The Gift Of Listening

𝐃𝐄𝐂. 𝟏𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟒𝟏:𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟎 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟒𝟓 𝟏, 𝟗-𝟏𝟑 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥; 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟓

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟓) 

         Today allow me to use this Gospel passage in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟓 to help put some clarity into the seeming greed that punctuate our country's social and political milieu.

When Our Lord Jesus Christ repeats a phrase during His preaching, it is to stress a point and or to call the attention of those listening to Him on the importance and or significance of what He is saying. 

         And if we are going to go by the progression of His teachings what He said in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟓 “𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫” is repeated in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟑:𝟗. It only shows how important listening is. In fact, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟑:𝟗 is written in the Life Application Study Bible version in a more emphatic way: “𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝.”        

        What Jesus is saying is that hearing the Word of God spoken is just the first step towards entering the Kingdom of God. Hearing must be followed by a more definitive action in that we must also listen for us to fully understand the deeper message that marked His coming into the world.

        However, there appears to be a contradiction at the beginning of this passage when Jesus said: “𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟏) but Jesus immediately followed this up with “𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞.”        

        And so the question you might ask is why Jesus would commend John the Baptist for being the greatest and yet say even the least is greater than he. No. There was no contradiction in what Jesus said for Our Lord will never contradict Himself nor was this just a play of words. What Jesus was referring to was the two scenarios in which John was present in one and those who have witnessed his finished work of redemption on the cross in the other.

        In other words, Jesus gave credence to John the Baptist as the greatest and the last of the prophets who fulfilled their task of preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah. And in terms of importance, John the Baptist was the one who bridged the prophecies contained in the Old Testament that was fulfilled in the New Testament.

         Odd as it may be, Jesus Himself admitted that his coming is not without tumult and violence “𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟐)

       What Jesus pointed to was the violence that accompanied the preaching of John the Baptist who called on the people to baptism and repentance. John’s uncompromising stance on the immoral behavior of Herod the tetrarch eventually led to his beheading. Or it could be that Jesus referred to the violent objections of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees to His teachings as it opened the eyes of the people to the excesses of the religious leaders at the time.

        Translated into present-day realities, what Jesus wants to emphasize in this Gospel passage is that those who have their sights fixed on entering the Kingdom of God need to muster all the courage they have because the path towards the heavenly kingdom would require unwavering faith, determination, honesty, accountability, integrity and endurance and such opposition has been there since Jesus began His ministry and started attracting large number of disciples.

        Conversely, Jesus is calling on those who heard and listened to His gospel of salvation to a life of martyrdom in defense of our faith especially during this period of waiting in which we urge everyone to proclaim the Gospel in this era of evangelization in the post-modern world that is marked with the attacks and marginalization of the Christian faith.

         Like many of the Saints who have gone before us, God is also calling on us to become martyrs for our faith and we can do this by giving witness to the joy of the Gospel of Christ even in the face of the trials and challenges we will face, the contradictions and adversities that we will certainly experience.

         A little farther down in this same Chapter we hear Jesus saying: “𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬.” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟗) In simpler terms, Christ expects us to learn from Him and to do what John the Baptist and the other prophets did and that is to point others to Him.

        But in carrying out our tasks as heralds, Christ wants us to do everything out of love because the only way the unchurched, the doubters, and skeptics can be attracted to Christ is when they see the love we have in the way we relate to our neighbor, the pain and sufferings that we endure in times of adversity, when we become more forgiving of those who may have hurt us and, when we show compassion to those who are in need.

        It's also important to know that the transformation of the inner self rests primarily on the restoration of the human dignity of every person who is created in the image and likeness of God. It is in this context that we must respect the dignity of the human person that is anchored on the sacredness of life.

        And Jesus is telling us in this Gospel passage that yes, the road to the heavenly kingdom will be strewn with pebbles of rejection and suffering but there is nothing to fear for He will be with us to the very end of the age (𝐌𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟐𝟎). Jesus is telling us today that like the Saints and Martyrs who have given their life for the Gospel, He will also fill us with Grace and strength that we may weather any form of adversity. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘋𝘦𝘤. 11, 2025)