“…And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:8b). “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it…”(Luke 8:15). “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”(Luke 8:19). “… My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.” (Luke 8:21)
Jesus looked at the great crowd that stood before Him and saw only two groups of people: those who had ears and those who didn’t — those who heard Christ’s Words and those who did not. Why would people follow Jesus if not for His Words? Political reasons – they hoped He would overthrow Roman oppression, Popularity reasons–hanging out with the Jesus crowd was “in” at the time and all their friends were there,Prosperity reasons– they wanted healing or they were hungry (they ate Jesus’ loaves & fishes and wanted more, John 6:26). Jesus sees the same two groups of people in his church today: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;” (Rev. 2:7a)
The “Many” people that associate with Jesus but don’t have ears will at some point turn away from Him, but those with ears to hear the Word will never leave Him. “From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:66-68)
In Luke 8, Jesus illustrated His point about “ears to hear”with the parable of the sower. In the parable, theSeedis the Word of God (Luke 8:11), the Soweris Jesus (Matt. 13:37), and the Soilis the hearts of men (Luke 8:15). The life-giving Word of God is sown by Jesus through His soulwinner and it falls on four different types of soil: wayside soil, shallow soil, thorny soil, and fruitful soil. Jesus demonstrated that there is not a problem with the Sower (Jesus), or with the Seed (the Word), but the trouble lies in the Soil (the hearts of men). Hence the warning: “be careful how you hear!” (Luke 8:19)
The fruitful soil was ready with “ears to hear”for two reasons: the soil was prepared and patient. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”(Luke 8:15)
- Prepare Your Heart to Hear.
“For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.” (Jeremiah 4:3). “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”(Hosea 10:12)
“And he (Rehoboam) did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”(II Chronicles 12:14)
“Nevertheless there are good things found in thee (Jehoshaphat), in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.” (II Chronicles 19:3) “For Ezra had prepared his heartto seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10)
- Patiently Hear.
My five-year-old son Teddy asked for an apple. I found out that he had ulterior motives for asking. Teddy wasn’t hungry; he just wanted an apple seed to plant. A few hours after planting, Teddy put on his boots to head out into the dark night. I asked him, “what are you doing?” He said,“I am going to check on my tree!” I had to explain to him it takes a lot longer than just a few hours to have an apple tree and even longer to bear fruit. Jesus had to explain the same thing to His disciples, “…having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”(Luke 8:15b). We are, as believers, tosow the seed of the Word of God patiently into our heart. We are also to have patience as we sow into the lives of those around us: children, co-workers, Sunday School class…
Psalm One shows us that if we patiently “have ears” we will bring forth fruit in our “season.”
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree plantedby the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:2-3)