The reign of God is a reality that can only be announced in parables. It is a “mystery,” at once both hidden and revealed: the characteristic language of parable…. The announcement of the kingdom will not of itself automatically open [people’s] eyes to its presence, for the reign of God is present under the form not of power, but of weakness. It is strictly a mystery, a reality that remains hidden unless it is revealed by the action of God. […]
The supreme parable, the supreme deed by which the reign of God is both revealed and hidden, is the cross…. Here is the supreme parable: the reign of God hidden and manifest in the dying of a condemned and excommunicated man; the fullness of God’s blessing bestowed in the accursed death of the cross. Who could believe this unless it was given to them by an act of God’s sovereign grace? To know the power and the wisdom of God in the weakness and foolishness of the cross is not an achievement of ordinary human discernment. It is not the work of “flesh and blood.” It is the gift of God to those who are called to receive it (1 Cor 1:24). That the cross is indeed victory and not defeat is made manifest in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is not the reversal of a defeat but the manifestation of a victory.