Hearing Jesus

On a recent trip to Israel, my wife and I visited the ancient Roman amphitheater at Caesarea Maritima, where we were both amazed by the building’s wonderful acoustics. Due to its concave construction, an actor in the first century could speak on the stage and be heard distinctly, even by those seated over three hundred feet away in the top row of the theater! Later, when we went to see the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount, our guide pointed out how the side of the mountain offered a geological equivalent to the amphitheater’s design. He suggested that the crowds who “were astonished” at Jesus’ teaching in Matthew’s Gospel (7:28) may very well have heard him only because of the natural amplification the site provided.

This last remark got me thinking about the practical challenges crowds must have encountered as they followed Jesus to hear him speak. After all, it’s clear from the Gospel accounts that Jesus preached in many venues without any acoustical advantage, natural or otherwise. There’s the time, for example, Jesus boarded a ship to preach to a crowd gathered on the shore (Matt 13:2). He also preached on a plain (Luke 6:17), in deserted places that resembled large grassy meadows (Mark 6:35-39), and in the streets of towns and villages as he passed on his way (Luke 13:26). Jesus’ ministry took him indoors as well, where he taught in homes (Luke 7:36-50), synagogues (Matt 4:23), and in the Temple of Jerusalem itself (John 8:2). In all these places, how difficult it must have been for many of those gathered to hear what Jesus had to say! The roar of waves, the cries of merchants, the laughter of children, the murmur of voices in prayer or at work in a kitchen—any one of these distractions at a particular moment could have made hearing Jesus difficult, if not impossible. In outside spaces especially, the mere matter of distance would itself have been problematic: those in the back of the crowd likely would have been able to hear very little of what Jesus was saying.

The solution during his lifetime, of course, would have been to remain as close to Jesus as possible. And that is precisely what we find his most devoted disciples doing. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, for example, we see the disciples physically surrounding Jesus before he begins to speak, allowing him to address them directly, though others appear to overhear what he is saying (Matt 5:1; 7:28). The twelve accompany Jesus on almost every step of his ministry: they are present to hear his debates with religious authorities, his interactions with individuals, and his proclamation of the kingdom of God.

Just as the best place to be twenty centuries ago was by Jesus’ side, it remains the best place to be today. Like his original audience, we too often have trouble hearing Jesus. His words can easily be drowned out by all sorts of modern “noise”—noise made by the legitimate demands of our jobs and families, the clamor of media and entertainment, and the other distractions that surround us on a daily basis. Yet we have the means to draw near to Jesus if we truly wish to do so. Making quiet time for Scripture and prayer, and drawing near to Jesus and our faith communities in the Eucharist, we can open our ears and hearts despite the uproar of life and hear the voice of the one who has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). To do so is to listen first to Jesus’ heavenly father, who instructs us to “listen” to his beloved Son (Mark 9:7).

Michael DiMassa, PhD, served for many years as the Director of Library Collection Services at Yale University and currently serves as an editor of LRSS materials. Mike is a graduate of the New England Catholic Bible School and lives in Milford, Connecticut, with his wife Donna.