Ears To Hear

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Ears To Hear ------------------- Date: 11/16/2002
Keywords: "ear" "hear" "parable" "seed" "seeker" "sower"
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Passage: Mark 4:1-12*

1. 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

2. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

3. "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4. as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

5. "Other 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.

6. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

7. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

9. And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10. As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.

11. And 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,

12. so 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.

Questions

1. What does "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" mean? (Verse 9)1

 

2. Does verse 12 bother you? If so, why?

 

Practical help

Christianity is a mystery to many people, but not so intriguing that they would expend much energy to find out more. Sometimes, we who have discovered this great treasure of salvation rack our brains to try and figure out how to better "package" the message so doubters, skeptics and disinterested people will become more interested. That’s certainly good to a point. We should be "salty" to make others thirsty, but beyond "salty" what exactly should we do for the disinterested?

Jesus was a realist. he knew that there were a lot of enemies as well as neutral people watching his moves. They weren’t thirsty, but waiting for him to make a slip or perform another entertaining miracle. If knowing more about him would require them to change something about their lifestyles, then forget it. So he told stories to the crowds and waited for the true seekers to come to him. Note that he did not exclude anyone from coming to the private explanation. As for verse 12, it sounds like God hopes people will not understand and not be forgiven. Another way to look at this, which is more consistent with the character of Christ is that he understands what is as stake. If they don’t understand, they will remain miserable in unforgiveness.

People who live in and for porn, refusing to give it up, reject Jesus’ invitation to open their ears and truly hear with understanding. By their actions they are making the choice to continue in misery. I hope this isn’t you.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."