One of the key features of Jesus’ ministry on earth was the new doctrine or teaching that he introduced to the Jewish religion. It says in Mark 1:22, “they were astonished at his teaching” and in 1:27-28, “they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.’ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.” Mark later tells us that Jesus “was teaching them many things in parables” (Mark 4:2). A parable is a comparison. “Specifically, a parable, i.e. a short story under which something else is figured or in which the fictitious is used to represent and illustrate the real” (G3850). Jesus told his disciples, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables” (Mark 4:11).

The secret of the kingdom of God that Jesus was referring to was the gospel, “the Christian dispensation” which wasn’t revealed to the Jews until Jesus came into the world (G3466). Jesus depicted the process of preaching the gospel in his parable of the sower. Jesus said:

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:3-9)

Jesus’ statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” was expanded upon and clarified in Paul’s doxology at the end of his letter to the Romans. Paul concluded, “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:25-27). Paul spoke of the revelation of the mystery being disclosed and made known to all nations, “according to the command of the eternal God” (Romans 16:26). When Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” he was essentially commanding or activating the faith of those who were believers in the crowd around him.

Paul indicated that the purpose of the revelation of the mystery being disclosed was to “bring about the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26). The Greek word that is translated disclosed, phaneroo (fan-er-oˊ-o) means “to render apparent” or make clear (G5319). Therefore, obedience is dependent upon God’s word being made clear to us. After Jesus told the parable of the sower, he met with his disciples privately and asked them, “Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13). Jesus wanted his disciples to know that he had just revealed to them a foundational principle of the kingdom of God. Their understanding of that principle was critical to their spiritual development. After stating this, Jesus went on to disclose the meaning of parable to his disciples. Jesus said:

“The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:14-20)

Jesus identified the word as the real thing that the fictitious seed was intended to represent. The seed was not only symbolic of the word, but its characteristics were also similar to the word so that it helped people to understand what Jesus was talking about when referred to the word. Jesus also likened sowing the seed to hearing or preaching the gospel, and used the phrases “when they hear” and “who hear” to indicate the different effects of hearing the word on the people who were listening.

Jesus’ final statement in his explanation of the parable of the sower was intended to refer his disciples back to the secret of the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “But those that were sown on good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20). Jesus identified a second step that was necessary for the word to take root in a person’s heart, grow, and eventually to bear fruit in the person’s life. Jesus indicated a person must hear the word and accept it. The Greek word paradechomai (par-ad-ekhˊ-om-ahee), which is translated accept, is derived from the words para (par-ahˊ) a “preposition with the primary meaning of near, nearby, expressing the notion of immediate vicinity or proximity” (G3844), and dechomai (dekhˊ-om-ahee), which means, “To receive, admit with the mind and heart, i.e. by implication: to approve, embrace, follow (Matthew 11:14; Luke 8:13; Acts 8:14; 11:1; 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:13; James 1:21)” (G1209). Matthew and Luke used two different words to describe the second step that Jesus identified. Matthew said you must hear the word and understand or comprehend it (Matthew 13:23; G4920). Luke indicated that you must hear the word and “hold it fast in an honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15), meaning, in a figurative sense, that you must retain the word in your memory or keep it in the forefront of your mind because the word of God is important to you (G2722).

John’s gospel contains an explanation of the Israelites unbelief. John said:

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

“He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
    and understand with their heart, and turn,
    and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. (John 12:37-43)

The verse that John quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10 to explain the Israelites’ unbelief (John 12:40) was also used by Jesus to explain the purpose of him using parables to teach the Israelites about the kingdom of God (Mark 4:12). Paul clarified in his second letter to the Corinthians who the person was that had blinded the people’s eyes. Paul said, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The phrase the god of this world refers to “the devil, who is the archenemy of God and the unseen power behind all unbelief and ungodliness. Those who follow him have in effect made him their god” (note on 2 Corinthians 4:4, KJSB).

Paul made a clear connection between hearing the gospel and having faith in his letter to the Romans. Paul concluded his message of salvation to all with this statement:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:14-17)

Paul used the Greek word akoe (ak-o-ayˊ) to describe the type of hearing that was required to have faith. Akoe refers to “that which is or may be heard: a thing announced, instruction, teaching” (G189). In other words, akoe is an audible message that is received from a person who is authorized/qualified to distribute it. Paul asked the question, “And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:15). Paul’s question indicated that preaching the gospel was intended to be reserved for those whom God had set apart for that work, “prophets, messengers, teachers, angels,” individuals that were considered to be agents sent from God (G649).

Jesus clarified his message in the parable of the sower with the illustration of a lamp being placed under a basket. Jesus asked, “’Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away’” (Mark 4:21-25). Jesus instructed his disciples to pay attention to what they heard. What Jesus meant by paying attention was to not be blinded by the devil. The Greek word blepo (blepˊ-o), which is translated pay attention, means “to be able to see, i.e. to have the faculty of sight, and as spoken of the blind, to recover sight” (G991). The point that Jesus wanted to make was that his gospel message was being brought out into the open so that those who were interested in a relationship with God could easily find their way to him, but it required an intentional effort on the part of those who wanted to know the secret of the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mark 4:24), suggesting that faith is given to us in limited portions based on the amount of effort we expend trying to understand Jesus’ gospel message. Therefore, the greater the effort we make to pay attention to the word, or you might say, to intentionally take the blinders off when we are hearing God’s word, the greater the amount of faith we will receive from God as a result of it.