“He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:9 ESV1
Read Matthew 13:10-17, Mark 4:9-13 & Luke 8:9-10
When you explain something to someone and he/she responds, “I see,” you know that person comprehends. When you share something from your heart and another says, “I hear you,” you feel understood. To see means more than having eyes that can visually discern something. To hear means more than perceiving with one’s ears a sound which is being made. When another seeks to understand or makes an effort to give us his/her full attention, we feel honored, appreciated, even loved. Eagerness to be understood isn’t a longing merely of humans; it is also a desire of the Divine.
When Jesus first began His earthly ministry, He plainly taught those who followed Him. For the most part, His teaching was accepted enthusiastically (see Matthew 7:28-29). When Jesus first started dispensing healings, casting out demons, and performing miracles, “the crowds saw it … and they glorified God” (Matthew 9:8a). But it wasn’t long before Jesus began to experience persecution from religious leaders and face rejection and misunderstanding from some of those closest to Him. It was at this point in Jesus’ ministry that He changed up His communication style. It was then that Jesus began to teach in parables. “With many such parables He spoke the word to them … He did not speak to them without a parable” (Mark 4:33-34a). “As He said these things, He called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’” (Luke 8:9-10).
Jesus didn’t change the way He taught to reduce harassment, clear up misunderstandings, or to placate the ever-growing, entertainment-addicted multitude that crowded around Him. Jesus taught in parables, first of all, because God ordained it would be so. “All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, He said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet [Isaiah]: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 13:34-35). Secondly, Jesus communicated through parables to reveal deeper truths to those who genuinely desired to hear and understand Him.
“Jesus went out … and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about Him so that He got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And He told them many things in parables” (Matthew 13:1-3a). “And He said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’” (Mark 4:9).
“Then the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ And He answered them, ‘To you, it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them, it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears, they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear’” (Matthew 13:10-16).
In a society where the concept of grace has been distorted, the thought that a loving God would grant to some to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and others not seems totally unfair. But it is not that Jesus doesn’t want to share the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven with everyone. Not everyone cares to accept them.
“As [Jesus taught in parables], He called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear’” (Luke 8:9). Obviously, most of the people within earshot of Jesus had functioning ears. They physically could hear the words Jesus spoke, but it took something more for them to spiritually understand His words. The Amplified Bible translates Matthew 13:11-12 like this: “‘To you, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them, it has not been granted. For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him’” (Matthew 13:12, AMP2).
“Unwillingness on the part of the people to receive Jesus’ message of the kingdom was the reason that He taught in parables. The truths of the kingdom of God were heard by them but not understood. It was not because God was hiding the truth from them-it was because they did not want to hear … This points to a great truth. God [had] given the people every chance to accept the message of Jesus. His ministry was attested by miracles. He offered the proper credentials as the Messiah, yet they did not believe Him. The realities of the kingdom, therefore, were not theirs to know. The people who believed in Jesus as the Messiah would understand the parables. They would comprehend the great truths of the kingdom of God … The great majority of the people in Jesus’ day were not interested in God’s truth. Jesus clearly said, ‘Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13:13).”3
Those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah could understand the parables and comprehend the great truths of the kingdom of God because they had what was necessary to be receptive to and understand God’s Word. “A parable is basically an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.”3 The heavenly meaning of these earthly stories could only be understood with the help of God Himself. A Tool was “granted [to the disciples] to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 13:11, NASB4) in response to their desire for God and the things of God. Similarly, once we choose to follow and commit our lives to Jesus, we too receive this Tool; this Tool is known as the Holy Spirit. Anyone who is a Child of God has access to the power which reveals the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus taught, “‘If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him’” (Luke 11:13)! The one who asks God the Father for the Holy Spirit will find that his/her unstopped spiritual ears enable him/her to hear from God.
When one has been gifted the Holy Spirit and is receptive to words of God, more and more power of understanding to uncover an abundance of spiritual treasures will be given him/her. John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, encouraged those to whom he ministered, “You have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge … The anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in Him” (1 John 2: 20 & 27). What an awesome privilege for those whose spiritual ears are tuned to the Holy Spirit who abides in them.
The Apostle Paul explains the abiding relationship between the ever-communicating Holy Spirit and the ever-receptive disciple of Christ in this way: “We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory … these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1Corinthians 2:7-8, 10-16).
As it was when Jesus ministered on Earth, it is in our time. The great majority of the people in our day are not interested in God’s truth either. Indeed, they are unable to comprehend the wisdom of God because they do not have the power to do so. They have a veil over their spiritual eyes and blockages in their spiritual ears largely because they have no desire for the things of God. In fact, many are hostile toward God. Because of that, they are suspectable to all manner of lies from Satan himself.
Sadly, like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, today there are also those who are religious and believe they right with God, but they also do not have the power to “know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 13:11) or “impart the secret and hidden wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 2:7) to others. They cannot put to use the mind of Christ because they do not desire to have a deeper relationship with God. They have not unstopped their spiritual ears because they don’t care to know the hidden truths of God. The Holy Spirit is a Gentleman; He will not force Himself into areas where He has not been invited. Because they have not made themselves available to the Holy Spirit, these ones can be similarly manipulated by Satan as those who have no interest in religion at all. Of these, Jesus said, “‘From the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away’” (Luke 8:18b). In their cases, even what they think they have understood about Jesus and His teachings will not benefit them.
Let it not be said of us, “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For [your hearts have] grown dull, and with [your] ears [you] can barely hear, and [your] eyes [you] have closed, lest [you] should see with [your] eyes and hear with [your] ears and understand with [your] heart and turn, and I would heal [you]’” (Matthew 13:14b-15). Instead, may we have the attitude and giftedness of the disciples, so when God shows us something, we can exclaim, “I see,” and when He speaks, we can confidently declare, “I hear You!” It is then that we will be able to bless God.
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2 Scripture quotations marked with AMP are from The Holy Bible, Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631.
3 https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_1345.cfm
Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995.