QUESTION: In the gospel of Matthew chapter 13 and verse 9 the Lord Jesus told the people, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." What did He mean by that statement?

ANSWER: This statement, which is repeated eight times in the gospels, was an appeal by the Lord to His listeners to open their hearts to hear the meaning in the parables that He spoke to them. The ears are really the gateway to the heart. If our hearts are closed to the truth, we may hear or read the words in the Bible but we will not understand them.

The majority of the people to whom the Lord spoke these words had turned away from Him in their hearts. The following words from the Lord, which are a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 6:9,10, declare that fact very clearly. "By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:14,15).

The disciples had wondered why the Lord spoke to the crowd in parables. His answer in verse eleven is most solemn and instructive. Jesus answered and said, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries (truths that had not yet been revealed) of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." The hearts of the disciples were already open to the truth so they could know and understand the truths that were hidden in these parables.

So it is the same for us today. If we have felt our great need of the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour and our ears have been opened to hear Him say to us, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28), then the Lord Jesus by His Holy Spirit will lead us into more and more of the precious truths of His Word. "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31,32).

If, however, we have never felt our great need of Him to be our personal Saviour, then we will not be able to hear Him speaking to us in His Word. The Lord Jesus appeals to you, then, unsaved reader, by these same words, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Another has written, "The natural man may learn of Christ; the spiritual man alone can learn to know Him." For "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

There must be the hearing ear before Christ's words can be understood. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear My word" (John 8:43).

How good to say with Samuel, "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth" (1 Samuel 3:9). May we also say with David, "I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly" (Psalm 85:8).

—John D. McNeil