I have asked you what you think about Jesus' parables; now I will give my opinion (based on Brad Young and others).
Jesus intention with His parables was NEVER to confuse His audience. His intention with parables was to make His teaching easier to understand. Again, parables were meant to aid in understanding for His audience, not hide something from them.
"Then Geoff," you may ask, "why does Jesus say those who see don't see and those that hear don't hear?"
Jesus' statement is a matter of action on those who are in the audience. Will they be like people who hear His words and then do nothing with them, or will they hear His words and practice them in real life. Actually, Jesus is simply expounding on the parable of the soils He just told. What will people do when they hear the His words? Will they put them into practice (and produce a crop yielding 30, 60, or even a 100 times), or will they hear His words and do nothing with them (like seed on the path, or on rocky places, or among thorns)?
In the case of the disciples, they know Jesus' theology, and so when He speaks to the people in parables, they are expected to understand (because they have the "secret"). However, when they hear the parables (especially in Mark, by the way), they can't put the two together - His theology and His teaching.
And Jesus doesn't appreciate that. One can feel the tension when He explains the parable to His disciples.
The reason I brought up Mark 4:33-34 is that the audience shifts from His disciples to the crowd. Notice that Jesus used parables to help the people understand His theology. Unfortunately with the disciples, Jesus has to draw the connecting lines for them.
So the question still remains: what kind of soil are you? Or put another way, what are you DOING with what you KNOW? Are you connecting your theology with your actions?