The mystery of the kingdom, which was handed to them visibly and audibly, is “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John already pointed in that direction (1:4) and Jesus continued to do so (1:15; 2:5–11; 3:28–30). When people fail to look to Jesus and disregard his message, they refuse to repent and forgiveness passes them by. They are not interested in it. The people do hear words about forgiveness, but it doesn’t occur to them to repent and turn to Jesus as God’s Son. By failing to fall on their knees for the Nazarene, they have to continue to disregard what he does and to pay no attention to what he says. They leave the “parables” closed, so that they are not forced to be healed of their sins by Jesus. They leave Jesus’ entire appearance unopened, although they take advantage of it, and so everything remains a “parable” for them. They do not penetrate to the hidden mystery, because they want to maintain their position over against the humbled Mediator. The disciples do not have to boast that they do know the mystery of the kingdom, for it was given them by the Father. Nonetheless, unbelieving outsiders cannot hide behind the fact that they did not receive the mystery. They have seen and heard, but do not want to accept. If they then remain blind, they are punished for their unwillingness to receive Jesus’ grace and forgiveness.1
12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”