There ought to be a curiosity in every follower of Jesus, a desire to know Him more deeply, to understand His Word more clearly, and to keep asking questions when something doesn’t make sense.

In Mark 4:10–12, Jesus has finished teaching the crowds through parables. When He is alone, the twelve disciples and others who are with Him come to ask what He meant. They had heard Jesus speak, but they didn’t fully understand. Instead of walking away confused, they came closer.

That simple response reveals something important about discipleship: you don’t have to understand everything to keep following Jesus. But you do have to be willing to learn.

The disciples were not spiritual beginners in the sense that they had never encountered Jesus. They had been walking with Him, listening to Him, and watching Him perform miracles. Yet even they had questions.

These were the men Jesus would eventually send into the world to proclaim the gospel, and they still needed Jesus to explain things to them.
That should encourage us.

You can be a leader and still have questions. You can teach others and still need to be taught. You can know Scripture and still encounter a passage that makes you stop and say, “Lord, what are You saying here?”

There is nothing wrong with not knowing. The problem is becoming comfortable with not knowing.

Sometimes we feel pressure to pretend that we understand the Bible more than we actually do. We may be afraid that someone will discover we don't know the answer to a theological question or that we don't understand a difficult passage. But there is humility in saying, “I don't know. Let me study it. Let me ask. Let me learn.”

The disciples modeled that humility. They didn't pretend to understand Jesus. They asked Him. And their questions brought them closer to the One who could give them clarity.

Jesus' words in Mark 4 can initially sound difficult:
“To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside everything is in parables…”
—Mark 4:11

Jesus is drawing from the language of Isaiah 6, where Isaiah is commissioned to preach to a people who would hear God's message but refuse to receive it.

The issue was not that God's Word was unclear or that God was unwilling to reveal Himself. The problem was the condition of the people's hearts.

Some people hear Jesus and become more curious. They want to know more. They lean in. They ask questions. They open the Scriptures and search for understanding. Others hear the same Jesus and have already decided they don't want to listen.

Same Jesus. Same revelation. Different reception.

That is one of the significant lessons behind Jesus' parables. The person who genuinely wants to know is invited to look closer, while the person who has already hardened himself against the truth can hear the very same words and refuse to receive them.

This means that our posture matters.

A curious heart says, “Jesus, help me understand.”
A resistant heart says, “I don't care what Jesus has to say.”

The difference is not simply intelligence. It is willingness.

For some people, the barrier to hearing Jesus isn't intellectual. It's personal.

Maybe a preacher failed you. Maybe a church hurt you. Maybe someone who claimed to represent Christianity treated you in a way that made you question the faith altogether.
Those experiences can be painful and legitimate. But we have to be careful not to allow the failures of people to become our final conclusion about Jesus.

Jesus is not that preacher. Jesus is not that church. Jesus is greater than the people who have misrepresented Him. If you've become uncertain about Christianity, don't stop at the people who disappointed you. Get curious about Jesus Himself. Read the Gospels. Look at His life. Pay attention to what He said. Watch how He treated people. Consider His compassion, His authority, His holiness, His death, and His resurrection.

Go meet Jesus in the Scriptures.

One of the beautiful things about faith is that you don't need to have every answer before you can begin following Jesus. You may not know every verse or doctrine. You may not know how to explain every theological question. You may still have questions about the Bible. That doesn't mean you aren't a Christian. It means you're still learning.

The Christian life is not a test where you have to pass an exam before you're allowed to follow Jesus. It is a relationship in which we continually grow in our knowledge of Him.
Paul says in Romans 5 that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Jesus didn't wait until we had everything figured out before He gave Himself for us.

So don't be ashamed of the places where you are still learning. Bring your questions to Jesus. Bring your confusion to Scripture. Bring your uncertainty to prayer. And keep listening.

Lord Jesus, give me a heart that wants to know You. When I encounter something in Your Word that I don't understand, keep me from becoming frustrated or complacent. Give me humility to ask questions, wisdom to seek answers, and patience to continue learning.

Open my eyes that I may see and my ears that I may hear. Protect me from becoming so convinced of what I already believe that I stop listening to You.

Help me not simply to know about You, but to know You. And when I don't understand, teach me to lean in rather than walk away.

Amen.