Ears To Hear

Ears to Hear

Read: Luke 8:4-8

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Luke 8:8

“He who has Christ’s Spirit will find in [His teaching] a hidden manna.”

—Thomas à Kempis

IN WORD Jesus uses this imperative fourteen times in the Gospels and Revelation. It is a common but curious command in His teachings. And it raises a lot of questions for us. Why, for example, would the One who was sent to seek and to save us seem so casual about who hears and obeys? Why is He not pleading with the obstinate to repent?

We may never know some of the intricacies of God’s salvation—why some believe while others don’t. The reasons are mysterious to us. But one thing is clear: Jesus comes with the expectation that some will be ready to receive His message enthusiastically. And with that clear expectation comes the negative implication: Some will not. There are stubborn hearts in this world, listeners “without ears,” those who will not open themselves to the possibility of the truth of the Gospel. Even among believers, Jesus faced this resistance. Many who accepted His claims could not—or simply would not—accept all of His teachings (see John 6:60-66, for example). Then and now, we see a strange phenomenon—priceless, eternal truth is often not welcome in human hearts.

IN DEED This ability to hear has profound implications for unbelievers. Rebellious souls cannot hear the words of Jesus—really hear them—until they recognize and acknowledge their own insufficiency. (One of the greatest ironies of our age is that those who most often claim open-mindedness and the potentials of human enlightenment have completely shut their ears to Jesus.) But this concept also has profound implications for us. We, too, must always be on guard and aware of our insufficiency. Human nature gravitates toward rebellion and its inevitable result—deafness.

Jesus almost always uses this phrase after a difficult message. His hard teachings are often a stumbling block, but we can use them as a true test of the openness of our hearts. When Jesus’ words grate against our natural inclinations, we must ask ourselves, “Do I have ears to hear?” How we respond will indicate the condition of our hearts.