I've Got a Secret - Mark 4:10-11

"When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. He answered them, 'The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables" (Mark 4:10-11. HCSB).

Jesus made this statement to the twelve apostles after telling the all-familiar parable of the sower.

Now, a secret is usually some knowledge or information that one keeps hidden from others. But sometimes a secret is knowledge or information that is unknown to others but should be revealed.

A television show aired during most of the 1950's and 1960's called I've Got A Secret. On the show celebrity panelists tried to determine a contestant's secret by asking questions. The contestant's secret was something that was unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person, but always something the viewer would be interested in knowing and the contestant wanted to share with the television audience.

Such is the case with the Kingdom of God. According to Jesus, only some know about it, yet He set in motion a sequence of events so everyone could know about it.

Jesus told the twelve disciples whom He had appointed as apostles to go preach the message of His Kingdom (vs. 3:14). Since these twelve knew and believed that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, then they believed also that His Kingdom had come, or at least was very near.

And the secret of the Kingdom of God was that Jesus, the Son of God, had come to Earth to be born as One fully human and fully God, to die for the sins of the world, to be resurrected and become King over God's Kingdom. And everyone who pledges their allegiance to King Jesus can be saved from eternal destruction and receive eternal life in God's Kingdom.

In other words, God has invaded this world and is at work to bring about the consummation of His Kingdom!

Although this world of human beings has not completely submitted to the rule and reign of God, one day in the future God’s Kingdom will reign supreme on the Earth. While the rule and reign of God has entered into the present age largely unseen, it is nevertheless actively at work occupying the human race.

After Jesus had explained the meaning parable of the sower to the Twelve, He then told them to tell their secret to others by using their light, their knowledge and experience of the Kingdom of God, to light the way for others: "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it to be put on a lamp stand? For nothing is concealed except to be revealed, and nothing hidden except to come to light" (vs. 21-22).