(Matthew 13:43)

This phrase, ‘Let anyone with ears listen!’ is one that Jesus uses on a number of

occasions. It calls those who are gathered around Jesus to hear him teach to truly listen to

the message that he is proclaiming.

On many occasions, Jesus teaches using parables and stories. By doing this, the message

that he is proclaiming is more nuanced then if he taught using other methods. The stories

and parables have many layers of meaning and can speak to many different people in

slightly different ways.

After several of the parables, Jesus instructs those gathered saying, ‘Let anyone with

ears listen!’ I think that Jesus does this as a way to invite the hearers to reflect and think

about these stories and the lessons contain within them. He is inviting people to go

deeper with these stories and seek to truly listen.

This applies to us today in many ways. So often, the world today is content with a

shallow meaning. We read something and form an opinion and that is that—we don’t

wrestle with it any longer. We attempt to see everything as more black and white—this

is what it saying and what it means. The older I get, I begin to see that more and more

of things may be more gray over against black and white. The call to all who have ears

to listen is a way to encourage people to stop and reflect upon the words. It means that

we are not to gloss over the words, but to stop and take time to think, to pray, to meditate

upon the words and listen for that still small voice of God that speaks to us through the

teachings of Jesus.