Matthew 13:11, commentary and pictures

Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is given to Christ's disciples and true followers, while it is not given to the multitude and to others in general. This fulfills Isaiah's prophecy that the people see without seeing and hear without hearing because of gross hearts, dull ears and closed eyes, while the disciples are blessed to see and hear what many prophets and righteous men longed for, for the Father hides these things from the wise and prudent and reveals them to babes. The difference is not that Christ blinds anyone, for He gave light, but that people close their own eyes and become dull of hearing when their hearts are set on worldly interests, and when the word does not take root the obstacle lies in the condition of the heart. The meaning becomes plain to honest, diligent seekers who sincerely desire truth and open their hearts, who follow Christ, receive Him, obey Him and walk in the light, while those who resist and choose their own path remain blind. Christ therefore put the mysteries in parables joining spiritual principles to nature and ordinary life, so that an honest and pure heart discerns His doctrine even in figures, while prejudiced hearers who have not the love of truth cannot know it, and He spoke plainly to His disciples.

Parable Setting and Audience

The saying belongs to the parable of the sower, which portrays different kinds of hearers and the tendencies of the human heart. It explains the meager immediate results of Christ's ministry, for people were free to accept or reject Him and were not compelled to believe or obey. They were taught to join their efforts with His divine power to overcome sin.

The seed is the word of truth to be sown everywhere, and the same seed produces different results according to the soil. Varied response is no reason to stop preaching, but to carry the truth to those who have not heard it and leave results with God. Words and example may lie for a time without visible effect in a cold, worldly, selfish heart while God's Spirit quietly nurtures the seed until it takes root and bears fruit, so response and timing are not for workers to determine.

Wayside hearers lose regard for truth, stony-ground hearers receive it eagerly but fall away under trial, and thorny-ground hearers let worldly cares, riches, pleasures, and honors choke it. Hearing therefore does not always lead to lasting faith or fruit, with some quickly losing its impression under worldly cares and temptations while others begin a holier life and live by Christ's teachings. Others may yet be nourished and become established in the truth, so premature judging and separating can harm those who might still grow.

Jesus spoke these words about the mysteries of the kingdom from a boat on the Lake of Galilee in simple, earnest language with convincing power. He was heard by many kinds of people, including learned and influential listeners, and the scene and its details helped fix the lesson in mind. The parables were meant to stir inquiry and lead to clearer understanding, and many received and treasured the teaching. Some eagerly listened but only dimly understood, while in others the seed of life took root and later sprang up to bear fruit.

He gave this answer to the disciples' question about why He spoke to the people in parables, after telling the parable of the sower and the seed. He pointed to the division between the disciples who perceive and hear and the multitude who see without seeing and hear without hearing or understanding. Their hearts were gross, their ears dull, and their eyes closed, keeping them from being converted and healed in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, while the disciples' eyes and ears were blessed because they saw and heard what many prophets and righteous men longed to see and hear but did not. Those who have will receive more, and those who have not will lose even what they have, for the Father hides these things from the wise and prudent and reveals them to babes.

Mysteries Given and Withheld

Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is given to Christ's disciples and true followers, while it is not given to the multitude and to others in general. The division appears in their different responses, for the disciples perceive and hear, while those who see and hear without understanding have hardened hearts with closed eyes and ears. Christ's teachings in this chapter reveal principles essential to true education and are to guide believers and their ministry. Before prejudiced hearers such as the Pharisees and Sadducees who would misuse plain truths He spoke in parables, while to His disciples He spoke plainly, which shows the need to present truth with care to those not prepared to receive it. The parable of the soils explains the withholding, for the Pharisees' self-righteous, hardened hearts are unproductive soil in which heavenly truth cannot take root. The image of truth as seed being placed in the heart connects this giving and withholding with the parable of the sower. The seed of truth finds hearts God has prepared, and those people welcome the divine message with joy when it is presented.

The verse states the rule that those who have will receive more, while those who have not will lose even what they have. Those who are open to receive the divine message are given to know the mysteries of God's kingdom, and Christ unfolded to them the truths of the way of salvation. This division fulfills Isaiah's prophecy, for the people have gross hearts, dull ears, and closed eyes, seeing without seeing and hearing without hearing or understanding, which keeps them from being converted and healed. By contrast the disciples' eyes and ears are blessed because they see and hear what many prophets and righteous men longed to see and hear but did not. The Father hides these things from the wise and prudent and reveals them to babes.

