Matthew 13:11

‘And he answered and said to them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingly rule of heaven, but to them it is not given.”

Jesus replied that the reason that He treated the disciples differently from the crowds was because it was given to them to know and have unfolded to them the ‘mysteries of the Kingly Rule of Heaven', while it was not so given to the crowds. We have here Jesus constant emphasis on the difference between those who are ‘given' spiritual things by God (they are the ‘blessed ones' - Matthew 13:16) and those who are not. And they are then given things because they ask and go on asking (Matthew 7:7) and because they show compassion (Luke 6:38) and are therefore in a state to learn. Their having been ‘blessed' produces fruit. Compare in John's Gospel those who have been ‘given to Him by the Father', and thus those who in contrast have not (John 6:37; John 6:39; John 10:29) And these who have been given to Him are those who believe (John 6:40). They are therefore able to receive.

One of the greatest gifts that a man can receive is that of understanding the mystery of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. A mystery is something once hidden in, for example, the teaching of the prophets which is now being revealed. It is something puzzling now made clear. Compare the ‘mystery' in Daniel 2:28 which was revealed by Daniel himself (Daniel 2:47). Although even then it still remained to be further interpreted, even if they did not think so at the time, for that spoke of the worldwide Kingly Rule. The Old Testament had taught many things about the coming Kingly Rule, but it had had to be in a form that was not fully or properly understood (although the idea was grasped in general on a basis within their level of understanding), nor could have been, because the people were limited by the level of their concepts at the time. Those concepts did not include ideas about Heaven as a future dwellingplace. They were firmly based on earth. And they had to be lest they got caught up in myths of the gods, a route that could have led them anywhere. But He had now come to make those mysteries clear to those who were fitted to receive them.

The ‘mystery' had been a necessity in Old Testament days, because the people did not have the kind of background that would have enabled them to understand heavenly truth baldly stated. They did not have sufficient conceptual background. Talking to them about a heavenly kingdom would have been like talking to a Central African native about snow and ice. It would have been totally outside their ability to grasp the truth. (Just as the Saracens mocked when Christian knights told them how they had walked their horses across water (frozen rivers). They were clever men but they had no concept of ice). For because of the dangers of ideas connected with the surrounding gods and their mythology all teaching had to be given to Israel as though it applied to earth so that it would not become mixed up with myths about the gods. They did not want their ideas to be based on myths, but on history.

So their God did not play around in the heavens, He ruled over the heavens and dealt very solidly with earth. There was no conception in Israel of a Heaven to which they could go or of a heavenly future in which they would be involved. Thus the establishment of the coming Kingly Rule of the house of David (e.g. Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 66:22; Ezekiel 37:21; Zechariah 14:16), the future of the wicked (Isaiah 66:24), the coming resurrection (Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:1), and even the going out of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 32:15; Ezekiel 47:1) were all portrayed as happening in very much earthly terms. They could conceive of no other.

But by New Testament times the way had been prepared, and it was therefore now necessary for Jesus to demonstrate how the Scriptures should be reinterpreted in the light of the new understanding of Heaven and eternal judgment that had grown up during the inter-testamental period. That is why He emphasised that the Kingly Rule of Heaven initially now indicated God's rule over the individual lives of those who had responded to Him in this world, and that they were finally to look to the everlasting ‘kingdom' where all who were His would be with Him (although that is in fact outside the Universe and is spiritual in nature - so we are thinking parabolically too!). Even Jerusalem is seen as now indicating a new heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22), because the earthly Jerusalem is destined for destruction The earthly rule of an earthly king has now thus been replaced by a heavenly rule of a heavenly king (Matthew 28:18), even though He is at present walking on earth among them. To use a crude term the Old Testament has been ‘deallegorised' by Jesus. It has been reinterpreted in the light of more advanced spiritual conceptions. Fuller light had awaited those conceptions. Thus they had known that the Kingly Rule of Heaven would be spread by the teaching of the word (compare Isaiah 2:2), and would receive the response of individuals who would come together under His rule (Isaiah 45:23), and that it would all somehow end in a final Kingly Rule of God from Heaven. What they had not then conceived of was that it would actually be in Heaven (and then in a new Heaven and a new earth - 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1 where all the promises concerning ‘earth' could be fulfilled, and Abraham and his seed could receive the promises - Hebrews 11:13).

We should consider in this regard the dangers that Jesus faced in His ministry. In a highly volatile area like Galilee, among a people who were constantly looking for a deliverer to arrive from God and free them from the Roman yoke, talk about the Kingly Rule of Heaven could soon become dangerous. Even with all His warnings His disciples still thought in terms of an earthly victory and an earthly kingdom wrought by the power of Jesus (Matthew 20:20; Matthew 24:3; Luke 22:24; Acts 1:6) so that Jesus had to bring them ‘down to earth' and remove their false presumptions (Matthew 20:25; Luke 22:25). How much more would this have been so had He taught the same things openly to the crowds (John 6:14 brings out how easily that could have become a danger). By teaching in parables this danger was largely avoided.