Mk 4:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Summary Notes
What did Jesus say?
Jesus often told stories to express ideas. He sometimes said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” when He was making a profound point. I think that it was His way of telling those who heard Him to take the effort to understand what he was saying and let the implications change their thinking.
Why would He say this?
If your ears hear the fog signal from Middle Island on a foggy day, you had better listen and understand that dangerous rocky shoals are nearby. Middle Island Light Station is located in norther Lake Huron. It was fist lit in 1905. The fog signal building is on the far right of the photograph.
This image and more can be found in the Photo Gallery. Click here see why I like lighthouses.
I also think that Jesus used this phrase to signal to His disciples that they should ask Him what He meant. Jesus’ command did not cause the disciple’s understanding. They understood when they sought out the answer. It was then that Jesus explained it to them.
I could be more curious about what Jesus is saying when I see this command in the Bible. I could also be more curious about what other people are saying to me all the time. Over the years I have learned so much from people, even from those with whom I disagree, by making the effort to shut up and to listen and understand them. I confess that I’m not always good at listening. Listening like this is hard because I have to evaluate my own assumptions and ask questions while listening without prejudice. I might even have to change my mind!
Click here for my personal application and your comments link …or scroll down for my full notes…
Command 185: “…let him hear.”
REFERENCE:
Mk 4:9b also Mt 13:9b
See also Mk 4:23 where Jesus made a related but different point.
RECIPIENT:
To a very large crowd and His disciples
CONTEXT:
Mk 4:1-2-9 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3“Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
9And He was saying…
Mt 13 1-8 is a parallel account of this same event.
COMMAND FULL TEXT:
Mk 4:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mt 13:9 “He who has ears , let him hear.”
RESULT:
Jesus explains the parable:
10As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”
13And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
MY COMMENTS AND NOTES:
Profound Points
Jesus often told stories, also called parables, to express ideas. He used this command, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” when He was making a particularly profound point. He was telling those who heard Him to take the effort to understand what he was saying and let the implications change their thinking. His explanation of this parable fully revealed His meaning.
In six of the eight instances that Jesus used this phrase, He later explained a parable to His disciples in private. Perhaps Jesus used this phrase to signal to His disciples that they should ask Him what He meant.
What Does it Mean?
Here is the Literal Version of the verse: Mk 4:9 LITV The (one) having ears to hear, let him hear.
I am not a Greek scholar, but if I use the literal translation above and the definitions below then Jesus seems to be saying to me, “If you can hear Me (or, if you can read this), then make the effort to comprehend the implication of what I am saying.” Jesus’ command did not cause the disciple’s understanding, but they were obedient to the command by simply asking Him to explain it to them; and He did.
What Do I Do With This?
Albert Einstein said that he was not any smarter than other men but merely “passionately curious.” I could be more curious about what Jesus is saying when I see this command in the Bible. But I could also be more curious about what other people are saying all the time. Over the years I have learned so much from people, even from those with whom I disagree, by making the effort to shut up and to listen and understand to what they are saying. I do not listen like this all the time and I really should do it more often. I think that the reason I don’t is because listening like this is hard. To do it I have to evaluate my own assumptions and ask questions and listen without prejudice. I might even have to change my mind!
DEFINITIONS: Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text
(He who) has: G2192 ἐìχω ekh’-ō — to hold, such as in possession or ability
ear: G3775 οὖς ooce – the physical ear or metaphoric faculty of perceiving with the mind
hear: G191 ἀκουìω ak-oo’-ō – to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf; to attend, consider or to understand what is or has been said
MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application and please share it in the comments
I see two related applications. First, to be the kind of person God would have me to be I need to understand what He says by asking Him in prayer and studying The Bible diligently. Secondly, to be the kind of open minded person I desire to be, I need to first understand the ideas of other people by asking questions and listening without prejudice. Furthermore, I need to be willing to challenge my own assumptions and even change my mind!
© 2020 Christopher Carlson
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB
Please share a comment, question or perhaps another application for this command of Jesus.