NOTES for Isa 50:4-9

Speaking about his prophetic ministry, Isaiah mentions an "opened ear" and "the tongue of a disciple" ("the tongue of the wise"). What does he mean? Taken literally, the words about an "opened ear" imply the experience of prophetic hearing, in which a person hears the voice of God quite literally, just as we hear human speech. But such hearing is not directly connected with the physiological mechanisms that are involved in the ordinary case. A person hears God, even if it is a matter of a voice, not as he hears another person. The meanings opened by God are perceived by him directly, and only afterward does the person himself clothe them in the words of his native language. What is needed here is not so much sharp hearing, or even a sharp mind, as a spiritually attentive heart. Otherwise a situation is entirely possible in which a person, in the well-known Gospel expression, has ears but does not hear. A will that does not want to hear God closes a person's heart to God's action, and together with the heart the ears are closed as well: the person ceases to hear God.

But what closes the heart to God? And what can help preserve openness? Isaiah answers this question too: the tongue of a disciple. The corresponding Hebrew expression can also be translated as "the tongue of the wise." But even with such a translation, the point is the wisdom of one who is still continuing to learn.

Can a disciple speak? Obviously, yes. Can he say something important, wise, and valuable? Quite possibly. But a true disciple never considers himself entitled to teach. At least not while he experiences himself as a disciple. Once he stops experiencing himself as a disciple, his heart closes. There is nothing more to listen to; everything is already clear. He can begin teaching others. A disciple, however, never teaches. He can share with others what he has learned, but while doing so he never stops listening.

The ideal state for a prophet is to listen at the same time to what God is saying and to bear witness to what he has heard. And let those who dislike something in the witness's words bring their claims to God, because it was He who revealed to the witness what He revealed.