He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The word "mysteries" х musteeria (G3466)] in Scripture is not used in its classical sense-of 'religious secrets,' nor yet of 'things incomprehensible, or in their own nature difficult to be understood'-but in the sense of 'things of purely divine revelation,' and, usually, 'things darkly announced under the ancient economy, and during all that period darkly understood, but fully published under the Gospel' (1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Ephesians 3:3-6; Ephesians 3:8-9). "The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," then, mean those glorious Gospel truths which at that time only the more advanced disciples could appreciate, and they but partially.
But to them it is not given (See the note at Matthew 11:25.) Parables serve the double purpose of revealing and concealing; presenting 'the mysteries of the kingdom' to those who know and relish them, though in never so small a degree, in a new and attractive light; but to those who are insensible to spiritual things yielding only, as so many tales, some temporary entertainment.