Some time back I made a trip to our local VA clinic about getting an upgrade to my hearing aids. I don’t go to the VA for much, but its audiology clinic is top shelf! My audiologist had a plaque on her wall that said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” That phrase “ears to hear” stuck in my mind and I found myself contemplating that thought for a few days. I did a search and found that phrase used by Jesus only a few times in His teaching (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, and 13:43; Mark 4:9 and 4:23; and Luke 8:8 and 14:35). In Matthew 11:15, Jesus was addressing the crowd about John the Baptist. He then made some statements about the Kingdom that were puzzling at best. Matthew 13:9, Mark 4:9, and Luke 8:8 were regarding the parable of the Sower. In Matthew 13:43, He told a parable about an enemy who sowed weeds in the wheat field. In Luke 14:35, Jesus wrapped up a series of puzzling statements by saying, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (ESV).

A pastor I know pointed out that Jesus, when asked by His disciples to explain these parables, told them that “to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11). He then quoted from Isaiah 6 in which Isaiah was rebuking the nation of Israel for its failure to heed the message God was sending through the prophets: “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” (Matthew 13:14-15). He then went on to say, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (13:16). So, what made the difference between the disciples and the crowd? The disciples had a willingness to hear!

God gets a bad rap these days, even by many Christians. I have had people tell me that the Bible is too hard to understand. People get confused by the symbols that are used. I’m no genius (no one ever accused Marine infantrymen of being the smartest guys on the block), but I find it easy to understand. Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and tax collectors. At least one was an insurgent (Simon the Zealot), and a couple were ordinary guys from “the hood.” But they “got it,” and the reason they got it was because they had ears to hear. Jesus knew that a lot of the crowd followed Him because of the miracles, the healings, and the fast-food deliveries. In John 6, He got down to some serious theology, and the crowd was not as cool with it. Their first response was, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). Shortly afterwards it says, “After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him” (6:66). He asked the disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” (v. 67). At this point Peter made an incredible confession: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68).

Having ears to hear is nothing more than having a willingness to hear the One who has the words of eternal life! These men walked with Jesus. Today we have the Holy Spirit who has been given to teach and guide us through this fallen world in which we live (John 14:26 and John 16:13). In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus dictated letters to seven churches in Asia. In each one He ended his letter by saying, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; and 3:22, emphasis mine).

Duh! How hard can that be? When we come to the Word, whether in our quiet time or at church, let’s quietly pray as Samuel did when the Lord first called to him: “Speak Lord, for your servant hears” (I Samuel 3:10). As you pray, prepare your heart to hear what the Spirit is speaking. God will speak to you in a way you can understand, and you’ll know that it is coming from Him. How cool is that?! What say ye, Man of Valor?