Matthew 11:15

Thursday, 3 July 2025

 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 11:15

 

“The ‘having ears to hear,’ let him hear” (CG).

 

In the previous verse, Jesus made a pronouncement that was not to be dismissed or casually heard and then forgotten. Rather, the very state of Israel, both the nation and each individual, would be affected by His words, which were, “And if you incline to receive, he, he is Elijah, the ‘being about to come.’” With that emphatic declaration made, He next says, “The ‘having ears to hear,’ let him hear.”

 

In other words, what I just said needs to be heard and assimilated. The reason for this was partly cited in the previous commentary. The final verse of Malachi says –

 

“Remember! Law Moses, My servant,

Which commanded him in Horeb upon all Israel –

Enactments and judgments.

5 Behold! I sending to you Elijah the prophet,

To faces coming day Yehovah –

The whopping and the fearing.

6 And turned heart fathers upon sons,

And heart sons upon fathers.

Lest come and strike the land – anathema.” Malachi 4:4-6

 

Jesus is saying that John is the fulfillment of the promised coming of Elijah. If they rejected his message by rejecting Jesus whom he proclaimed, the land would be struck with a curse.

 

Life application: A few points about the verses from Malachi. When the Lord proclaimed through him to remember the Law of Moses, He was not talking about obeying the law. That was something they were supposed to do already. He was telling them to remember the law that referred to the coming Redeemer.

 

Malachi proclaimed in verse 4:2 that a Righteousness Sun was coming. The meaning to be inferred is that the Law of Moses was not a Righteousness Sun. Rather, Paul states it was a tutor to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). In remembering the law and anticipating the promise set forth in Malachi, the people would then be prepared for the coming of Christ.

 

Understanding this, in verse 4:6 where it speaks of turning the heart of the fathers upon sons, and heart sons upon fathers, that is not a verse describing immediate family relations, as in, “He will turn the people in the families to love one another.” Rather, it is a word concerning the Hebrew people as a whole. The fathers are the patriarchs, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 

The children are those who had misunderstood both the promise to the patriarchs and the purpose of the law. The heart of the fathers was that of promise while trusting in the gospel of the grace of God. Paul explains this in Galatians 3 –

 

“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” 

...

“And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” Galatians 3:8, 9, & 17, 18

 

The hearts of the children, the unbelievers of Israel, will have their hearts turned to the hearts of the fathers who trusted the gospel of Christ as a certain and sure promise. If they do not turn their hearts, the warning of the curse of the law stands firm.

 

In the last words of Malachi concerning the curse, the Old Testament ends with the word kherem, anathema. It speaks of the utter destruction or ban of something. It is a fitting end to the thirty-nine books of law.

 

Only with the hope of God in Christ is there life and renewed fellowship with God. Only in understanding the gospel can that state be realized. In Matt