Did you know that there are stories in the Bible that did not really happen? Christianity’s critics accuse Christians of believing stories that are not literal. They accuse the Bible of being false and unreliable because it contains stories that are not literal or historically accurate. Here, a clarification needs to be made about the Bible. When we propose the canon (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) are without error, we do so believing they are historically accurate where they mean to present history, scientifically accurate where they mean to present science, doctrinally accurate where they present doctrine, etc… This means we believe the Scriptures are symbolically accurate where they mean to present symbols and parabolically accurate where they mean to present parables.
In this section of Matthew’s Gospel, part of Matthew’s kingdom of Heaven discourse, Matthew tells Jesus’s parables concerning the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus historically and literally told these parables. The parables, themselves, are not necessarily historical or literal accounts. A parable is a story meant to illustrate a moral or divine truth. Matthew records a series of parables that illustrate what Jesus has explicitly taught concerning Heaven’s kingdom.
Matthew 13:1-15
That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’”
He who has ears (v. 1-9)
That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
I must admit. When walking through God’s Bible in the order God has given it for our good, it is tempting to get ahead of the text. Jesus will explain this parable, but He doesn’t yet. So, it is better for us if we don’t explain the parable yet either. We want to follow the text, not sprint ahead of Jesus. Jesus has a purpose for which He dangles this parable without explanation. So, we will let the parable dangle without explanation to accomplish the same purpose.
Before recording Jesus’s parable, Matthew gives us a marker indicating this section of parables logically follows and is part of the kingdom of Heaven discourse we have been walking through. Chapter 13 cannot be understood well if Chapters 11 and 12 are not running in the background. After telling the parable, Jesus simply says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Jesus has used the phrase before as He taught (Cf. 11:15). Jesus’s call embodies His root produces fruit anthropology, doctrine we’ve seen that is thematic throughout Matthew’s Gospel. People are either in the lineage of wickedness, sons of snakes (Cf. 12:34), or chosen and stolen by Christ to be adopted into the kingdom of Heaven (Cf. 12:29-30). If people are evil by nature, they produce wicked fruit—self preference, works-righteousness, self-identity, and self-will. If people have been given a new heart and clothed in Christ’s righteousness, they produce good fruit. Part of the good fruit Christ’s regenerate people bear is their ability to hear and understand the Gospel according to Christ. This means, Christ’s chosen people are able to understand His parables while those without the proper root are not able. When Jesus explains this parable to His disciples later, He will reveal as much.
He who has ears (v. 10-15)
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”
Instead of asking what Jesus meant by the parable, Jesus’s disciples ask why Jesus speaks to the crowds in parables. Keep in mind, Jesus has already explicitly taught what He is now illustrating about the kingdom of Heaven using parables. Jesus’s disciples seem to already grasp, at some level, what the parable means. Jesus answers His disciples, clarifying what he meant when He sad “He who has ears let him hear.”
Jesus reveals that His disciples have been given ears to hear, it has been granted to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. Granted by whom? Jesus has already answered this question. Christ is the only one who can grant to people the ability to hear about and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven (Cf. Matthew 12:31-37). Unless Christ gives us ears to hear, we can neither hear nor understand the kingdom of Heaven. Those to whom Christ grants the ability are the disciples He has chosen for Himself.
In contrast, to “them” it has not been granted. To whom has Christ not given the ability to hear or understand His Gospel? In context, Jesus is referring to the Pharisees and scribes to whom He has been conversing (12:2, 10, 24, 34, 38) and the crowds to whom He is preaching (12:46). I want to notice a few things: (1) Jesus preaches to many people who are unable to understand the Gospel because they do not have ears to hear, (2) many religious teachers who have and use the Bible were not able to understand the Gospel because they do not have ears to hear, and (3) many people listen to some kind of preaching and enjoy it but are unable to hear and understand Christ’s Gospel.
“For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
Jesus continues to explain His ears-to-hear doctrine. Whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance. Whoever has what? What will he be given more of? In context, more understanding about Christ and His work will be given to whoever has ears to hear and true understanding of the Gospel given by Christ’s will alone. He will have an abundance of understanding.
