A Certain Quality of Listening (Mark 4:23-25). An exposition and meditation.

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A Certain Quality of Listening (Mark 4:23-25)

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James Hutton (1726-1797), Scottish geologist, holding an ear trumpet. Ear trumpets date from the 17th century to aid hearing.

"You're not listening to me!" says my wife.

What's wrong? I'm so full of my own point of view and thoughts that I'm not able to hear something else. I'm closed to something different than I am thinking. Too often, only when I am forced to listen to my wife, do I really comprehend what she is saying.

Listening to Jesus requires the same kind of willingness to be open, to reject old constructs, and hear what he is really saying.

The phrase, "He who has ears, let him hear" is scattered throughout Jesus' teaching.

With regard to John the Baptist's true identity.¹
In conjunction with the Parable of the Sower.²
With teaching about a lamp concealed or put in the open.³
About defilement coming from within a person.⁴
Seven times in Revelation 2-3 in the Letters to the Seven Churches.⁵

Why? Because so often, God's people aren't listening! I believe that being a disciple of Jesus requires us to develop a habit of discerning listening to God.

Mark 4:23-25

Let's examine Jesus' brief teaching about listening in Mark 4:23-25 (paralleled in Luke 8:18):

"²³'If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. ²⁴Consider carefully what you hear,' he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you -- and even more. ²⁵Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.'" (Mark 4:23-25)

The verb "hear", used three times, is Greek akouō, from which we get our word "acoustics." It means, literally, "to have or exercise the faculty of hearing, hear,"⁶ but often with the idea of "listen to" with the purpose of understanding. Not just registering sound waves on your ear drum, but understanding the content of what is being said. That's the way Jesus is using the word here.

I see four truths in our passage.

1. Listening to Jesus is an Essential Characteristic of Disciples

If you make no attempt to listen to your Lord, then you're just going through the motions of being a believer, but are no disciple at all. Those who follow Jesus learn to listen when he speaks.

"My sheep listen to my voice," Jesus says. "I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27). At the transfiguration, God tells Peter, James and John: "Listen to him!" (Mark 9:7). You hear the same kind of gentle pleading in the Old Testament:

"Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live." (Isaiah 55:3a)

If we would follow Jesus, we must learn to listen.

2. We Must Listen Especially Carefully

We must not only listen, we must listen carefully. In our passage, Jesus explains:

"Consider carefully⁷ what you hear." (Mark 4:24a)

This morning my brother-in-law Tim called and reported health problems of my wife's siblings. I tried to listen carefully -- and recited them back to Tim -- so I could be sure to relay the message to my wife accurately. I didn't want to misreport something so important. This is what psychologists call "active listening."

When we listen to Jesus' teaching in the Gospels, we don't want to miss the point. When we are listening to his voice guiding us, we don't want to make unwarranted assumptions. Jesus calls us to listen carefully, attentively.

3. Careful Listening Is Rewarded

There is a reward for careful listening. In verse 42b, Jesus introduces a kind of mini-parable or example that relates to measures. What does that mean?

"With the measure you use, it will be measured to you -- and even more." (Mark 4:24b)

When I was a boy, my mother taught me to bake cookies. I learned about measuring spoons, a glass measuring cup with red lines marking the levels of liquid. And then a set of cups for dry measures -- 1/4-cup, 1/2-cup, 3/4-cup, and 1-cup measures nested together.

I might use a 1/4-cup measure for a small portion of sugar, but I would us the 1-cup measure for main ingredients -- flour, oatmeal, etc.

Jesus says that if we listen with at a 1/4-cup level of attention, that's all we'll get. But if we listen at a 1-cup level, we'll receive a lot more. Look again at the verse:

"With the measure you use, it will be measured to you -- and even more." (Mark 4:24)

This seems to be a principle of Scripture.⁸ If we want to reap generously in understanding, then we need to sow generously in listening. If we listen a bit, but get bored and shut the Lord off, we are the losers. If we listen big, we receive big.

4. Those Who Stop Listening Will Lose Whatever They Had

The saying closes with a promise and a warning.

"Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Mark 4:23-25).⁹

At first glance, Jesus' statement doesn't seem fair somehow. We should take special care for the poor, for those with just a little. But this isn't about physical poverty, but self-induced spiritual poverty. Not listening because of disinterest. It's nobody's fault but our own.

We see this phenomenon in the Parables of the Talents and of the Minas. The servant who buries his portion not only loses it, but it is given to the servant who has shown enthusiasm for the master's business.

"²⁴Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas."

²⁵'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

²⁶He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.'" (Luke 19:24-26)¹⁰

Two things are going on here.

1. What he has will be taken away. Some people pray the sinner's prayer as they might purchase fire insurance. If there might be a heaven, I'd better invest a little. But Jesus doesn't ask disciples for a little, a portion. He asks us for our whole lives. The retirement program isn't fully-vested without continuing faith.

2. The little he does have has will be given to someone else, someone who has demonstrated that he or she values it and knows how to put it to good use.

Jesus is looking for men and women who will be his disciples. Who will listen carefully to what he teaches and tells them, and are careful to try to follow it. If you expect Jesus to put up with continual disinterest, pat you on the head, and say it's okay, then you haven't listened very carefully about what he says concerning the cost of discipleship. Recall Jesus' words given right after the Rich Young Ruler walks away from Jesus.

"²¹Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

What does careful listening look like? Taking time to pray about things, and listening to discern how God seems to be leading you. Taking time to read and perhaps reread a Scripture passage to get the full impact of what God is saying to you personally. Journaling or writing down what you are hearing and pondering. Writing something down helps us find words for a thought, and thus put it in some kind of structure. Writing helps us discover.

I've probably preached and heard ten thousand sermons in my life. I pray that I will remember what God is saying to me better than I remember most of those sermons. The kind of listening Jesus requires of us takes our full attention and focus. There's a phrase, "In one ear and out the other." Lord, help us to listen!

Our passage conveys several truths:

Listening to Jesus is an essential characteristic of disciples.
We must listen especially carefully.
Careful listening is rewarded
Those who stop listening will lose whatever they had.¹¹

Jesus expects a certain quality of listening from his followers. Will you listen? Will you follow closely enough to hear him? If you have ears to hear, my disciple friend, then listen very carefully.

Prayer

Father, help me listen to your Son more carefully than I have in the past. Open my ears to hear you. Open my mind to understand you. Open my heart to desire you above all things. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

References and Abbreviations

[1] Matthew 11:15.

[2] Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:9.

[3] Mark 4:23.

[4] Mark 7:14.

[5] Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.

[6] Akouō, BDAG 37-38, 1c.

[7] "Consider carefully" (NIV), "pay attention" (ESV, NRSV), "take heed" (KJV) is blepō, "see," with the connotation, "to pay especially close attention to something, notice, mark something" (BDAG 179, 4).

[8] Matthew 7:1--2; Luke 6:37--38; 2 Corinthians 9:6.

[9] Parallels are found in Luke 8:18 and Matthew 13:12.

[10] Parallel in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:28-29).

[11] If this offends your understanding of salvation by grace, I encourage you to read my essay, "A Brief Look at TULIP Calvinism" (https://www.jesuswalk.com/grace/tulip-calvinism.htm).

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