Bible Passage Scripture Block

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

His disciples came to Jesus apart from the crowds to ask Him why He spoke to them with parables. Jesus answers that for them (His disciples) the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been revealed, but it’s not so for the crowds. The one that has will be abundantly given more. The one that doesn’t have will be stripped of anything that he may have. He spoke in parables because in this same way, they see but can’t truly see, and hear but don’t really understand.

Jesus (in a boat) is teaching a crowd (on the beach) in a series of parables about the kingdom. He has told the parable of the sower, and now the disciples are asking Him privately about why He teaches with parables. It seems they did not understand the parable themselves, since He follows this with an explanation to them about what the parable means. They also ask for an explanation regarding the parable of the weeds (vs 36). This same account is given by Mark (4:10ff) and by Luke (8:9ff).