Jesus also teaches the negative form of the doctrine. Whoever does not have ears to hear and lacks a basic understanding of Christ’s person and work, even the understanding he has will be taken from him. Jesus’s doctrine explains a few tendencies we see on the current earth: (1) people who grow up Christians can fall away from formal Christian belief, proving to have never understood the Gospel even though they grew up hearing it; (2) teachers who start well, teaching what seems to be Biblical, can begin teaching a false Gospel and lead people away from Christ; and (3) teachers who teach a false Gospel can be completely convinced they are teaching sound doctrine. In reality, Christ is saving some and hardening others by either giving or withholding ears to hear. To some it is granted to hear and understand; to others it is not.
Because of this Biblical doctrine, Christ teaches the crowds in parables. Even though many hear and see, they will not understand unless it is given them to understand. If we preach like Jesus does, we teach God’s word to as many people as possible. Those to whom God has given ears to hear will hear. We don’t have to be attractional. We are driven to simply give as many people as possible God’s word and trust God to do the work He has set forth to do. Admittedly, it is difficult to trust God to carry out His own work. Still, the only one who can build Christ’s church is Christ. I cannot argue anyone into salvation. I cannot build a church by human tradition, experience, or cunning. Anything we build by our own insight and planning may look like the church, but it is, in reality, a blasphemy. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’”
In the case of those who are being hardened, Isaiah’s prophecy is being fulfilled according to Jesus. Jesus quotes His instruction to the prophet, Isaiah, in Isaiah 6:
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
Isaiah was in awe of God and envisioned an awe-inspiring worship scene in the Temple. Isaiah is on of the many places in Scripture we see worship envelop both the affection and thought. It was not enough to only worship with the mind or heart, but God’s presence inspires the worshipper to worship with both the heart and mind—through high praise and deep learning. Isaiah was broken because the people didn’t seem to be hearing God’s message even though it was written for them in the Law and proclaimed in its entirety at least once-a-year (Deuteronomy 31:11). Though Isaiah was impure, God purified him and sent him to Israel in order to tell Israel about Israel’s obstinance—their inability to hear because they are spiritually deaf. People have proven their inability to understand God’s word even when they hear during Jesus’s earthly ministry and in the modern day. People must be given ears to hear; we must have our ears purified like Isaiah’s lips were purified. Both the preacher and the hearer must have God’s spiritual gifting to speak or hear Christ’s person and work correctly and apply it rightly.
Can we know that we have been given ears to hear? Yes. 1 John presents us with tests by which we can measure our own faith to see if we are truly known by Christ and have eternal life. Be sure to take the test today.
Jesus’s Explicit Teaching About The Kingdom of Heaven Prior To His Kingdom of Heaven Parables:
| Kingdom of Heaven | Kingdom of This World |
| Kingdom of priests | Kingdom of consumers |
| Kingdom of prestige even for the least | Kingdom of comparison and contrast Kingdom of judgment even for the greatest |
| Exists throughout time—even before Christ’s incarnation | |
| A people not a physical location | Defined by visible structures and conquests |
| Kingdom of suffering in the midst of this world | Kingdom of force |
| Able to hear and understand Christ’s teaching | Unable to hear and understand Christ’s teaching |
| Kingdom of wisdom | Kingdom of faultfinding |
| Kingdom of repentance | Kingdom of pride |
| Chosen and built by God’s will alone | Rejected by God’s will alone |
| Kingdom of rest | Kingdom of merit |
| Kingdom of liberty | Kingdom of restriction |
| Kingdom of willing purity | Kingdom of unwilling rule-keeping |
| Kingdom of healing | Kingdom of using people |
| Kingdom whereby all human life is absolutely sacred | Kingdom whereby rules, programs, and organizations are elevated above human worth |
| Kingdom of sincerity in learning | Kingdom of dogma |
| Kingdom of satisfaction and enjoyment | Kingdom of bondage and decay |
| A people forgiven of every imaginable sin | A people not forgiven because they are not regenerate |
| A people seeking to know God through His word | A people seeking signs, wonders, and outward performance |
| Coheirs with Christ in the Father’s glory | Not coheirs with Christ |
Questions:
- Why didn’t Jesus explain His parable to the public?
- Do you think there are teachers and others in the organized church today who don’t have ears to hear?
- How does one gain ears to hear?