Show Don't Tell: Matthew 13:10-17

Instead of saying "Jesus explained why he used parables," hear the disciples' confusion. They pull him aside: "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" Aren't stories supposed to make things clearer? Jesus' answer is startling: "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them." The parables reveal to some and conceal from others. "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." The rich get richer; the poor get poorer—spiritually. Isaiah's prophecy: "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; ever seeing but never perceiving." Hearts calloused, ears dull, eyes closed. But the disciples: "Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear." Prophets and righteous people longed to see what they're seeing.