Originally Posted by His Noodly Appendage

Jesús a sus discipulos: En verdad os digo, y = x^2
Los discipulos comentan entre si, y dice Pedro: "Maestro, no entendemos..."
Jesus: "Es una parabola, brutos!"

Originally Posted by John Kesler

It's possible that Mark's intent was apologetic, to explain why Jesus, or perhaps later Christians, got rejected. Jesus didn't fail; he was intentionally obscure. Later gospel writers put their own spin on Jesus' words:



Notice that Luke agrees with Mark that the parables were purposefully enigmatic, but Luke changes "for those outside" to "others," thus reducing the number of people hindered from understanding. For Matthew, speaking in parables was punishment for, not the cause of, unbelief on the part of the crowd--"those who have nothing." GThomas doesn't provide a narrative (it is, after all, a sayings gospel), but also states that Jesus didn't reveal his message to everyone.

Originally Posted by Andreas83

Thanks! Interesting. One thing though: is "those outside" necessarily a lesser amount than "others"?