Two weeks after she was born, we discovered our daughter had a hearing loss. Within three months, she was wearing two hearing aids. And since that time, we have always been grateful for every word she has heard and every sound she has been able to make (she’s now in high school and has played in the band for years and has recently begun playing the guitar). We have become aware that the ability to hear is a gift of grace. We do not take it for granted.
Over the past 16 years, we have thought often and much about ears and hearing. And Jesus also spoke much about ears and hearing. And much of what he said about the topic of hearing in Matthew’s gospel is found in Matthew 13. In that chapter, Jesus reveals at least four principles about spiritual hearing.
Ears are made for hearing. Okay, that’s obvious. But that statement also means that physical ears are designed to be the gate through which spiritual truth enters our minds and hearts. Physical ears are given to us so that we will hear spiritual truth. The best thing to do with our ears is to fill them with the sound of spiritual and biblical truth that will conform us to the image of Christ.
Not everyone with ears hear. Just hearing the audible words of Jesus or being able to read the written words of his life does not mean one will comprehend what is heard and read. Biblical hearing is more than physical listening. To hear is to heed and obey (Jn. 10:27). And many hear without hearing. This is the case with the first three types of soil — they all hear the message of the truth, but it does not take root in any of them in the way God intended it to change them (vv. 18-22). Unspiritual men cannot discern the truth (1 Cor. 2:14) because they do not have the Spirit of God within them to teach them. This is a grief and sorrow and should feed our passion for declaring the Word and praying that the non-hearing ears we know will be made to hear.
If you have an ear, hear. This is a fundamental point of the parable of the soils in Matthew 13 — be the kind of hearer of the Word of God who understands it and produces fruit because of its working in your life (v. 23). You may not be able to compel others to hear and believe, but you can listen in such a way that you become obedient. Listen up. Hear and heed.
If you hear, you hear because of the grace of God. If you see and hear spiritually, you are blessed (v. 16). That is, God has enabled your eyes to see spiritual truth and your ears to comprehend spiritual realities. This is not something we work on our own. Spiritual perception is a gift of God’s grace. If you hear and comprehend, recognize that God could have withheld His truth from you (vv. 10-15), but He has not. So you are blessed. Give thanks for that kindness in your life.
Words of Grace 