Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word

(John 8:43 NASB)

Why do you not understand, ginosko, what I am saying? This is somewhat of a rhetorical question to draw their attention, for Jesus does not wait for them to answer. Only a person who is right with God can truly understand the Bible. Notice how this ability to understand the Holy Scriptures serves as evidence that a person is a genuine believer, and how it dovetails with Jesus’ earlier statement that continuing in His word is the mark of a genuine disciple.

To be lacking in comprehension could therefore be an issue of the heart. To lack comprehension may be a sign of a heart that is hardened, or a spirit that is proud. This condition is the opposite of everything that is good. It is the condition of those who, as Jesus says, cannot bear to hear His word. Throughout His gospel, many people misunderstood Jesus and His teaching. In this passage He gives the reason: it is because you cannot bear, or “you are not able,” to hear My word, where “hear” should be taken in the sense of “hear and receive” or “hear and accept.”

Note that Jesus does not say they “do not hear” but that they “cannot hear.” What is the difference? The first kind of hearing is auditory, physically receiving the sound waves of words. That they could do. The second kind of hearing is spiritual, the ears being open to supernatural truth. That they could not do. The Greek verb dunamai with a negative prefix means they had no ability to hear spiritual truth. It is a kind of congenital spiritual deafness, present from birth in those who are still in Adam. Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned, and these professed believers could not hear because they were not genuinely believers.

Not only could they not continue in His word, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31 NASB), they could not even hear His word in the sense of listening, receiving, and obeying it. Of course they heard the sound of Jesus’ words. But they did not accept or receive them. It was as if Jesus was speaking on a frequency they had no receiver for.

Paul made this equally clear: “But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB). These Jews were false disciples, like those in John 6:60, “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’” (John 6:60 NASB). The result of not abiding in His word was that many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

The Boldness of Christ

What a character we see in Christ as we read this dialogue in which He endured such contradiction from those around Him. In Christ there is all the tenderness of a gentle spirit, but do not mistake that for weakness. What masculine force, what vigor, what power there is in Him!

There are those who, when a preacher speaks plainly against error, say that he lacks charity and does not have the spirit of Christ. Is that so? Did there ever fall from any lips more searching words than those found here, when Jesus is brought into conflict with His foes? The fact is, He is meek and lowly, and He is also most courageous. He is graciously kind, and He is honest and true. He speaks with polish and gentleness, and yet there is great force in every expression He uses. He does not mince matters when dealing with sin. There is no velvet on His lips, no honeyed phrases. Naked truth flashes from His words when He has to deal with those who oppose the gospel.

Why They Could Not Hear

Jesus, the master communicator, was often misunderstood. Although He spoke the truth clearly, His hearers not only jumbled up His message but rejected it. He asked them, “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word” (John 8:43 NASB).

Why were they such poor listeners? Not because Jesus failed to communicate. He never failed to communicate. They could not hear because they did not want to hear the truth. And why didn’t they want to hear it? Because the truth required them to face their need to change. That is always the deeper reason behind spiritual deafness. It is not an intellectual problem. It is a heart problem.

And this is the searching question the text places before each of us today. When we say “God is getting through to me,” it is not because He is communicating better. He is always communicating perfectly. It is because we are hearing and willing to change. The frequency of heaven never changes. What changes is whether our hearts are tuned to receive it.

Let us always make listening to God one of our most developed and carefully maintained disciplines. Not just reading His Word, but hearing it. Not just hearing it, but receiving it. Not just receiving it, but obeying it. For to hear the word of God and respond to it is the mark of a genuine disciple. To hear it and walk away unchanged is to reveal something dangerous about the condition of our heart. “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31 NASB). May we be those who hear, truly hear, and continue.