Ears to Hear

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mark 4:3–9- (NKJV)

     The traditional interpretation of this verse has always involve the willingness of the hearer to hear. The vast majority of expositors understand this verse to be saying that if one wishes to hear, one can hear. But that does not seem to be the context, does it? It obviously was difficult for the disciples to understand because they immediately ask him questions about it as well in verse 10. His answer to them is troubling for most modern readers. He tells them that it has been "given" to them to understand, whereas it has not been "given" to others to understand.
     This might not be so troubling, as we might understand this to mean that our Lord simply wishes people to strive after the truth. But He makes His explanation very clear for us. Verse 11 puts it in the context of those who are "inside" versus those who are "outside". This can only refer to those who are children of God, versus those who are not genuinely children of God. Verse 12 goes on and, even more troubling, speaks to the purpose of this "hiding" by saying that God's reason for this is that those who are outside of this body will not perceive even though they see and hear the preaching and the messages Christ preaches. That is, that there is one group to whom God chooses to reveal, and one group to whom God chooses not to reveal. There can be no other reasonable understanding of these words. Like it or not that is what these verses mean.
     Now we must quickly go on to assert that God does not make these choices capriciously. He did not sit up in heaven, in eternity past, over a latte and chocolates, and sort out humanity willy-nilly with no thought at all. But just as quickly, we must assert that God is God that is His province to do the choosing and not ours. If we understand the bees versus couple with our understanding of his good and holy character, these verses can be at comfort, rather than a problem.
     They can be an encouragement to us rather than a consternation as so many make them. But for that to be the case, we must understand them (or at least seek to at any rate) in the context of His nature and not in ours.