Civic, I do not know how much time I have to give to this question, but the answer is so simple it almost slaps one upside the head. This is a dispensation division in the scriptures. It is the close of one time frame with it's rules and instructions by the failure and unbelief of the people to believe and obey God. Jesus Christ had been preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven was at hand and the king Messiah that had been prophesied and promised in the OT that he would come to this nation and to his people and redeem them and be their King. Matt 1 through 12 records this message and the reaction of this nation and people to his claims. They, in their national leaders not only rejected him but began to make plans to put him to death, which they did later. It was beacuse of this that Jesus Christ began speaking in parables for the reason he gave, to blind these Christ rejectors to the truths going forward in a new age with different divine rules. It does not take a mental heavyweight to reason that the rules of God after the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ is drastically different than before the cross.
This Matthew 13 came near the end of the ministry of Jesus Christ and one can read Matthew 10-12 and see that it is harvest time. It is at the end of the season and Jesus opines that there are not enough laborers to send into his harvest. It is ripe and ready to reap. Considering the nation, he has cast out all the devils and the house is ready for the Holy Spirit to dwell in it. The prophesy is that the devils he cast out will come back with other devils and the last end of that house (family) will be 7 times worse than before. Every one of the parables of Jesus is about the end of something and the beginning of something else.
So the answer to the question is because they did not believe plain words. This is still a problem today.
Now, Jesus said this nation had committed the unpardonable sin and they would no longer have the opportunity at this time to be saved and receive their national salvation as was promised in the OT prophets. Jesus actually said these words about these people who are Jews.
Matt 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Now Jesus did not speak to this nation in parables before this unpardonable sin. This sin however is not about individuals but about a nation. We read in the NT that national leaders like Saul of Tarsus and others like him repented and was saved from their sins and became Christians. Those who will be saved in this age must have a divine teacher indwelling them to teach them the truths of this mystery kingdom age. The Spirit of God fills the scene in this new age and Jesus has died and has been buried and has risen from the dead. The Spirit of God who indwelt his body has been sent to earth to indwell and teach those who will believe and be saved.
Like the previous age, this age is likened to a growing season. it begins with a man sowing in a field in the beginning of a season. This is Acts 2: 1-7 where the gospel is preached in Jerusalem (the hardest soil on earth) and Judaea. Then he sows in a more productive part of the field, Acts 8, Samaria. Later he sows in the largest part of the field, the world of the gentiles, and it brings mush fruit. This is in Acts 10 and going forward to this very day. These 7 parables gives us characteristics of this whole age and much resistance during the growing season. Last of all he describes the harvest. It has been some 2 thousand years and we are still not there, but we are very close. The King is away and he has appointed stewards over his holdings while he is gone. They will give account of their stewardship when he returns. It is called the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven because Jesus really did come to set up his kingdom but it required his subjects to be born again first. This was not a subjct of his OT prophets because it was his legitimate goal. This was the generation that had the responsibility to receive him and when they did not, he made plans to seek other subjects for this mystery kingdom to suppliment the small remnant of Jewish subjects who bowed the knee to him in grateful appreciation and faith.
Reasoning this out, it was the disciples who had been preaching the gospel of the kingdom with him who asked him why he was speaking to the Jews in parables. Does anyone think this would be a question to be asked after 3 years of ministering with Jesus? No, this mystery kingdom is something new and he is explaining it through parables in order to keep it from those who will not submit to him. Until this point he had spoken plainly to Israel without parables but with miracles and signs and healings. John, another apostle says so.
Jn 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Jesus had just given the parable of the good shepherd, claiming that he is the good shepherd. These Jews were not his sheep because they believed not. It is what the text says.
There is good reason to believe with understanding and the truth is reasonable and logical if one believes the words.
Simple issue that contradicts your claim.....
His disciples were of that very same nation. Thusly, it can not be an issue relative to national Israel. The apostles and disciples were of that very nation.
I believe it is common for Calvinists to construct elaborate scenarios to confuse others.
The parable of the sower is not difficult to understand because of how Jesus presented the teaching. It was difficult for them to understand because of WHY they sought Jesus. You said this was late in the ministry of Jesus. I don't know how exactly you determine this. I disagree completely.
Jesus says something to a crowd following him that explains why Jesus did what He did and spoke the way He spoke.
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
They did not seek Jesus for the right reasons. They sought Jesus because they believed what the Rabbis taught them. That Messiah would come to free them and force all other nations to "bow at their feet". Do you know that Judaism still teaches this? Rabbis still teach that God will bring every nation to their knees for Israel.
There is only ONE HEIR. ONE HEIR along. That HEIR is Jesus Christ.
Here is..... standing right in front of them..... and they were only thinking of themselves.
I am not sure what you think the purpose of God in creation and particularly on the earth is but there certainly has been no mystery to it until Matthew 13. He created Adam with the everlasting life of God in him to have dominion over the everlasting earth. Satan usurped this authority of Adam by subtilty and Adam sinned and Satan became the god of this world. God set in motion his plan to renew what Adam lost and it became the work of God in the redemption of man and the elimination of sin from his creation.
The Bible story, front to back, is about God restoring the dominion of man over the earth. It is about the kingdom of God on earth.
Ps 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Ge 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Da 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Ps 47:2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Mt 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mt 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (of the kingdom of heaven Mt 13), lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel (Mt 13), until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Re 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
One is not in good standing with God by believing is a Jesus, the words of whose Father you deny.
We have not got to the end of the prophetic book yet.
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let [him] go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
