Luke 9:44-45 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men." (45) But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus was trying to explain to the disciples what was about to happen to Him in Jerusalem. In other words they needed spiritual understanding. However as this passage reveals to us, because it was hidden from them at that time, the disciples could not understand Him. Nevertheless the point that I want to highlight from this passage is our Lord’s comment, “Let these words sink down into your ears”. So what did the Lord mean by that statement? In the natural, the disciples could hear perfectly what Jesus was saying, but Jesus wasn’t referring to their physical ears but rather He was talking about the ears of their inner man (spirit). When our Lord walked on the earth, many times He would make the following statement, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear”. When Jesus made this statement He was not referring to their physical ears, because all could hear Him with their physical ears, but rather Jesus was referring to their spiritual ears, i.e. the ears of their inner man. So the question is then asked, how do we hear with our spiritual ears? Our Lord Jesus pointed us to the answer of that question by telling us that we are to let His words sink down into our ears.
Proverbs 18:8 & Proverbs 26:22 “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.”
As quoted above, twice in the book of proverbs the Holy Spirit reveals to us just how words enter the spirits of unbelievers. The inmost body referred to in this passage of scripture is the spirit of the unbeliever. In this world unbelievers dwell on the words of a talebearer because they like to think about what was said. In other words they meditate on those words. As they continue to think about those words, those words eventually sink down into their spiritual ears and their spirits then absorb them. In other words they feed their spirits with those words. In the same manner believers allow the word of God to go down into their spirits, for although the words are different, the principle remains the same. In other words it is through our constantly thinking about the word of God i.e. meditating on God’s word, that we allow His words to go down into our inmost bodies. We have already seen that our minds are the gateway to our spirits and that nothing enters our spirits from the outside except through our minds. And so we see that as we meditate on the word of God with our minds that we ultimately feed our spirits with those words.
Psalms 119:97-99 “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. (98) You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. (99) I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.”
You will recall that we stated earlier that our Lord Jesus was made just like us and yet He grew strong in spirit. And so just like everyone else, our Lord Jesus as a child was taught the word of God along with all the other children He grew up with. But you will also recall that even as a twelve-year-old boy that our Lord’s understanding of God’s word astonished even the theological professors of His day (Luke 2:47). So how did our Lord do that? Many of the Psalms are prophetic records of our Lord’s words when He walked in the flesh, and Psalm 119 is one such record. In this Psalm quoted above, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that the reason our Lord Jesus had more understanding than all His teachers, was because the word of God was His constant meditation. In other words our Lord was constantly thinking about God’s word throughout the day. And so we see that meditation on God’s word has the effect of producing understanding in our minds. And that which we constantly meditate on and understand, will eventually go down into our spirits and our spirits will absorb those words. In other words our spirits will be fed by those words. The following is a crude analogy but nevertheless it illustrates the point clearly. When we eat food in the natural, the food enters our mouths and we chew on that food. We chew the food to break it down into manageable pieces so that we can swallow it. Only then does the food go down into our stomachs to be absorbed into our bodies. In a similar manner our minds are like our mouths in the natural. God’s word enters our minds and we chew on that word by meditating on it. Finally when we understand God’s word with our minds, then that word goes down into our spirits so that our spirits can absorb it and thus grow stronger. The same analogy can even be taken further, for the scripture speaks of the milk of God’s word and the solid food of God’s word. Milk in the natural is easy to swallow and does not need to be chewed. In the spiritual all believers are able to swallow the milk of God’s word because it does not need to be chewed. Solid food however is different, for solid food cannot be swallowed unless it is chewed. Invariably baby believers spend little or no time meditating on God’s word, which is why they are unable to swallow the solid food of God’s word. And so we see that believers will never partake of the solid food of God’s word unless they are prepared to spend time meditating on His word. And as we have already stated, to the degree that we do not partake of the solid food of God’s word we will never grow strong spiritually, for we cannot grow strong on milk alone.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is very clear as to what we are to mediate on. If you look at the list, it is really only the word of God that meets with all the requirements of that list. And so there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is trying to encourage believers to meditate on God’s word just as our Lord Jesus did when He was on the earth. For if we do that then God is able to give us spiritual understanding of His word, and when that happens those words will drop down into our spirits and feed our spirits so that we can grow strong in spirit.
1 John 2:26-27 “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. (27) But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
As an aside, it is important to understand that only the word of God can enter the spirit of the born-again believer. There are numerous reasons for that; one being that the spirit of the believer cannot be corrupted, having being born from the incorruptible seed of God’s word. Therefore if carnal believers constantly think about the words of a talebearer for example, those words cannot enter into their spirits because their spirits, already having spiritual understanding of God’s word, reject the words of a talebearer out of hand. So what about false doctrine? Although there is plenty of truth that is taught to the church, sadly there is also a lot of error and deception that is taught, and many believers become caught up in the false doctrines taught. More often that not, the believers that get caught up in false doctrine are those who can be classified as babes in Christ. So what impact does false doctrine have on their spirits? Thankfully none, for as the apostle John teaches us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit that resides in our spirits teaches our spirits all things, including how to recognise that which is false doctrine. And so that is where the spirit’s understanding comes in, for as we have already stated earlier, the spirit of the believer has full understanding of God’s word, which means that the moment the saint is exposed to any false teaching, their spirit knows about it and rejects it out of hand. And so even though the mind of the believer may become deceived into believing the error taught, that word cannot enter into the spirit of the believer because their spirit simply rejects it. And so we see another biblical truth, which is that God only allows His word to enter through our minds into our spirits.
Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
In the book of Romans quoted above the apostle Paul teaches us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. To set your mind on something is to constantly meditate on that thing. And so we see that if believers are going to grow strong spiritually they are going to have to set time aside to meditate on God’s word. Spiritual believers constantly meditate on God’s word just as our Lord Jesus did. The point therefore remains that the more we meditate on God’s word, the more of His word we will understand. And the more of God’s word that we understand the more of His word that will sink down into our spirit and thus our spirit will grow stronger.
Michael E.B. Maher
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