Mark 4:11

11 "You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables,

Mark 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 4:11

And he said unto them
His disciples;

unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God;
or the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the secrets of the Gospel dispensation, the mysterious doctrines of grace; (See Gill on Matthew 13:11),

but unto them that are without;
"to strangers", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, who were not the disciples of Christ, nor admitted to any intimacy with him; who came only to amuse themselves with the sight of his person and miracles:

all [these] things are done in parables;
are wrapped up in dark sayings, and figurative expressions, the sound of which they heard, and might be pleased with the pretty similes made use of, but understood not the spiritual meaning of them.

Mark 4:11 In-Context

9 And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

10 When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the twelve disciples and asked him to explain the parables.

11 "You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables,

12 so that, "They may look and look, yet not see; they may listen and listen, yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn to God, and he would forgive them.' "

13 Then Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable?