He who has Ears to Hear, let him Hear!

Matthew 11:1-19

1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"

4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written:

'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.'

11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

16 "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying:

'We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.'

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children."

John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to find out who He claimed to be as He went about preaching from city to city.  He had heard reports about the miraculous deeds that Jesus had been doing and sent two of his followers to ask Jesus the pointed question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”  This of course was the same way of asking if Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God who is the Prophet like Moses to come into the world to deliver His people (Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), the One whom John had come into the world to announce His arrival (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1).  The answer they brought back as firsthand witnesses was in alignment with the fulfilling of the prophecies of Isaiah 29:18, 35:4–6 of His identity.  These scriptures foretold of the sick and maimed healed, blind eyes and deaf ears opened, the dead given life, and the good news preached to them as the Messiah would do.  Jesus also told them that all who are not offended in Him are truly blessed with real joy and happiness upon hearing this good news.  After the disciples of John left to bring that good news to him in his cell, Jesus told all around Him that John was indeed that messenger (Malachi 4:5-6) who was the predicted Elijah who had been caught up to God in a fiery chariot without tasting death (2 Kings 2:11).  Even so, Jesus told the listening crowd that even one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him because of the kingdom of God come to them in the Christ.  The violence of the prophets bringing the portents of Jesus until John was to be ended with the Christ as the final prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2) to bring peace with God in Him.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!  That was the defining remark of Jesus to them all and to us; God has to give us opened ears through His work of regeneration in us to go up from death into life (Ephesians 2:5-6, 8) as verse 5 told of in a physical sense of the spiritual implication.  Even so, many then as now would hear that gospel message and not listen let alone hear and comprehend because they expected Him to do what they reasoned He must instead of listening and seeing what He told them.  The phrase Jesus used, “wisdom is justified by her children,” meant that God’s wisdom would be justified by the righteous fruit lived out as seen in John’s and Jesus’ lives in our own transformed ones.  It pointed us to see those who accepted Jesus' wise teaching instead of demanding He meet our own expectations of what and how He should do things according to our tradition and reasoning as those who did not accept His word and deeds as He demonstrated to us and recorded already in the scriptures.  May we not repeat this mistake of trying to make the scriptures fit our expectations by eisegetical reading into God’s word instead of exegetically drawing out the intended meaning from scripture alone by God’s wisdom given according to the Holy Spirit living in us as our interpreter which is the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:13, 16) given all who are in Him.   He who has ears to hear, let him hear!