Having Ears That Hear

Sid Latham
10/11/14 - Bulletin

Jesus uttered this proclamation on the heels of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:9). It has been said to be an invitation to give special consideration to what has been said to listen carefully and then respond. That is certainly true. However, this exhortation and the many like it in the New Testament are pregnant with meaning and warning.

As the quotation in Matthew 13:14-15 indicates, this “ears to hear” language is drawn from Isaiah 6:9-10. Isaiah is commanded to

Go, and tell this people:
“Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.”
Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.
(Isaiah 6.9-10)

Why would God tell the prophet to do this? It is the divine response to their idolatry! In Isaiah 44:9-17, there is a vivid picture of a man who cuts down a tree and uses part of it as firewood, part of it for cooking and part of it for fashioning into a god. Immediately after this the prophet says,

“They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!’” 
(Isaiah 44:18-19).

Their idolatry had made them insensitive to truth.

This idea is driven home in Psalm 115. The Psalmist says about idols,

“They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell...”
(Psalms 115:5-6).

He then says, “Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them” (Psalm 115.8). As G. K Beale observed, “They became as spiritually lifeless as their idols” (NIGTC on Revelation, p. 239).

It is this spiritual insensitivity that caused Jesus to speak in parables in the first place. Up to this point in Matthew, Jesus' teaching had been relatively straightforward. He now changes His teaching method. When the disciples ask why, He says, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted” (Matthew 13:11). He goes on to say, “I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matthew 13:13). Jesus spoke in parables because much of His audience were carnal. They had become spiritually insensitive because their hearts were set on the things of the world.

However, even the disciples are not immune. In the case ofJesus’ sermon in Matthew 13, they long to know the word of God and consequently open their “ears” to Jesus’ word. However, later on they too demonstrate a disappointing level of insensitivity to God's revelation. In Mark 8:18, Jesus asks them, “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?” They had witnessed the feeding of the five thousand and four thousand, but because they were focused on the physical, they were insensitive to what was right in fruit of them.

Having ears to hear is not an intellectual exercise. You don't have to be smart to be faithful. In fact, it often gets in the way (Matthew 11:25-26). Having ears to hear is not necessarily a function of being a “good Bible student.” The scribes and Pharisees knew the Old Testament. However, there were “idols” that prevented them from hearing. They were lovers of money (Luke 16:14). They cared more for the approval of men than the approval of God (Matthew 23:2-5). Because their hearts were full of the world, the scriptures they knew so well did not penetrate. We can end up in the same place. All of us have had the experience of knowing one thing and doing another. The technical term for this is sin!

If we would have ears to hear, we must get our hearts right. Paul describes this process well when he says, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth'' (Colossians 3:1-2). When the redemptive work of Christ on the cross comes to fill our hearts, our eyes and ears will be open to the word of God.

— In Biblical Insights, August 2014

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