Matt, 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Skeptic C. Dennis McKinsey deems this statement illogical -- but how is this so? It is even on the surface no more so than the economic principle that capital breeds income, whereas a lack of capital brings ruin. (McKinsey, I am told, is a Marxist by belief; perhaps that is why he thinks this is illogical.)

However, our verse is not even economic in nature. It is in the midst of an explanation by Jesus as to why he teaches in parables -- it is to keep his teachings obscure to outsiders. This was not a practice of Jesus exclusively. Greek teachers like Plato, Pythagoras, and others always provided a "higher level" of teaching for their own students (Keener, Matthew commentary, 378ff). Jewish teachers too referred to the law as a mystery that was obscure to outsiders and to the wicked. Only those who "patiently press into the inner circle" will get the point. (For a bit more on this, see here.) Thus the application of our verse: Whoever has understanding, will be given more; whoever does not have understanding, what little he does understand, God will remove from their hearts.