He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 

 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.   Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

'Seeing they may not see,

And hearing they may not understand.'

"Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

- Luke 8:1–15 

 

Yesterday we read that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed then with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."   And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

 

 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.   These verses appear almost as they are a direct a continuation from yesterday's reading, in which we read of the great love of this woman, a notorious sinner, came to anoint Christ's feet with expensive oil in a deep display of love and faith, and whose sins were forgiven by Christ.  The Gospel presents us with these other women who were so essential to Christ's ministry.  My study bible comments that these women were faithful to Christ to the end (Luke 23:49, 55), and they were the first to receive and proclaim the news of Christ's Resurrection (Luke 24:1-10).  In the Scriptures, my study bible teaches, the number seven often symbolizes totality and completeness, indicating that Mary called Magdalene had been thoroughly given over to darkness before her healing.  

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.   Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Here Jesus tells His first parable.  The parable of the Sower is given as Christ's first parable in all three Synoptic Gospels (see also Mark 4, Matthew 13).  At this stage in His ministry there is a great multitude gathered to hear Him, and they have come from every city to do so.  We have also just read of the women who support His ministry.  It is at this stage of great public attention that Christ shifts to teaching in parables, and gives this parable of the Sower first.  It is a parable about Himself and His ministry, a "word picture" with images from every day life in this agrarian society, given as a kind of riddle for people to seek to understand for themselves.  Thus Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" alluding to Isaiah's prophecy, from which He quotes to the disciples in the verses that follow.  As the sower in the parable, He fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah 55:10-13. 

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that  'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'"   Mysteries, my study bible explains, are not obscure intellectual concepts, but they are the presence of the Kingdom of God which cannot be defined.  It says that a person's unwillingness to understand Christ's parables is due to a rejection of His Kingdom.  St. John Chrysostom writes, "If the blindness were natural, it would have been proper for God to open their eyes; but because it was a voluntary and self-chosen blindness, He does not overthrow their free will."  To do so would have been not only to "no advantage for them, but an even greater condemnation."  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9. 

"Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."  Here, Jesus explains the parable to the disciples, to those who are already committed to Him in faith.  My study bible asks us to note that while some might teach a person is permanently saved at the moment one professes faith -- a view which was never held by the historic Church -- the teaching of Jesus is clear that it's possible to believe for a while and then fall away.  

 

 My study bible tells us that the Hebrew and Aramaic words for parable also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb."  These stories, which consist of images drawn from daily life in the world, are meant to represent and communicate the deep things of God.  It says that parables give us "glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways" (Isaiah 55:8-9).   Just as important to our understanding that this is the way Christ has chosen to communicate is the fact that not everybody is going understand the parables.  This is built in to this style of teaching.  Why would Christ teach in ways that not everybody is going to understand?  In a world that is filled with all kinds of information -- so often irrelevant to our lives or professions -- why would someone, intent on public preaching, choose to do so in a way that is going to be obscure to at least some of His listeners?  That is a very important question.  As the parable itself indicates, so much about our faith also depends on us.  That is, we, the faithful.  Jesus' parable of the Sower speaks of struggles, of difficulties that come from the world and get in the way of faith -- things against which a believer struggles.  First there is the devil, who comes to those who've heard and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  Then there are those people who receive Christ's word with joy, but in whom it doesn't take deep root -- therefore, they believe for a short time, but when they're tempted, they fall away.  And then there are the thorns of this world.  Jesus gives an image of people who've heard the word, but are then choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  The "cares, riches, and pleasures of life" are always with us, perhaps now more than ever, reaching into all economic strata on some level or another.  These things are presented by Jesus as that which takes away our attention and time from living and doing and fulfilling His word, because we are choked with these goals and distractions, pursuing what does not bear spiritual fruit.  I see this as a great struggle of modern life, technological advancement, and prosperity levels not seen in the world in times past.  Finally Jesus says, "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."   Let us note that even with a noble and good heart, there is a struggle here, because we bear fruit only with patience.  In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus teaches, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."  If we read the Sermon on the Plain carefully (as well as the Sermon on the Mount), we see that Christ means a "good and noble heart" not as something we're either born with or not, but something we work at, build, protect, and nurture through time.  We are to take note, cultivate an awareness of our own flaws, and take decisive action to cast them aside.  Jesus does not present us with a world in which we are asked to simply "believe" and then everything will fall into place.   Neither is belief something that is handed to us like a child being spoon-fed.  Rather, these truths -- which are, importantly, mysteries -- are given to us through parables.  We are called upon to respond in order to derive benefit from them.  We are called to discipleship to cultivate a life in which these seeds can grow and bear fruit through nurturing, pruning, discernment, and support.  But front and center is Christ's commentary:  "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  We are called upon to care about what He's teaching, to have a particular type of ears, attuned to hear the things of spiritual importance, to care enough to want what He's offering.  These things He's teaching in the parables are called mysteries because they point to something beyond themselves, to a deeper reality that is beyond the surface and behind the words.  He is Jesus, and He is teaching important things.  But He is also the Son of God, Second Person of the Trinity, and He's seeking to initiate us (that is, those who really want what He offers) into a communion of saints, a hierarchy of the divine, the things that will make us grow in stature and likeness to Him, and to be able to share in this communion that extends throughout a universe of creation we can't see.  It is an invitation into love and depth and a communion of wisdom and beauty, and this is what is on offer in the parables.  But we have to really, really want this.  We have to care about it, be drawn to it, into faith and trust and love.  And we have to want what's good.  We might be called but there are also those who are chosen.  We bear fruit through real desire, and through patience, and through following this word, keeping it precious, and working at it every day through the difficulties that come in spite of our faith, and maybe even because of it.  That is where He calls us, but can you hear and see it?  Let us take note of some of His most devoted followers, named in the first verses in today's reading.  They are women, and include Mary Magdalene, one who was given over completely to darkness.  At a certain point in the West, she somehow got assigned the label of prostitute, but this was never true in the East.  We don't really know how "darkness" was expressed in her life, only that Christ cast out seven demons -- and she became one of His greatest followers, and was given the title Apostle to the Apostles.  Those who truly desire what He offers cannot be defined by labels and appearance but are discerned through the heart, and through love of Christ.  Let us remember!