Mk 4:11-12

[Cpb88]

I’m reading through Mark, and here Jesus is explaining why he speaks in parables:

"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 am I missing here? The message seems exclusive. Why wouldn’t Jesus want outsiders to perceive, understand, be converted, and forgiven?

 

[Della]

The venerable Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary says:

Ver. 12. That seeing they may see, &c. In punishment of their wilfully shutting their eyes, (Matthew xiii. 15.) God justly withdrew those lights and graces which otherwise he would have given them, for their effectual conversion. (Challoner) — These speeches here and elsewhere, we are not to understand as if he spoke in parables to this end that the hearers might not understand, lest they should be converted; but we must learn the true sense from the corresponding texts in Matthew xiii, and Acts xxviii, where our Saviour and St. Paul render it thus: with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut. lest, perhaps, they may see, and understand, and be converted, and I heal them. Whereby it is evident, that the speaking in parables was not the cause, (for many besides the apostles heard and understood) but themselves, who would not hear and understand, and be converted: and thus they were the real cause of their own wilful and obstinate infidelity. And therefore also he spoke in parables, because they were not worthy to understand, as the others were to whom he expounded them. (Bristow)

 

[kkollwitz]

It’s consonant with John Ch 9, especially Jesus’ closing remark: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41* Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

 

[TimothyH]

Someone who has "eyes but does not see’ and “ears but does not hear” is someone who is rebellious.

***"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not; for they are a rebellious house. *(Ezekiel 12:2-3)

Jesus is using a rabinnical teaching technique called remez, where he is hinting at Old Testament scriptures to bring a topic or passage or context to the minds of his audience. In this case it is rebellion against God’s authority.

Jesus wants people to hear, understand and be forgiven, but the Pharisees, scribes and temple authorities would not see or listen - they were rebellious against the legitimate authority of God in the person of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t God’s fault that they didn’t understand. They were highly trained scholars of the Old Testament who should have known better that Jesus was the Messiah, but they rebelled in order to maintain their own power and status.

Jesus also speaks of their “hardness of heart.” Same deal here.

-Tim-

 

[Jeanne1184]

This is the Interlinear Hebrew:

Mark 4:11-12

11 And He said to them, “To ye has been given to know the secret of the Kingdom of God; to those yet the ones outside, all is occurring in parables,

12 that observing, they may be observing and not perceive; and hearing, they may be hearing and not understand – lest at some time they should be turning about and it may be being pardoned them the penalties of sin.

For me, these are candid, but loving, verses rather than harsh judgment, as some translations give it. The very people Jesus is speaking about are the very people He engaged tirelessly to reach in the only way unprepared minds could accept His Message.

“Talk ought always to run obliquely, not nose to nose with no chance of mental escape.” – Frank Moore Colby

Also, following these verses is the parable of the sower - which even the apostles didn’t understand.

 

[KyivAndrew]

I’m reading through Mark, and here Jesus is explaining why he speaks in parables:

"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 am I missing here? The message seems exclusive. Why wouldn’t Jesus want outsiders to perceive, understand, be converted, and forgiven?

I posted the exact same question on this Forum about Mark’s “Messianic Secret” as this passage is called sometime ago.

I found that in the Bible of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops online bible (Books of the Bible | USCCB) they also provide footnotes for cross-reference for all Bible verses, including for Mark 4:12 for which we get these footnotes by way of elaboration for what Mark is trying to say:

*Isaiah 6:9: “And he replied: Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but do not understand! Look intently, but do not perceive!”

John 12:40: “He blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and I would heal them.”

Acts 28:26: “‘Go to this people and say: You shall indeed hear but not understand. You shall indeed look but never see.”

Romans 11:8: "as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day.’ "*

I also note Father Raymond Brown in his Introduction to the New Testament says in this passage Mark is really just describing what he sees as the negative result of Jesus’ teaching among his own people. Father Raymond Brown postulates that Jesus’ saying the parables are given to those outside in order that they may not see, understand or be converted is an offensive text **if **one does not understand the biblical approach to divine foresight where what has in fact resulted is often presented as God’s purpose (well, at least that’s Father Brown’s interpretation).

Paul Johnson also deals with this verse and Mark 4:25 in his recent Biography of Jesus where he writes Jesus is speaking of understanding so that those who develop skills in grasping it will get more, but those without understanding have to be deprived of their false knowledge in order to start again.

Hope this helps. It is a difficult passage subject to some interpretation.

 

[MrSnaith]

I’m reading through Mark, and here Jesus is explaining why he speaks in parables:

"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 am I missing here? The message seems exclusive. Why wouldn’t Jesus want outsiders to perceive, understand, be converted, and forgiven?

The way I see it, the key to this saying is: who are those that are “outside.” This saying immediately follows Jesus’ words “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you.” The question is, do we understand this to mean, “the mystery has been made clear to you,” or do we understand it to mean, “the kingdom of God has been given to you.” This is an important question.

It seems to me that those who read it as “the mystery has been made clear to you,” read the rest as “the mystery has not been made clear to everyone else, thus the parables,” and this seems unfair. However, if you read it as “the kingdom of God has been given to you,” then it seems to me that we have better footing. Those outside the kingdom, then, are those who have rejected it. This is in keeping with the other scriptures that speak of seeing but not perceiving, etc, which are passages of rebellion.

In light of that, it would seem that the passage means this: the parables don’t make sense to those who have rejected the kingdom because those who have rejected have closed themselves to its meaning.

