Between the telling of the Parable of the Sower and its explanation, Jesus has a discussion with His disciples about why He speaks to people in parables. This discussion is the focus of today’s blog article.
Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:10-11).
The disciples stood apart from the majority of the crowd because they chose to leave behind everything they had—their businesses, families, and homes—to follow Jesus through the streets and paths of Galilee as His dedicated followers.
The disciples responded to Jesus’ direct command, “Leave all and follow me,” with immediate obedience.
In contrast, the rest of the crowd required something other than a direct approach. They needed an indirect method to draw them closer to Jesus, allowing Him to present the information necessary for them to begin following Him wholeheartedly.
To Jesus’ listeners, parables may have seemed like riddles, but they were His way of revealing the truth about His work among them.
Following Jesus begins with an initial openness to say, “Yes, Lord, I will follow You.”
From that point, like the disciples, we follow Him daily. We spend time with Him, learn from Him, and as we do, He reveals more and more about His character and nature, inviting us to respond to Him.
“For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Matthew 13:12).
However, if we reject Him at that initial encounter, we cannot expect to receive the depth of understanding and revelation that comes to those who are fully devoted followers.
Quote from Isaiah
Jesus explained His reason for speaking to people in parables, referencing a quote from Isaiah to shed light on why He chose to communicate in this way.
The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed listen but never understand,
and you will indeed look but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’” (Matthew 13:13-15)
The quote from Isaiah may seem somewhat mysterious. We might wonder if God is trying to hide His message from us. However, if God wanted to conceal His message, He could simply choose to remain silent.
The quote from Isaiah 6 comes after five chapters detailing the resistance of God’s people to His message. Time and again, God called them to repentance, but they refused.
Their inability to hear and respond to Isaiah’s preaching was simply a confirmation of their decision to live apart from God and His will.
When I first began preaching, I read many sermons by an evangelist named Billy Sunday. He was energetic, entertaining, and relied heavily on storytelling as a key way to communicate the gospel.
Through his storytelling, Sunday had a unique approach: he would engage people who might otherwise resist a direct confrontation with God’s Word. By drawing them into the story, he could subtly reveal how they needed to respond.
Billy Sunday likely learned this method by observing how Jesus communicated in the Gospels. It is a great way to give God’s grace to people who refuse the greatest gift that could be offered them.
Who is Blessed?
I believe one of the keys to understanding the parable of the sower and its interpretation lies in an acted-out parable at the end of Matthew 12. In that scene, when Jesus’ family came to see Him, He responded in a way that might have shocked His audience, making a bold statement about family.
Through this response, Jesus emphasized a crucial truth: true membership in His family—the family of God—is defined not by biological ties but by obedience to God’s will.
You will remember that Jesus said this about His family:
“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:48-50).
In a similar way to His message about who belongs to the family of God, Jesus now highlights the blessing of those who hear God’s will and respond immediately by choosing to follow Him.
“But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people 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).
As we seek to apply this message to our lives, one thing becomes clear: those who receive what God offers do so by choosing to follow Jesus, walking with Him daily, and living according to His teachings. When we live in this way, we cannot go wrong.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It’s on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 