Hearts That Close Understanding

The verse does not mean that Christ blinds anyone, for He gave light to all, but those from whom understanding is withheld closed their own eyes and became dull of hearing because their hearts were set on worldly interests and covetousness. Those who reject the truth they hear are accountable for refusing its instruction and warnings, while those who see and hear with receptive hearts are blessed with understanding. When God's word does not take root and grow, the obstacle lies in the condition of the heart, and people are responsible for resisting the Spirit and allowing hardness or worldly growths to hinder the word.

The hiding of the mysteries turns on the heart and not on learning, for an honest and pure heart discerns Christ's doctrines even in parables. Those misled by their own tempers and gratified inclinations, determined not to be convinced and following their own blinded judgment in unconquerable obstinacy, neither hear nor understand even the plainest declaration. They grieve the Spirit of Christ away and do not know the time of their visitation, calling forth pity and just anger at injustice and wrongdoing. The unfruitful hearers are the skeptical, the superficial, and the secular, who cannot discern the moral glory of the truth or its practical personal application to their own hearts. Lacking the faith that overcomes the world, they are as a sure consequence overcome by the world, while fruitful hearing is in proportion to understanding the Word, receiving it into a good and honest heart, and faith, with close connection with God opening and quickening the understanding.

Love of worldly pomp and ceremony, bigotry, unbelief, and resistance to the self-denial and purity God's truth requires close the heart to its light. Those who harden their hearts, neglect opportunities to know the truth, misuse their powers of understanding, or refuse the evidence they see and hear remain ignorant by their own choice. Those who exalt their own knowledge and reject light remain blind to spiritual truth, while those who cherish the light they receive are given greater light and grace. Those who refuse evidence lose their ability to discern truth, and the truth they neglect gives way to error.

The Pharisees show this closed condition, for the soil of their self-righteous, hardened hearts is hopeless and profitless soil where the seeds of heavenly truth cannot take root. Their self-deluding feeling of superiority shuts out truth, for they suppose others are at fault and speak words of reproof and condemnation strong and hard as nether millstones that crush all hope and courage out of the soul. They are full of evil thoughts and suspect even the purest, making a man an offender for a word, because exalted self claims all their faith, honor, and love. By contrast, understanding is given to those who love and fear God and who keep His commandments and follow what He has presented in His word. Daniel's ability to interpret the king's troubling dream shows that this understanding comes from God, not from human wisdom alone.

Seeking With Open Heart

Understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom is given to those who follow Christ, receive Him, obey Him, and are willing to learn, and in this way they gain practical knowledge of the kingdom. Even the disciples showed dullness when they struggled with the parable of the sower, revealing that minds must be opened and belief exercised before greater truths can be grasped. Those who harden their hearts, neglect opportunities to know the truth, misuse their powers of understanding, or refuse evidence they see and hear remain ignorant by their own choice. Love of worldly pomp and ceremony, bigotry, unbelief, and resistance to the self-denial and purity required by divine truth close the heart to its light.

The meaning becomes plain to honest, diligent seekers who sincerely desire truth and open their hearts to heaven's light. Heavenly agencies teach these lessons, and through faith in Christ they enable overcoming, spiritual perfection, and a holy, Christlike life. Those who respond to Christ's drawing, yield their will to God, follow the Spirit, and walk in the light receive further heavenly understanding, while those who resist the Spirit and choose their own path remain blind to the outcome of their choice. This knowledge is given to Christ's true followers and to those able to receive His teaching, and His teachings are heavenly seed gathered as precious treasure by minds and hearts that desire light and knowledge. The disciples thus learned directly from Jesus rather than from schools or tradition, and their knowledge was free from tradition and bigotry.

Those who study God's word with hearts open to the Holy Spirit and a sincere desire to know and do God's will receive clearer instruction as Christ unfolds truth to them. Christ welcomes sincere questions about His word and gives clearer instruction to those who come seeking with longing for truth. He makes truth clearer to those who long to know it, so that they understand it with the heart. Their understanding then becomes a light to others, for divine light received in the soul shines out to guide others, while the mysteries remain hidden from those who do not seek in sincerity.

