Jesus knew that parables aren’t easily or immediately understood. And so, He ended His first parable by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” But wouldn’t Jesus want everyone to hear and understand? Yes—but only those who genuinely desired to understand Him. For hard-hearted hearers, parables protect them from further accountability. Jesus used parables to weed out those in the multitudes who were following Him for a multitude of reasons—not simply to worship Him and hear The Ministry of The Word.