“And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Then Jesus said, whoever has ears to hear, let them hear — the refrain at the end of the parable is the bookend to the Listen! at the beginning. The parable has been told; the responsibility now belongs to the hearer. Whoever has ears to hear acknowledges that not everyone who hears will understand — hearing the sound of the story and hearing the meaning of the story are two different acts. The let them hear is simultaneously an invitation (those who can, please do) and an implicit warning (those who don't will lose what they have). The parable's ending places the response burden on the audience rather than on the quality of the telling.
Church Fathers on Mark 4:9
Although the Lord appears in the transactions mentioned above to neglect His mother, nevertheless He honours her; since on her account He goes forth about the borders of the sea.
For if we look into the Gospel of Matthew, it appears that this same teaching of the Lord at the sea, was delivered on the same day as the former. For after the conclusion of the first sermon, Matthew immediately subjoins, saying, 'The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea-side.'
But He began to teach at the sea, that the place of His teaching might point out the bitter feelings and instability of His hearers.
Read all 22 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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