Expert: Bruce Gourley - 10/29/2007

Question
What does Jesus mean in Mark 4:12 "That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." Doesn't Jesus want everybody converted and saved?

Answer
Hello Eddie,

To answer your question, yes, most Baptists believe that God (though Jesus) wants everyone saved. However, some Calvinistic Baptists believe God has predestined some persons to hell, and others to heaven.

As to Mark 4:12, I don't think it negates God's desire that all would be saved (and most Baptists, I think, would agree with me on this matter), but if you take that one verse (in which Jesus' quotes from Isaiah) and filter everything else in the Bible through it, then one could conclude that God does not want everyone saved. Filtering the entire Bible through any one verse can be dangerous! The Bible must be taken in context, as a whole.

I would say that Mark (the Gospel writer) included this story about Jesus as a way of showing that Jesus, in speaking in parables that not everyone understood, fulfilled some of the prophecies of Isaiah in the OT. The words of verse 12 are actually those of Isaiah, not of Christ.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Gourley
www.baptistlife.com
www.centerforbaptiststudies.org
www.brucegourley.com