“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Explanation by Jesus

Jesus repeats this statement at the end of the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9), and then explains that the nature of this hearing and seeing is determined by our heart. It depends on whether our hearts are open to receive faith and understanding from God (Matthew 13:13-15)

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

Open hearts

We need open hearts to be able to hear God’s word:

Mark 8:17-18 Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?

We are able to resist God’s voice, we can harden our hearts and be unable to hear him.

Ps 95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

Miracle of sight

It’s similar to a miracle of sight in John chapter 9, where Jesus healed the sight of a man born blind. Jesus put mud on the man’s eyes, and when the man washed his eyes, he could see for the first time in his life. But that was not the greatest part of the miracle.
Even more tragic than being born blind is being blind by choice, and that was the state of the Jewish leaders. They had physical sight and much learning from the scriptures, yet they refused to see who Jesus is, or the fulfilment of those scriptures in Jesus, and they condemned him for healing on the Sabbath.

The greatest part of the miracle was given in the man’s second meeting with Jesus, when Jesus led him by stages to an awareness that He is the Son of God; and the man saw this and believed in Him. This second part is life-saving; through faith we are united with God and accepted by him.

Gifts from the Holy Spirit

We were all born deaf and blind to God’s salvation through Jesus, but Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to open our hearts, and thereby our ears and eyes – to who He is and what he has done for us.
Faith and understanding are not from within ourselves, they are gifts from God.

Faith:

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works.

Wisdom and understanding:

Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

The responsibility for using our ability to reject God’s word and understanding, is entirely our own, and will therefore be subject to judgement:

John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.