Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 13:11

"And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." — Matthew 13:11 (ASV)

The mysteries of the kingdom. The word mystery, in the Bible, properly means a thing that is concealed, or that has been concealed. It does not mean that the thing was incomprehensible, or even difficult to be understood. The thing might be plain enough if revealed, but it means simply that it had not been made known. Thus, the mysteries of the kingdom do not mean any doctrines incomprehensible in themselves, but simply doctrines about the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the new kingdom of the Messiah which had not been understood, and which were still concealed from the great body of the Jews. See Romans 16:26; Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:3, 4, 9.

Of this nature was the truth that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles, that the Jewish system was to cease, that the Messiah was to die, and so on. To the disciples it was given to know these truths. It was important for them, as they were to carry the gospel around the globe.

To the others it was not then given. They were too spiritually dull, too earthly; they had too earthly-minded conceptions of the Messiah's kingdom to understand these truths, even if presented.

They were not to preach it, and therefore our Savior took particular care to instruct his apostles. The Pharisees, and Jews generally, were not prepared for it, and would not have believed it, and therefore he purposely employed a kind of teaching that they did not understand.

Colossians 1:26–27; 1 John 2:27.