Why Did Jesus Conceal?

L

Lilstu

New member
Jesus usually spoke to the "people" in parables.
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. Matthew 13:34

The disciples wondered....
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Matthew 13:10

Jesus answered....
“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted." Matthew 13:11

IMO Jesus is promoting secret knowledge for the elect....in contrast to God's philosophy that "all people will know" according to the Hebrew Scriptures.

They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9

They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD Jeremiah 31:34

Jesus claims that his use of parables to hide the meaning of his message from those not chosen was a fulfillment of Psalm 78.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES;
I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” Matthew 13:35

So lets take a look at Psalm 78.....
Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

I bolded the important words which contrast Jesus' message in Matthew's Gospel.
What do you think? Are parables meant to conceal or enlighten?
 
Ktoyou

Ktoyou

Well-known member
Hall of Fame
So you think Jesus was setting up sneak previews for select ticket holders?
 
jamie

jamie

New member
LIFETIME MEMBER
It was always intended that the Holy Spirit would be the Spirit of Truth. And so it is...
 
L

Lilstu

New member
John 18:20-21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. 21 Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.”

In light of Jesus' concealment.....is the above comment by Jesus troubling?
 
WonderfulLordJesus

WonderfulLordJesus

New member
Interesting, big question I'll attempt a crack at, having thought on this a good bit. Some of this is just my take on what this has always meant, but a couple things I always noticed. One is that there's no account of the masses stopping the Lord mid teaching or inquiring of the Lord what He was talking about by Q&A, who did not understand, aside from the disciples. Pentecost had not yet occurred, the Holy Spirit not come to all believers as a universal baptism, therefore the Lord Jesus gave that Spirit understanding to whomever He pleased during His ministry, for the purpose of His ministry, moving forward via those He chose for His plan, also noteworthy the apostles, but for one, truly believed in Him, sought Him, asked the questions, were not of dull ears. It's probably safe to say most heard His parables and just left it there, just as people chased after the Lord when He did the miracle of the loaves and fishes, as He pointed out not seeking Him, but seeking the likes of loaves and fishes, carnal things.

You have another truth to consider, that no man seeks after God, Psalms 10:4, Romans 3:11, that we are drawn by His Spirit, and the Lord said, John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This had not occurred yet, pre-Calvary, resurrection and ascension, after which came Pentecost and the simple gospel made plain, to all ears on the planet. I believe it was by righteous intent the Lord was not casting His pearls before swine, "none righteous, no not one," also see John 2:24, that it was not His intent, during His earthly ministry, to lavish spiritual things on people who didn't believe in Him, in the first place, many curiosity seekers in the audience, or looking to get some help, rebelling against Rome, couldn't even agree on Him, see Mark 6:15, Matthew 16:14. And don't have the passage offhand, but the disputes over how the Lord Jesus could do the works He did and not be of God, as Pharisees claimed He was not. The Lord Jesus was not believed on by the crowd as the Christ, the Lord. Of course, there was yet no atonement and resurrection to believe in to offer people.

We come to the Lord Jesus Christ, first, the Person, on God's gospel terms of contrition, then we get spiritual eyes and ears that will seek, understand and follow Him, by His Spirit. The understanding does not precede the faith. Also, the Lord Jesus came for the purpose of redeeming man at the cross, was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. Unlike some claim, it was not His intent to plainly declare to all He is the Lord, He is the King of Israel, attract Maccabees with swords to hover around him, with the intent to take the throne from Herod or repel His enemies in the Garden of Gethsemane, did not come His first advent to perform the second advent and subdue the earth, as King of Kings. In other words, despite these ignorant cult claims, Jesus Christ did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, if Israel took Him up on it. His purpose was to be our salvation and the suffering Messiah, His message the spiritual kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of man, and not the rule of heaven over the kingdoms of the world at that time, nor yet, His message the spiritual, not the carnal, the end times yet to come. So, the Lord Jesus would not have encouraged plain acknowledgment, at large, that He was the Messiah in any political sense the Jews were looking for, this why He was very guarded revealing Himself, even telling some He worked miracles for to tell nobody.

