In Luke 8, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who scatters seed over various types of ground - soil, gravel, weedy patches, a footpath. He explains that the parable is so that those who don’t get it, won’t get it. It seems from most translations like Jesus is actually saying he speaks in parables to confuse the outsiders. Eugene Peterson words it differently in The Message:
You’ve been given insight into God’s Kingdom - you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren’t going to get it:
“Their eyes are open, but they don’t see a thing…”
While this cannot be justified as a translation, perhaps it’s true both ways: Jesus did communicate in a fairly straightforward way, intending that we would understand him, but it’s still possible to miss his meaning, and some people cannot understand what he’s saying because of the condition of their own selves.
That we would find ourselves in the Story he is telling in the universe.