Monday March 27, 2017 Mark 4:10-11 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables.

Nick:

Jesus is the secret of the kingdom of heaven. The disciples had Jesus, the word in the flesh. Everything that was prophesied in the Old Testament about the coming of Christ was sitting right in front of them in the flesh. Colossians 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the rich of the Glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Being born again and baptized by the spirit, we have been born into the kingdom of God. We are part of his body, the church. He dwells within us using us a vessels to accomplish his master plan. Colossians 2:9-10 For in him the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Jesus is the secret of the kingdom of God, and we have been “crucified with Christ, it is no longer us who lives, but Christ who lives in us. and the life we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Julie:

Jesus told the people, including the disciples, about the parable of the sower.  He taught many things in parables.  But why?  This was the same question that the disciples and a few others had.  He said, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables”.  That sounds like another riddle as an answer to his first riddle.  But what Jesus is actually doing is letting them know that the very fact that they are asking for an explanation shows that they already know the real secret past the sower parable.  They did not here, not comprehend, and walk away.  They were hungry for answered and stayed to get them.  They did not understand but wanted to!  The other people, which were so many he had to get in a boat to teach, did not care to understand his teachings.  They are considered “outside” in Jesus’ explanation.  When we search for understanding of God’s Word we are searching for God.  I am guilty of thinking, “Oh, that teaching went way over my head. Oh well…”  And when I do that, I am just like an outsider, not gaining the secret of the Kingdom of God.  I am a student to God, so everything I here, I should want to understand.  I do not want to just here someone’s doctrine and run with it because… well…. It keeps me from thinking too hard.  I want to be teachable to God’s Word.  That desire is the secret.