Well, actually the main thrust of Christ’s ministry wasn’t to convert the masses. When we read the rest of the passage, you hear Jesus saying that the Kingdom will “start small and grow larger”. If Jesus converted everyone, then it would have started large. The main purpose of Christ’s ministry (as it pertains to education) was to train the disciples to replicate themselves while sharing the Good News. That ensures a widespread sharing of the Gospel over many years. Another purpose was to prove that He was truly God…and that was done by fulfilling prophecies that were made about Him many years ago. In this case, the Messiah is prophesied to speak and not be understood. Jesus could have spoken plainly to everyone, but then it wouldn’t have fulfilled the prophesy. In fact, had he spoken plainly, it could have had the opposite effect. Some could say “listen, we all understand and respond to what He is saying…when the Messiah comes people won’t listen”.
Another part of this scenario focuses on the condition of the listener, instead of the speaker. While a speaker may talk plainly, it is possible for a listener to completely miss the point because they aren’t hearing it correctly. When I was in school, I heard every single word the math teacher said… and I still didn’t understand algebra. I speak very plainly to my children (at least I think I do) and while I am talking I can see that they don’t hear a word I am saying.
I think something like that was going on when Jesus spoke to the crowds, because we hear the parables today and we can draw the right conclusions….they were either distracted or not interested. Or, maybe the Holy Spirit is giving us more insight than we know!
Attempting to listen intently,
PR