Knowledge of Kingdom Secrets

Knowledge of Kingdom Secrets

Kingdom Principle: SeedsPart II
Locate in Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15

After Jesus finished teaching the parable of the sower to the multitudes and when He was alone with His disciples He took the time to explain it to them. However before He revealed the meaning of this parable He started by telling them, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’” (Luke 8:10). I love how the Amplified records this, “He said to them, To you it has been given to [come progressively to] know (to recognize and understand more strongly and clearly) the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that, [though] looking, they may not see; and hearing, they may not comprehend” (Luke 8:10 AMP).

People were coming from all around to listen to Jesus teach. However, because of the condition of their hearts they continually heard Him without listening, saw what He did without perceiving, nor were they willing to receive His message. He commented that a prophecy about them had been fulfilled, “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’” (Matthew 13:14-15).

God’s Knowledge is Progressive

This is important, whoever has spiritual knowledge, they will be given more (Matthew 13:12). God’s knowledge is progressive, which is why it is important for us to cultivate our hearts to see, hear, perceive and understand the Word. However, to those who refuse to listen and comprehend, even what they have will be taken away (Matthew 13:12). This is because these truths never have time to penetrate the heart, take root and grow. So in essence they’ll never come into understanding or operation of this knowledge. And so it is lost, as a result, the life-changing, life-giving truths will never affect their lives. There is a great risk in not understanding God’s Word.

Because what Jesus taught was the knowledge of kingdom secrets He spoke in parables to mask these truths to those whose heart was hard (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:9). The King James Bible says the people’s hearts were waxed gross (Matthew 13:15 KJV) Meaning they were extremely callous, insensitive and unreceptive. Jesus accused the multitudes in John, that they followed him, not because of the miracles that testifies to who He was, but because they ate the loaves and had been filled (John 6:26). Their hearts were continually hard and their motives were wrong. So Jesus spoke spiritual truths in parables so "though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand” (Luke 8:10). He protected these truths from those who choose not to believe Him. These truths were the things that remained a mystery from the beginning of time but was revealed when Christ came (I Corinthians 2:6-8).

If the people would have desired to hear, understand and perceive what these things were, they would have turned to Jesus, and He would have responded to them with healing, forgiveness and insight.

Blessed Are Those Who Hear With Their Understanding

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:16-17).

For those who sought the Lord the outcome was completely different. He always took the time to explain what He taught. He gave them understanding and depth of insight. He told the disciples in the book of John, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

This has application for us! Amazingly, we live in a time that many prophets and righteous men longed to see and never did. They only look forward in faith calling us blessed (Romans 4:6-8; Hebrews 11:39-40). Therefore, it is our job to take advantage of the time we live in, to listen, hear and comprehend the meaning of this parable; letting the truth soak in to change everything. Remember this parable is the key to unlocking everything Jesus taught, so it is crucial to understand and live.

Join me for the beginning of the explanation of the parable in Part III; The Seed is the Word of God'.

 

Juli Camarin

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