This makes sense to me, especially when you read “the mystery of the kingdom of God.” What is the mystery of the kingdom of God? That’s the wrong question. It’s, “who is the mystery of the kingdom of God?” The answer is Jesus. He is the mystery of the kingdom, and we have been granted Him. Because He, Himself, is the mystery, those who reject Him can’t understand His parables because they can’t see that the parables are all about Him. They try to understand the parables from their face value, without seeing that He’s telling them about who He is. They want a formula, but Christ is offering a relationship, and that relationship is what the parables are all about.

 

[Tommy555]

I’m reading through Mark, and here Jesus is explaining why he speaks in parables:

"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 am I missing here? The message seems exclusive. Why wouldn’t Jesus want
outsiders to perceive, understand, be converted, and forgiven?

It is so those outside will go to those who are in the Kingdom to get insight and understanding so that they may be converted.

 

[Della]

The way I see it, the key to this saying is: who are those that are “outside.” This saying immediately follows Jesus’ words “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you.” The question is, do we understand this to mean, “the mystery has been made clear to you,” or do we understand it to mean, “the kingdom of God has been given to you.” This is an important question.

It seems to me that those who read it as “the mystery has been made clear to you,” read the rest as “the mystery has not been made clear to everyone else, thus the parables,” and this seems unfair. However, if you read it as “the kingdom of God has been given to you,” then it seems to me that we have better footing. Those outside the kingdom, then, are those who have rejected it. This is in keeping with the other scriptures that speak of seeing but not perceiving, etc, which are passages of rebellion.

In light of that, it would seem that the passage means this: the parables don’t make sense to those who have rejected the kingdom because those who have rejected have closed themselves to its meaning.

This makes sense to me, especially when you read “the mystery of the kingdom of God.” What is the mystery of the kingdom of God? That’s the wrong question. It’s, “who is the mystery of the kingdom of God?” The answer is Jesus. He is the mystery of the kingdom, and we have been granted Him. Because He, Himself, is the mystery, those who reject Him can’t understand His parables because they can’t see that the parables are all about Him. They try to understand the parables from their face value, without seeing that He’s telling them about who He is. They want a formula, but Christ is offering a relationship, and that relationship is what the parables are all about.

Yes, this is so true. When someone refuses to believe, no matter the evidence put before him, he simply does not want to believe, and that is an act of will which no one can violate, not even God, because it is not in God’s nature to force people to love him. He invites, and those who are open to the invitation “get it.” Those who are not open do not “get it” and may never do so.

 

[Cpb88]

In Mk 4:12, Jesus is quotes Isaiah 6:9. Where Isaiah receives a command from God to condemn the rebellious Israelites:

“Go and say to this people: “Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing!” You are to make the heart of this people sluggish, to dull thier ears and close thier eyes; Else their eyes will see, their ears hear, and thier heart understand, and they will turn and be healed.” -Isaiah 6:9-10

At this point in Isaiah, the Israelites have been given ample warning and it seems that God is now convinced that he must strike them. He would like to heal them, however, they are too obstinate and he has made the decision to strike them in order to purify Israel for the future.

This is parallel to what is happening in Mk 4. Jesus has traveled around Israel healing and producing signs, yet the people still do not believe, and continue to demand signs. Jesus explains that the use of parables is a double edged sword. To those who accept his teachings, the parables will enrich their faith. To those who reject, the parables screen them away from understanding. “To anyone who has more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” -Mt 13:12 The message is similar to Isaiah 6:9 in that it serves as a warning to a disobedient generation.

 

[PNEUMA]

I’m reading through Mark, and here Jesus is explaining why he speaks in parables:

"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 am I missing here? The message seems exclusive. Why wouldn’t Jesus want outsiders to perceive, understand, be converted, and forgiven?

Because he doesn’t want them to enter the kingdom of God, they would turn heaven into hell.

 

[MrSnaith]

In Mk 4:12, Jesus is quotes Isaiah 6:9. Where Isaiah receives a command from God to condemn the rebellious Israelites:

“Go and say to this people: “Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing!” You are to make the heart of this people sluggish, to dull thier ears and close thier eyes; Else their eyes will see, their ears hear, and thier heart understand, and they will turn and be healed.” -Isaiah 6:9-10

At this point in Isaiah, the Israelites have been given ample warning and it seems that God is now convinced that he must strike them. He would like to heal them, however, they are too obstinate and he has made the decision to strike them in order to purify Israel for the future.

This is parallel to what is happening in Mk 4. Jesus has traveled around Israel healing and producing signs, yet the people still do not believe, and continue to demand signs. Jesus explains that the use of parables is a double edged sword. To those who accept his teachings, the parables will enrich their faith. To those who reject, the parables screen them away from understanding. “To anyone who has more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” -Mt 13:12 The message is similar to Isaiah 6:9 in that it serves as a warning to a disobedient generation.

I like this. It’s a keen insight. Once again, Jesus is referencing well-known Jewish scriptures (Isaiah in this case) in order to call it to the minds of His audience, in order to make a statement about them, and perhaps as both a warning and an invitation not to repeat the error of those rebellious Israelites of Isaiah’s time.

 

[Cpb88]

Issue resolved, thank you for contributing.

 

[hu324b]

It is exactly similar to Matthew 13:24-30 - the parable of the wheat - Many hear the Gospel but few recieve it.