Why does Jesus not want people to repent and be forgiven in Mark 4?

Question

This is in response the the disciples asking why Jesus teaches in parables...

He said to them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven." -Mark 4:11-12 New English Translation

Why does he say this? Why is he teaching at all if his intent is actually that the people not see, not understand, and not repent. It seems troubling.

Answer 1

Your Bible is missing the double quotes. Jesus is quoting Isaiah:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” And he replied: Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but do not understand! Look intently, but do not perceive! Make the heart of this people sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they turn and be healed.

Isaiah 6:8-10 (NABRE)

I think He's describing the process shown in the OT and exemplified throughout human history, not issuing a command.

According to the intratext in the NABRE, this is also quoted in

John 12:40; Acts 28:26; and Romans 11:8.

I can't say that I particularly understand the meaning of Jesus' words, but hopefully it'll point you in the right direction.

Answer 2

In your question, you recognize the inconsistency of the life and teachings of Jesus with the idea that Jesus did not want people to repent and be forgiven.

Indeed, the Bible is very clear that salvation is offered to all the world. Just a few references:

New Testament

• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV
• O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Luke 13:34 ESV
• And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, Revelation 7:9 ESV
• And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. John 12:32 ESV

So, anyone who believes receives eternal life. God loved the whole world--not just a few people. Jesus desired to gather in all of Israel, but the problem was the will of the people that would not follow God. Ultimately, people from every tribe, language, people and nation will be among those who do believe and do receive eternal life.

General revelation is given to all people, indeed, but why give general revelation or special revelation (in the Scriptures) to anyone if God doesn't want them to repent?

So, to conclude from the Mark 4:11-12 passage that Jesus does not want people to repent is inconsistent with the rest of Scripture. Consequently, that can be eliminated as a possible interpretation at the very beginning.

One possible explanation for this, however, is that in speaking in parables, Jesus gives sufficient light/revelation for anyone to come to Him, yet does not give too much light that a person may not refuse to come to Him. To those who harden their hearts, God allows them to do that without overwhelming them to the point of destroying their will.

As C. S. Lewis poignantly stated in The Screwtape Letters

“The Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of his scheme forbids him to use. Merely to override a human will… would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo” (C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters).

One final verse is important to understand:

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,[a] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 ESV

So, Jesus does want all people to repent and believe and receive eternal life, and, indeed, He gives light to everyone (John 1:9)--sufficient light to believe, yet not much light to deprive us of our own wills.

Addendum

A comment suggested that the "whole world" idea is strictly New Testament, while the Old Testament is all about preference for one people (the Jews). However, the whole world idea is clearly presented in the Old Testament as well:

• I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3 ESV
• I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, Genesis 26:4 ESV
• The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:5
• he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 ESV

The covenant with Israel actually only spans from Abraham to Christ (~2,000 B.C. to 33 A.D.). However, that covenant was expressly for the purpose of being a blessing (and bringing salvation) to the whole world. At Babel, the people were dispersed all over the world. God chose Abraham to proclaim God to the nations from the very outset. In the lineage of Jesus Himself, we find Rahab from Jericho, Ruth from Moab, and Urriah the Hittite.

Space does not permit a full discussion here, but suffice it to say that the "ends of the earth" reach of God's salvation in the New Testament is merely a continuation of that which began with the command to Adam to "fill the earth".

Answer 3

The Bible was written particularly for a certain time, place, and reason. Questions you must ask is Why was Mark written, to whom was it written, when to name a few. People often a phrase out of context and apply it to any situation which changes the meaning of the original text. This is also a problem of translations as the more translations there are can make it more difficult for others to find the right meaning. For example NIV is tailored for gender neutral, international reading, and for 12th grade and above. Certain sacrifices are made to get the word out as correct as possible so the group it is written to can understand it. That's why as you get more advanced in studying the text you will look at the original language to fine tune your understanding. With that being said current Greek is different than New Testament Greek from thousands of years ago.

Here is a quote from The KJV Bible commentary:

Christ’s use of parables explained. 4:10–12.

"10–11. Unto you. Jesus said the truth is made clear to those who believe and follow Him. Them that are without. Without (Gr exō) would be better translated “outside” because it refers to those who are “outside” the kingdom of God.

12.Lest … they should be converted. A superficial understanding of this quote from Isaiah 6:9–10 has confused some about the Lord’s instructions regarding evangelism. Here He explains that details about God’s kingdom are not to be used to “prove” God’s message to anyone. Faith precedes proof, not vice versa. People are won “through the foolishness of preaching” not scientific facts. If that were the case, faith would be nothing more than the recognition of revealed evidence. "

Somethings in the Bible to understand you must be a Believer in Christ. For example if I am explaining it correctly there is a box people inside and people outside. If you don't know what is is the box you will not understand. If you are in the box you can see what it contains or at least understand. The disciples are to spread the Word so that those who don't understand or know can have Faith without seeing the direct Miracles or image of God.

I have not dived deep into this study but merely scratched the surface with some of my resources that I have on hand.

Hope that gets you a little closer to understanding. A recent book that I found to be helpful is Grasping God's Word by Scott Duvall. Sample of Chapter 1. http://www.zondervan.com/media/samples/pdf/0310259665_samptxt.pdf

See Side-by-side textual comparison: Image Link http://i.stack.imgur.com/yXLZH.jpg

Answer 4

Why does Jesus not want people to repent and be forgiven in Mark 4?

It is not that Jesus didn't want people to repent. Remember they were under the Law, he also had to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. If they understood what Jesus was teaching in the parable of the sower they would have not crucified him "Jesus". He was take them for a covenant of law to a covenant of Faith and grace. That is the covenant we have, this parable teaches you how The Kingdom of God works. Don't believe me. I'll show you how it works. The word of God was sown in your heart it grew and grew and grew Harvest came in you got born again. Some grow faster than other but it happen, Just like that sown, grew, harvest. That is one area of your life the word produced a hundredfold return for the Kingdom of God.

Answer 5

Jesus' insistence on initially keeping the fact that he is the Messiah under wraps is a theological construct called the Messianic Secret.

Several theories have been proposed:

1. It's just a narrative device, used to add tension
2. Jesus did not want his crucifixion to occur until enough of Israel had a chance to decide
3. God's love constrains him to not overwhelm those whom he would have choose him
4. In the early church, the author of Mark may have wanted to tone down the Messiah thing in order to not alienate the other Jews (Wrede's hypothesis)

And many, many others.

Answer 6

The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a brief explanation (there may be more, but this is the extent to which I've researched it):

Jesus’ invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough; deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to “know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” For those who stay “outside,” everything remains enigmatic. (CCC 546)

So, in one sense, the purpose is to call attention to the distinct logical barrier one must cross to understand anything about the kingdom of heaven. We might be tempted to say that Christ is setting this barrier up by using parables, thus keeping some folks away. But in reality, He's only highlighting a natural truth. One must cross some threshold of interset, effort, and commitment to understand any truth. So, it would seem that Christ uses parables to make that reality clear and obvious: You need to be interested and committed enough to put some effort into understanding -- you know, hang around after class and ask questions.

Jesus' statements in response to questioning is more concerning, but still within bounds. Jesus very existence demands a choice. You see this when He questions Peter:

²⁷ Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” ³⁰ Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. (Mark 8:27-30)

The person of Jesus demands a choice. And, given that people must commit to the kingdom of heaven to understand it, it's only natural that Jesus would present truths about the kingdom in a manner that demands a choice.