The disciples received the spiritual and moral truths of redemption conveyed through parables when they asked for explanation, while many hearers did not reach their depth. Those parables used familiar things from nature to express spiritual and moral truth, with some grasping the meaning and many failing to penetrate it. The mysteries are unfolded through vital connection with Christ according to each person's capacity to receive, and the Lord blesses with this knowledge those who are willing and obedient. They are not learned by reasoning alone, nor is knowledge of God attained by human speculation about His nature. They are known through faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and through true faith and prayer expressing dependence on God's power, as shown in the humble prayer of the publican who relied on God rather than himself and in faith that recognizes the value of making peace with God.

Parables Reveal and Conceal

The parables were given to stir inquiry and lead to clearer understanding of truth. They were suited to different listeners and their daily experience so that their truths could reach many kinds of minds, and even the humblest were remembered. They were heard by people of many kinds, including learned and influential listeners, and many received and treasured what they heard. Spiritual truths were veiled in figures and symbols, with divine truth communicated in simple language joining spiritual principles to scenes from nature and ordinary life so as to awaken interest, prompt inquiry, and remain in the hearers' minds. The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were put in parables so truth could be presented and sin rebuked without causing personal offense. Figurative teaching could thus deliver rebuke to opponents without giving them grounds for condemnation.

Knowledge of the mysteries is given to willing hearers, but others do not receive it because the soil of the heart was not prepared, so the good seed sown does not spring up to bear fruit. Hearts are not moved by the gospel because Satan is linked with religionists, and evil angels in the form of men mingle with hearers to make suggestions, criticize, misapply, misinterpret and misconstrue what is spoken, and by their suggestions and insinuations the words of life lose their force. Before prejudiced hearers such as Pharisees and Sadducees who would misuse plain truths, lessons were clothed in figures, while to disciples the truth was spoken plainly. Knowledge of the kingdom's mysteries was given to disciples but not to others, and lessons were clothed in figures and parables to avoid needless opposition and provoking the Pharisees while still teaching the truth. Truth is therefore to be presented with care to hearers who are not prepared to receive it.

Great truths were hidden under parables and similitudes so persons without the truth or the love of it could not know the doctrines. Yet an honest and pure heart discerns the doctrines even when given in parables, and fruitful hearing is in proportion to understanding the Word, receiving it into a good and honest heart, and faith, with close connection with God opening and quickening the understanding. The hiding turns on the heart, not on learning, for those misled by their own tempers and gratified inclinations, determined not to be convinced and following their own blinded judgment in unconquerable obstinacy, neither hear nor understand even the plainest declaration, grieve the Spirit away, and know not the time of their visitation. The unfruitful hearers are the skeptical, the superficial, and the secular, who cannot discern the moral glory of the truth or its practical personal application, who lack the faith that overcomes the world, and as sure consequence the world overcomes them. Lessons were given in parables from great desire to open blinded eyes to see the uselessness of multitudinous traditional ceremonies, because this was the only way the people could be reached. The aim was to turn people from earthly concerns to heavenly truth which God had made plain, but leaders who relied on traditions and mystical interpretations had obscured that plain truth and denied essential teachings.

The mysteries given to know are every truth essential for people to know, the unchangeable principles of God's word in simple practical truths that common people can understand and bring into daily experience. They bring minds into contact with the Infinite Mind and teach people to behold God as manifested in His works, in His word, and by His providences, and they were unfolded with freshness and power as new revelation, jewel after jewel of truth brought forth with authority and unfaltering assurance of certain knowledge from personal knowledge. They do not include fanciful or sentimental utterances, sophistries, human opinions, idle tales, false theories clothed in beautiful language, delusive doctrines, the deepest truths of science requiring centuries of toil to penetrate, scientific suggestions to afford food for thought and stimulus for invention, or anything to gratify curiosity, satisfy ambition, or open doors to worldly greatness, and all such things were withheld while truth never languished on the lips nor suffered in the hands. Truths given through prophets and people are gathered, separated from error, and set in the gospel so they shine in original clarity, presented under the Holy Spirit's guidance as a complete system revealing divine love. They are deeper knowledge of the Scriptures and wisdom from above, once searched in the school of the prophets open to any youth eager to obtain that knowledge in order to become a teacher in Israel.

The mysteries are made known through natural sowing, for the heart is a garden where good or bad seed is sown, and as the garden must be prepared for natural seed so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth. The seed cast into the ground teaches death, and the blade springing up teaches resurrection, and the growth of the plant continues the correspondence between natural and spiritual sowing. The garden of the heart must be cultivated, the soil broken up by repentance, and the evil growths that choke the good grain uprooted. As soil overgrown with thorns can be reclaimed only by diligent labor, evil tendencies of the heart can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Christ.

