who has an ear

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

            WHO HAS AN EAR

Matt 13:34-43

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."   36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

NIV

As we have already seemed to relate this parable he explained to his disciples to our lives today, it seems right to simply look at the idea of his speaking in parables again. What Matthew tells us is a quote from the Psalmist. However, it is noteworthy that we are once again reminded to have the good seed remain in us and therefore be sons of the kingdom. We should also note that just because we are not sons of the evil one, does not mean we are free from all evil, or sin. Any sin in reality is against God and therefore God being the antithesis of all that is good, sin is evil. A little white lie, a small amount of gossip, a slight degree of doubt, a mere slip of the tongue, a fraction of a second of lustful desire, a momentary greedy thought all have the basis of evil rather than from God. Yet that does not qualify us as sons of the evil one, as we have given our heart to God. In these times we identify with the Apostle Paul in that when we desire to do good, evil is right there with us. As long as we are in this mortal condition, this corruptible flesh, we will struggle with certain amounts of evil within us. Yet this does not mean we are the sons of the evil one. No, we are the sons of God.

John 1:12-13

12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

NIV

Yet John continues, not in his record of the Gospel, but in one of his letters explaining that if we continue in sin we are not children of God.

1 John 3:7-10

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

NIV

This almost seems as if because of one small infraction of what is right disqualifies us from being sons of God. But that is not what is the meaning here. The right is accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He is our righteousness. If Christ is not in us we have no righteousness at all and therefor are living in sin, or doing what is sinful, denying Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To make the leap that once we are born of God, we never ever, not one time, ever do anything wrong, or in other words sin, is just outside the realm of reality and is a deception. Thinking in that manner would constitute being led astray. Jesus destroyed the work of the devil. He cannot take our soul to hell and onto the lake of burning sulfur. Our soul, our spirit is in Jesus, he is in us as we accepted him as our Lord and Savior. We are saved, children of God, sons of God and not of the evil one. We have an ear and we hear the truth. The parables are understood by us because we are sons of God. Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, no matter how good of people they appear to be, are in fact sons of the evil one. Unless they come to Jesus, they cannot understand the truth of the word of God. It is meaningless to them, it contains contradictions to them, it has no bearing on their lives, except till the Day of Judgment. Then every knee will bow and confess Jesus Christ is Lord. But at that day, it will be too late and they being sons of the evil one will be cast out into the lake of burning sulfur. They do not have the ear to hear with, they have been deafened by the evil one. Yet the Spirit can break through, as we are evidence of. So let us not give up doing good, doing the will of him who sent us into all the world to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. Let us continue, even though we are not perfect, share the news in such a way people can hear. The only question is who has an ear.