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.

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