Hope those thoughts help. You could say it just wasn't His mission to make all clear, prior to the atonement and Pentecost. Another interesting verse that’s so true, of the rich man in hell, had the Lord laid everything out, plainly, this surely would have caused quite the stir, and quite the mess, but they’d have not believe Him, Luke 16:31, and we’re back to pearls and swine. It’s true today, scripture spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2:14, plain talk and beating people over the head to no avail, absent prerequisite faith in the Lord Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God simply does things differently, is of higher thoughts and ways, Matthew 16:23, Isaiah 55:9.

Hope the references are alright in this post, as I’m a little pressed for time and can’t double-check much. Sorry if anything’s sloppy!
 
L

Lilstu

New member
WonderfulLordJesus said:
Interesting, big question I'll attempt a crack at, having thought on this a good bit. Some of this is just my take on what this has always meant, but a couple things I always noticed. One is that there's no account of the masses stopping the Lord mid teaching or inquiring of the Lord what He was talking about by Q&A, who did not understand, aside from the disciples. Pentecost had not yet occurred, the Holy Spirit not come to all believers as a universal baptism, therefore the Lord Jesus gave that Spirit understanding to whomever He pleased during His ministry, for the purpose of His ministry, moving forward via those He chose for His plan, also noteworthy the apostles, but for one, truly believed in Him, sought Him, asked the questions, were not of dull ears. It's probably safe to say most heard His parables and just left it there, just as people chased after the Lord when He did the miracle of the loaves and fishes, as He pointed out not seeking Him, but seeking the likes of loaves and fishes, carnal things.

You have another truth to consider, that no man seeks after God, Psalms 10:4, Romans 3:11, that we are drawn by His Spirit, and the Lord said, John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This had not occurred yet, pre-Calvary, resurrection and ascension, after which came Pentecost and the simple gospel made plain, to all ears on the planet. I believe it was by righteous intent the Lord was not casting His pearls before swine, "none righteous, no not one," also see John 2:24, that it was not His intent, during His earthly ministry, to lavish spiritual things on people who didn't believe in Him, in the first place, many curiosity seekers in the audience, or looking to get some help, rebelling against Rome, couldn't even agree on Him, see Mark 6:15, Matthew 16:14. And don't have the passage offhand, but the disputes over how the Lord Jesus could do the works He did and not be of God, as Pharisees claimed He was not. The Lord Jesus was not believed on by the crowd as the Christ, the Lord. Of course, there was yet no atonement and resurrection to believe in to offer people.

We come to the Lord Jesus Christ, first, the Person, on God's gospel terms of contrition, then we get spiritual eyes and ears that will seek, understand and follow Him, by His Spirit. The understanding does not precede the faith. Also, the Lord Jesus came for the purpose of redeeming man at the cross, was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. Unlike some claim, it was not His intent to plainly declare to all He is the Lord, He is the King of Israel, attract Maccabees with swords to hover around him, with the intent to take the throne from Herod or repel His enemies in the Garden of Gethsemane, did not come His first advent to perform the second advent and subdue the earth, as King of Kings. In other words, despite these ignorant cult claims, Jesus Christ did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, if Israel took Him up on it. His purpose was to be our salvation and the suffering Messiah, His message the spiritual kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of man, and not the rule of heaven over the kingdoms of the world at that time, nor yet, His message the spiritual, not the carnal, the end times yet to come. So, the Lord Jesus would not have encouraged plain acknowledgment, at large, that He was the Messiah in any political sense the Jews were looking for, this why He was very guarded revealing Himself, even telling some He worked miracles for to tell nobody.

Hope those thoughts help. You could say it just wasn't His mission to make all clear, prior to the atonement and Pentecost. Another interesting verse that’s so true, of the rich man in hell, had the Lord laid everything out, plainly, this surely would have caused quite the stir, and quite the mess, but they’d have not believe Him, Luke 16:31, and we’re back to pearls and swine. It’s true today, scripture spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2:14, plain talk and beating people over the head to no avail, absent prerequisite faith in the Lord Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. God simply does things differently, is of higher thoughts and ways, Matthew 16:23, Isaiah 55:9.

Hope the references are alright in this post, as I’m a little pressed for time and can’t double-check much. Sorry if anything’s sloppy!
Click to expand...

You did very well.
 
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