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Eyes To See And Ears To Hear
11-26-11
Matthew 13:1-17 (NIV 1984)
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
Most of us have heard someone say “The bible is very confusing and everyone seems to have a different interpretation of the meaning”. That kind of comment seems like a very logical assumption to most of us. But let’s think about it for a moment. If God, who is all knowing, wanted to tell us something important, then why would he make it so complicated and confusing that very few understood it. Obviously, that doesn’t makes much sense. So if God is extremely intelligent and he knows how we think then he surely knows how to communicate to us. Then where does all the confusion and misunderstanding come from?
Notice in verse 13:9 above Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him hear”. At that point the disciples of Jesus said why do you speak to the people in parables? Jesus answered them in verse eleven above saying, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are given to you, but not to them. So Jesus says that the reason some people do not understand God or the bible is because God does not let them. Let’s look at a few more verses that show us how God speaks to certain people but not to everyone.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Here we get another clear example that God only gives the secrets of the kingdom of heaven to certain people, not to everyone. So if God only lets certain people hear him then how does he decide who gets to hear and who does not.
Notice in verse Matthew 13:15 above it refers to some people having a "calloused heart". And their calloused heart “keeps them from hearing” God. So if there is any confusion or difficulty relating to hearing from God or understanding the bible then the problem is not with God or the bible. The problem of understanding is with the people. Some have a "calloused heart" and some do not. So what exactly does it mean to have a "calloused heart"? Look at the verse below.
Ezekiel 11:17-20 (NIV 1984)
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
God tells us in verse nineteen above that he will give people a "new spirit" and remove their "heart of stone" and give them a "heart of flesh". And notice in verse twenty that God says after the people get a "new spirit" and a "new heart" the people will follow his laws. So when we have a “heart of stone or a calloused heart” we do not want to obey God’s laws. And if we do not obey his laws we can not hear God or God will not let us hear him. But if he gives us a heart of flesh then we will want to obey his laws and then we will hear his words. Now notice in verse nineteen it also says that God will put a "new spirit" in the people. What is the relationship between a new spirit and wanting to obey God? The next bible reference explains that for us.
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the
4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the
The verses above explain that to actually join God’s family we must be “born of the Spirit”. When we are first born by our mother we are born of water. As we are in our mother’s body we live inside a membrane filled with water. But when we are "born again" we are born by God’s Holy Spirit. Once we are "born of the Spirit" we then have the Spirit of God in us and he makes it possible for us to hear God or understand the bible or to understand God’s kingdom secrets.
The bible verses in Ezekiel above describes the exact same process that we must go through to get “born again” or “receive the Spirit of God”. This process is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3:1-8 above. So the bible tells us in the “Old Testament” that some day “there will be a process” that God will make available to people. And Jesus tells us in the “New Testament” that the “time is now here” for us to receive the Holy Spirit. So we now have the opportunity to submit to God and his commands by asking him to forgive us of our sins and give us his Holy Spirit so he will live in us. The verse below tells us about the spirit of God living in us.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
The verse above confirms that when we get "born again" the Spirit lives in us. The next thing we need to understand is the Holy Spirit is given to us from God so that the Spirit can teach us about spiritual things. In other words, we will have “ears to hear” after the Spirit comes inside us. The next verses confirm that the Spirit teaches us once he lives in us.
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he “cannot understand them”, because they are spiritually discerned.
In verse fourteen above we see that people “without the Spirit” in them “can not hear” God or understand the bible. And that is because hearing God is “spiritually discerned”. People who have been “born again” and have the Spirit of God in them “can hear” God or understand the bible. The people who do not have the Spirit in them not only can not understand the bible but they even think it is “foolishness” as stated in verse fourteen above. If someone thinks God’s ways are “foolishness” then obviously they believe that God is a fool. And if they believe that is true then it should be obvious that they have a “calloused heart” or a "heart of stone".
Another verse that tells us about the Spirit teaching us or giving us “ears to hear” is noted below. The verse says that the Spirit of God guides us into all truth. But of course, John 3:1-8 above tells us that we must be “born again” if we are to enter the
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Now let’s try to put all of this together. The reason some people do not have “ears to hear” or understand the bible is because they have a “calloused heart”. And they do not have the Spirit of God living in them. The reason they do not have the Spirit of God living in them is because they are “not born again”.
On the other hand some people have “ears to hear” or understand the bible because they have a “heart of flesh” or a heart that is “not calloused”. They also have the Spirit of God living in them because they are “born again”.
At this point someone might say “I know several people that say they are born again but some seem to know more about the bible than others”. So why doesn’t the Spirit teach them at the same pace. In other words, why don’t they all have the same amount of knowledge about God and his Kingdom?
This question is easily explained. If you are born again and have the Spirit in you but you do not read the bible very much or do not listen to bible teachings then you will not know much about God’s kingdom. So when people get born again they should read their bible and listen to bible teachings as often as they can. Because if you are born again you will have "ears to hear" or you will understand Gods secrets of the Kingdom. And the more you read your bible the more you will be blessed in this life. The following verses verify this.
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
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