Matthew 13:11

Matthew 13:11. Because it is (‘hath been and is') given to you. ‘To you' is emphatic. A gift of God, is here said to be bestowed on one class of hearers (you), and not bestowed on another (them).

To know. Without this gift there could not be proper knowledge of the truth to be conveyed by the parable. The two classes are, as in this case, separated by their own choice. God's good pleasure, the ultimate ground, involves the free choice of the persons concerned.

The mysteries. A mystery is not necessarily something inscrutable in its nature, but it may be that which is unknown to man in his natural condition, before it is revealed to him by God. The mysteriousness arises mainly from the sinful state of man; yet God for wise purposes often withholds the revelation without which these things remain ‘mysteries.' The great mystery is Christ Himself (1 Timothy 3:16), making peace between God and man, between man and man (Jew and Gentile; Ephesians 3:4-11). This was not fully revealed to the Apostles until long after the death of Christ, although they already had clearer views than the mass of the people. Where this gospel mystery has been preached, sin alone hides it from men; however much may remain not fully revealed to us.

Of the kingdom of heaven. These parables relate to the kingdom of Christ as a whole.

It is not given. They hear the parables as parables, not as vehicles of spiritual truth.