Monday after the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 6, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 4:21-25 (NKJV)
4:21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Devotion
Earlier in this chapter of Mark, Jesus told the Parable of the Sower. After He told the parable He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Today’s Scripture reading has Jesus following up with another parable after which He concludes with similar words, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
So who has “ears to hear”? Quite simply, that person is the one who has faith in Jesus. And how do you know for sure that you are one with “ears to hear”? God’s Word says this in Romans 10:17: So then faith comes by hearing, and HEARING by the Word of God (emphasis added). The Word of God you have heard and are hearing is the very instrument that God uses to create hearing. His Word is the means through which God creates. “In the beginning…” God spoke His creation into existence. “Let there be light,” and there was light, etc.
So it is with the blessed sacraments. God’s Word creates what He says is there. Water connected to His Word bestows the forgiveness of sins in Holy Baptism. God’s Word connected to bread and wine in Holy Communion brings Christ’s very Body and Blood to communicants for the forgiveness of their sins. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear that our sins are forgiven for Jesus sake!
Prayer: O God, our Refuge and Strength, Who art the Author of all godliness: Be ready, we beseech Thee, to hear the devout prayers of Thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully, we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
