1. Mark 4:12 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Can parables be labelled as concealing or hiding things?

Mark 4:12 (ESV)

12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

It is less correct to characterize the parables as “concealment.” Every parable has an open door through which those who want to understand can enter. It is true that the door must be sought and you must enter it. With a parable you have to enter and collect that which is offered openly in direct instruction. Speaking in parables therefore has nothing to do with a possible concealment of the mystery of the Messiah. It has everything to do with a people that shuns the sunlight of Jesus’ grace. Although this light continues to shine, it is dimmed as if by a cloud in the parable.1