There are many different theories as to what the secret of the Kingdom is to which Jesus refers in Mark 4:11. Speculations range from the timing of the coming of the Kingdom, to baptismal entrance into the Kingdom, and even some very wild speculations about the “secret.” The question is whether we are left by Mark to only speculate as to what that secret is or whether he gives the reader the information to be able to know what the secret is. I believe that Mark does give the information necessary to no what the secret is. The information is never given overtly but neither does Mark completely withhold the information.
So what is the secret? I believe that the crux of the secret to which Jesus was referring was that He was not the kind of Messiah and this was not the physical kind of Kingdom that the Jews were expecting. It was, rather a spiritual Kingdom, and He was the Son of God rather than a mere prophet that would lead them out from under Roman rule.
In the first chapter of Mark, there seems to be a theme of Jesus not yet wishing who He is to be revealed. Although other accounts of Jesus’ baptism show that this was a public event, Mark’s account does not mention anyone being present beyond Jesus and John. If one were to read only Mark’s account, it might seem that this was a very private event. Beyond that, there are two separate incidents in the first chapter of Mark where Jesus does not want the demons to reveal who he is (1:25; 1:34). In verse 44, we find Jesus ordering a man that He had just healed of leprosy to not say anything about this to anyone. The man didn’t listen, and Mark stresses the trouble that this caused Jesus (v. 45).
In the second, third, and fourth chapters, the emphasis seems to switch. Jesus is slightly more forthcoming with who He is than in the first chapter. He even gives himself the moniker “Son of Man,” which although does have Messianic ties with the book of Daniel, is still somewhat stealth in the identification of who is really is. This section of Mark stresses the aspect of Jesus’ ministry in which He emphasizes the spiritual over the physical. He is giving clues that this Kingdom is not the physical type that the Jews were expecting. In His healing of the paralytic, Jesus makes it very clear that the spiritual act of forgiving sins is more difficult and more important than the physical healing (2:1-12). He does heal the man but only as a means to show that He has the capability of doing the more important spiritual work of forgiving sins. In His subsequent conversation with the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath, Jesus is shown once again to stress the Spiritual aspect over the physical one. In verse 27, He argues that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus was teaching them that the Sabbath is more important as a time of spiritual rest than a physical law to be adhered to rigidly. In verse 4 of chapter 3, Mark shows Jesus stressing that it is more important to follow the spirit of the law rather than a strict legalistic adherence to it. The message Jesus was bringing was one far different from what the Jews were expecting.
Mark continues this theme of emphasizing the spiritual aspects over physical, earthly aspects in Mark 3:31-35. Jesus here says that His real family is His spiritual one. Those who do the will of God will take precedence over his physical, earthly family. Once again, Jesus is shown focusing in on the spiritual rather than the physical.
In chapter 4, the passage that leads up directly to Jesus stating that “the secret of the Kingdom of God has been given” to His disciples, Jesus tells a parable that has everything to do with the response of the heart to the spiritual message of the gospel. Entrance into the Kingdom was a matter of the heart responding in a spiritual manner. This was not going to be a strictly physical Kingdom. Jesus did not come to be an earthly, physical ruler. Rather He came to give the secret to those who would soften their hearts that the Kingdom of God was a spiritual Kingdom that could be entered through the heart.
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