estioned him about the parables. He answered, 'To you the secret of the kingdom of God has been given; but to those who are outside, everything comes by way of parables, so that (as scripture says) they may look and look, but see nothing; they may listen and listen, but understand nothing; otherwise they might turn to God and be forgiven.'
             Some theologians have interpreted this passage as signifying a "certain in-group who alone understand the parables".
             However, this elitism also seems to contradict Jesus well known attention to those who are considered "outsiders" by society of his day such as tax collectors and prostitutes. Moreover, the final line of the above passage appears to have Jesus saying that He must confuse His listeners with parables or else they may "turn to God and be forgiven"! When one considers that one of the key reasons of Jesus' incarnation in the world was to attain forgiveness for the sins of humanity, this explanation of the purpose of parables seems to defy rational comprehension.
             Some theologians have addressed this problem by arguing that the passage as it exists in most modern Gospels today is actually a corruption or mistranslation from the original Aramaic, where "otherwise they might turn" (dil ma) should be read as "unless".
             In this analysis, repentance may be seen as the key to understanding the parables, rather than the parables being seen as an obstruction to repentance. However, while this resolves one problem is does not deal with the apparent question of interpretative elitism in the parables.
             Some Biblical scholars contend that the distinction between "inside" and "outside" made here is not one of association but one of faith. From this perspective, those "outside" are those who do not seek repentance and refuse to witness Christ's ministry:
             "Inside" and "outside" are existential, religious categories, determined by the kind of response one makes to the demands of Jesus. One of ...