Robert Brown examines the familiar story in Luke 10:25-37 of the lawyer who enters a debate with Jesus by asking how he can “inherit the life of the ages.” Jesus, in good rabbinic style, answers the lawyer’s question with questions aimed back at the lawyer. Luke’s telling of the story allows us to overhear the questions and responses in this exchange, and thus be confronted by the Word— who gets to the heart of the matter.

Truly hearing the Scriptures is much more than a matter of “knowing” the “right answer.” Rather, “having ears to hear,” means an open-heartedness willingness to receive the Word spoken, and in humble love, to “go and do likewise.”