glory. To redeem that which was lost and make it beautiful and glorious, restored to bearing His image as intended. He will not allow Satan to have victory, so He creates new life where there was previously only death. If He did not do this, all would be lost, and justly so. Romans 3:10–11 says,

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

As one theologian put it, no person ever receives injustice from God. Some receive grace and some receive justice, but none receive injustice. God is under no obligation to pardon our rebellion against Him. If ten men are guilty of a heinous crime and a judge shows mercy to two while sentencing the other eight according to the law, the eight have not been treated unjustly.

No sinner in Hell can blame their damnation on God. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 that all sinners are without excuse because creation itself reveals that there is a God and yet fallen humanity refuses to honor Him or give thanks. Even more so those who hear the word and reject it.

The people to whom Jesus preached, and those to whom His ministers preach today, cannot blame their rebellion on God. They are not lost because God is unwilling to forgive, only that they are unwilling to repent. In Ezekiel 33:11 God says,

11 … As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

The unrighteous have no excuse for their sin but their own wicked desires. In Isaiah 65:1–2 God says,

1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices  

God is not the author of sin, and His offer of forgiveness is for any who come in faith. But all mankind are born enslaved by our sinful desires and the lies of the devil. When we say that we are saved by grace alone, what we mean is that if God had not acted in mercy every human being would be condemned to eternal punishment. But God, who is rich in grace and mercy, for His own glory, opens blind eyes and deaf ears, so that even the likes of some of us would respond to the praise of the glory of His grace!

This is not a discouraging doctrine, but one that should give us immense joy and peace, because if we believe in Christ as our lord and savior, then we know God is at work in us. This is an enabling doctrine. Some say belief in election undermines evangelism. That isn’t true. 

George Whitfield, William Carey, John Newton, Charles Spurgeon, and countless others have been fueled in their boldness in evangelism because they recognized only God could raise the spiritually dead, and so they relied with faithful anticipation on Him to do it. Knowing that God is sovereign does not cause us to hesitate to share the gospel, it causes us to share it with confidence, knowing He can save anyone He chooses, no matter how sinful they are.

Perhaps you are sitting here this morning listening to all this and thinking about a husband, a wife, a child, a parent, or a dear friend who does not know Christ. If that is where your heart is this morning, I want to encourage you. This very truth we have been discussing should drive us to prayer, to faith, and to greater boldness in sharing the gospel.

Until Christ returns, there is hope for every sinner who still has breath in their lungs. God is still opening blind eyes and deaf ears. He is still giving new life and sharing the secrets of the Kingdom with those who have been purchased by His blood.

Many of us sitting here this morning never imagined we would one day belong to Christ. Some of us resisted Him for years. Yet God, in His mercy, saved us. Think of the apostle Paul. He was just like those hardened Pharisees in our text. He hated Christ. He persecuted the church. Yet on the road to Damascus, the risen Lord called him by name and made him His own. God is often pleased to choose those we least expect. Maybe that is you. Maybe it is the loved one you are praying for.

No believer looks back and says, 'I finally figured it out.' We say, Praise God that He had mercy on me and opened my eyes. The God who opened your eyes and opened Paul’s eyes can open theirs as well. So do not stop praying. Do not stop loving them. Do not stop sharing the gospel. We must be faithful to proclaim the Good News to all. This is what He has commissioned us to do. He is the one who saves, and He is mighty to do it.

The sovereignty of God is not a doctrine that should disturb us, but one that should humble us, comfort us, and give us confidence that no design of Satan and no device of men can prevent Him from His loving purpose. Theologian J.I. Packer was right when he said,

“Men treat God’s sovereignty as a theme for controversy, but in Scripture it is a matter for worship.”

Jesus does not leave His disciples arguing about the mysteries of God's sovereign grace. He leaves them marveling at it. He turns their attention away from what others have not been given toward the grace they have received. In verse 16 Jesus says,

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.  

Jesus tells them that they are greatly blessed because they see and hear what many prophets and faithful people desired to see and hear but did not. What is it they longed to see? More than just parables. They were looking for:

•       The “Seed of the woman” from Genesis who would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15)
•       The “Seed of Abraham” from Genesis through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3; 22:18)
•       The “Prophet greater than Moses” from Deuteronomy whom God's people must hear and obey (Deuteronomy 18:15–19)
•       The “Son of David” from 2 Samuel who would establish an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12–16)
•       “The Anointed King” from Psalms who would be rejected, suffer, and yet reign forever (Psalms 2; 22; 110)
•       The “Suffering Servant” from Isaiah who would bear the sins of His people and justify many (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)
•       The “Son of Man” from Daniel who would receive an everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:13–14)
•       “The humble King” from Zechariah who would come bringing salvation, be pierced, and cleanse His people (Zechariah 9:9–10; 12:10; 13:1)

In other words, what they longed to see and hear was Jesus. 

We could add nearly 60 more Old Testament promises fulfilled in Him. They saw Him only in promise. We know Him as the crucified, risen, and reigning Christ. We know why He came. We know that He bore our sins, conquered death, and now reigns at the Father's right hand. This is the Jesus whom the prophets longed to see and whom we now proclaim.

Believers this is the one with whom we have died and been risen through the Spirit. Do you understand what a privilege it is to live on this side of the cross? To know His love? To know the salvation of the Lord? He has poured out His Holy Spirit upon us. To us it has been given to understand how the promises are fulfilled in the one who loved us and gave Himself for us. Oh, we are greatly privileged among the people of God.

Listen to how the apostle Peter describes it in 1 Peter 1:10 & 12,

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, …

12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Rejoice my brothers and sisters in your salvation. Give thanks to God for His grace in opening your eyes and ears to the salvation in Christ that had been hidden throughout the ages but has been revealed to you. Praise His holy name and sing of His mercy with a loud voice. Make His name famous, for He has done great things for you. He has saved us from our sins, adopted us into His kingdom, and called us His friends.

He has given us His word and His Spirit that we may be partakers of the great glory of God in the salvation He planned before the foundation of the world. Matthew says in verses 34 and 35,

34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

All of this is to the glory of the grace of God!

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Brothers and sisters, that is the blessing Jesus is speaking of. Not merely that we know more facts than others, but that God has opened our eyes to behold Christ. And having seen Him, we desire to know Him more. Blessed indeed are the eyes that see and the ears that hear.

I would like to finish with a quote from the Puritan Thomas Watson, who, as usual, summarizes these gospel truths better than I can. He wrote,

“We may read many truths in the Bible, but we cannot know them savingly until God's Spirit shines upon us. True knowledge is like the light of the morning, which increases in the horizon until it comes to the full meridian. So sweet is spiritual knowledge that the more the saint knows, the more thirsty he is…”