Mark 4:34

χωρὶς παραβολῆς, etc., without a parable He was not wont to speak to the people, not merely that day, but at any time. ἐπέλυε, etc., He was in the habit of interpreting all things (viz., the parables in private to His own disciples, the Twelve, cf. ἐπιλύσεως, 2 Peter 1:20). This does not necessarily imply that the multitude understood nothing, but only that Jesus, by further talk, made the disciples understand better. Yet on the whole it must be admitted that in his account of Christ's parabolic teaching Mark seems to vacillate between two opposite views of the function of parables, one that they were used to make spiritual truths plain to popular intelligence, the other that they were riddles, themselves very much needing explanation, and fitted, even intended, to hide truth. This second view might be suggested and fostered by the fact that some of the parables express recondite spiritual truths.