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The disciples asked him, "Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?"
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Jesus answered, "Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd.
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Those who understand [these mysteries] will be given [more knowledge], and they will excel [in understanding them]. However, some people don't understand [these mysteries]. Even what they understand will be taken away from them.
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This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they're blind. They hear, but they don't listen. They don't even try to understand.
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So they make Isaiah's prophecy come true: 'You will hear clearly but never understand. You will see clearly but never comprehend.
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These people have become close-minded and hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that their eyes never see. Their ears never hear. Their minds never understand. And they never return to me for healing!'
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"Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear.
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I can guarantee this truth: Many prophets and many of God's people longed to see what you see but didn't see it, to hear what you hear but didn't hear it.
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"Listen to what the story about the farmer means.
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Someone hears the word about the kingdom but doesn't understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates.
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The seed planted on rocky ground [is the person who] hears the word and accepts it at once with joy.