“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:”
He told them, the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables — the secret (mystērion) of the kingdom is the insider knowledge given to the disciples. The inside/outside distinction is stark: disciples receive the secret in plain speech; outsiders receive it in parable. This is not elitism but eschatology: the kingdom creates its own community of comprehension, those who have been drawn in by the call of the kingdom. The parables serve a dual function — they reveal to those inside and conceal from those outside, not because God arbitrarily prevents understanding but because the parables require the response of seeking that marks the insider.
Church Fathers on Mark 4:11
Although the Lord appears in the transactions mentioned above to neglect His mother, nevertheless He honours her; since on her account He goes forth about the borders of the sea.
For if we look into the Gospel of Matthew, it appears that this same teaching of the Lord at the sea, was delivered on the same day as the former. For after the conclusion of the first sermon, Matthew immediately subjoins, saying, 'The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea-side.'
But He began to teach at the sea, that the place of His teaching might point out the bitter feelings and instability of His hearers.
Read all 22 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!