He Who Has Ears

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Jesus concludes many of His parables with this somewhat amusing little comment. I mean, come on, how many people do not have ears? Now, the truth is we all know that Jesus is not referring to physical ears. Nor is He referring to the auditory reception of sound that we often call "hearing". We all know that what He is really saying is that those who are really listening will understand what He was saying in His parable.

Now, consider this diagnostic. You're a "doctor" of sorts, and this statement is offered. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." You examine a "patient" and find out that he did not "hear" in the sense of "get it", "understand." Given this statement from Jesus, what do you conclude? To me, the conclusion is obvious, but apparently it seems to elude others. I would conclude that the person who failed to "hear" in this sense is lacking the necessary "ears" to which Jesus is referring. That is, the person that has these "ears" will "hear", and if you don't "hear", it's because you lack "ears".

This flies in the face of most beliefs, even among Christians. Everyone has ears. Everyone can hear. They just don't. But the question of "Why do some believe and some don't?" has plagued Christianity for centuries. Oh, usually it's asked in other terms. "If God is real, why is He so hard to find?" "Just because you believe it doesn't make it true." (A true statement, by the way, but irrelevant.) The real puzzler is why is it that an evangelist can go door to door, presenting the same gospel to everyone in your neighborhood, and you receive it while others do not. Hey, mister, where'd you get them ears?

Maybe you remember when the disciples in Matthew 13 were puzzled over Jesus's use of parables. "What's up with that?"

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'" (Matt. 13:10-15).

Jesus responds to them with a quote from Isaiah. The Isaiah 6 reference says that some listeners' ears are dulled by God's divine will. It is His plan. Jesus says that others don't understand because "to them it has not been given."

Many people seem to have the misconception that Christianity is based on propositional truths that, if they can be demonstrated, will convince people to believe. While it is true that Christianity is based on propositional truths, it is not true that we can convince people. According to God, "this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed." According to Paul, the problem isn't that truth is elusive; the problem is that it is suppressed (Rom. 1:18). Our job is to present the truth. That is best accomplished, according to the Bible, by the proper presentation of the Word (Rom. 10:17). But we do not impart faith. Our job is to get the Word from our mouths to their ears. God's job is to get it from their ears to their hearts. If we would just rely on God's methodology (the preaching of the Word and living Christ in front of others), I suspect we'd find much better results than we find trying to salve the seeker and entertain the questioner. Remember ... they don't have ears.