Sowing Truth for Others

Christ's words about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were greatly needed, and thankfulness is due for them. Everyone needs to be in a position where those precious words can be understood, and some who received them fell upon good ground and brought forth fruit. His teachings in this chapter reveal principles essential to true education and are to guide believers and their ministry.

Those given to know the mysteries must have the mind of Christ and follow His example of care, anxiety, and self-denial in a life of continued sacrifice for others' good. They must not become weary in well-doing but sow the seed of truth and trust God to quicken it to life even when the precious seed lies dormant for some time. In time the grace of God convicts the heart and awakens the seed to spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God. Missionaries in this great work must labor unselfishly, earnestly, and perseveringly as co-workers with Christ and the heavenly angels in the salvation of their fellow men.

Words and example may lie for a time without visible effect in a cold, worldly, selfish heart, while God's Spirit quietly nurtures the seed until it takes root and bears fruit. People's response and the timing of its fruit are not for human workers to determine; they are to do their work and leave the result with God. Jesus spoke clear and pointed words that cut His hearers to the heart as seed of truth sown in minds whose effect would not be seen at once but would spring up to save many souls. After the crucifixion and resurrection those lessons would be revived in the hearts of many attentive listeners, who would repeat the instruction they had heard for the benefit of future generations to the close of time. Even when teaching seems to have little effect, lessons of divine truth linger in the memory of the most careless when the work has been wrought in God, for the Holy Spirit waters the seed sown and often after many days it springs up and bears fruit to the glory of God.

Nicodemus illustrates this gradual reception, for Jesus sowed seeds of truth which Nicodemus watched and weighed with little apparent fruit for three years before open acknowledgment. Receiving the gospel depends on the condition of the heart, so hearts must be prepared through personal ministry that reveals Christ's love and helps people attend to eternal life. Hearts can be hardened like a beaten path, but Christlike personal care can soften them so the truth takes root. At the beginning of Christian life believers are to learn the foundations of faith, make Christ's life and character their own, deny natural inclination, bear burdens, and work for the lost, and truth then breaks up hard ground and removes thorns at their roots.

The heart is soil that must be softened and subdued by the Spirit of God or much preaching is lost and the seed does not take root unless personal effort cultivates it. Ministers must not only preach from the pulpit but come into personal contact with the people and watch for those who seem interested. They should speak to them privately after the service, where a few words will often do more good than the whole discourse, asking how the subjects appear to them and whether the matter is clear to their minds. By kindness and courtesy showing real interest and care for souls, and then appealing to come to Christ, hearts are softened and prejudice is swept away and souls are led to conversion.

Truth should be presented with care suited to the hearers and their understanding, since pressing unfamiliar or disputed teachings without explanation can do harm. Patient, clear, non-contentious influence can weaken prejudice and prepare hearts for the seed of truth to take root. The seed bears fruit when Christ and His redeeming love are proclaimed, while failing to present Christ can mean a lost opportunity to win hearers to Him. The seed finds hearts God has prepared, and those people welcome the divine message with joy when it is presented. Words of Jesus taking root in receptive hearts later develop into abundant faith in Him as Redeemer.

Early life is especially impressionable, and good seed sown in a child's mind can bear fruit unto eternal life. Children's hearts must be prepared as good soil to receive the good seed of God's teaching, with minds cultivated and good habits formed, using nature to teach them about God as soon as they can understand. The living seed is to be sown deeply in their hearts through wisely chosen words and faithful labor. Preparing the heart as good soil helps children receive that seed of knowledge of the mysteries of God's kingdom.

The mysteries are sown as precious Bible seed in the soil of the mind, and an uncultivated field is like an untrained mind. The enemy sows tares in the minds of children and youth that spring up to bear evil fruit unless parents keep watchful guard with unceasing care to cultivate the mind and sow it with Bible truth. Children must reject trashy, exciting tales and turn to sensible reading that leads the mind to take interest in Bible story, history, and argument, because reading that throws light upon the Sacred Volume and quickens desire to study it is beneficial and not dangerous. Teaching from books of skeptical science and philosophy, vague fanciful stories, and fanciful interpretations of Scripture is also seed sown in the heart, growing into a plentiful harvest of infidelity seen in human depravity. True lessons from nature and garden work make impressions that do not fade because they are associated with objects continually before the eyes.