Introduction
‘He said to them, ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.’ Mark 4:21-23
Mark isn’t the only one who recorded this teaching of Christ, Luke does too, Luke 8:16-18. Jesus had just emphasised the concealment of His teachings using parables, Mark 4:11-12, but this reference to the lamp shows that the concealment will end.
Our Lord has just been speaking the Parable of the Sower and the disciples ask Him for an explanation, which He gives point by point.
I’m pretty sure the disciples were feeling pretty good about themselves after hearing Him tell them that He was hiding His truth from the masses while privately helping them to understand it, Matthew 11:16-17 / Mark 4:11.
‘Inside information’ can be a powerful thing, but it can also be dangerous, 1 Corinthians 8:1, more importantly, knowledge brings with it responsibility, and this is what Jesus is dealing with in these verses.
Jesus is talking to His disciples, and it’s an everyday illustration He uses. Night is coming, and the small house is in getting dark, and then the master of the house takes and trims the lamp and brings it in.
What do we do with the lamp? Does we put it under a bowl, which would hide the light? Do we hide it under the bed, which would dim the light? Or do we put it on the lampstand, which would display the light for all? We could do any of these, but the real purpose is to light the house.
It is very important that we understand what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is the light, John 8:12, and His word of the kingdom is light. And because Jesus is the Word, John 1:1 / John 1:14, I think we can safely say that the lamp here is the Word of God, just like the seed in the previous parable, Psalm 119:105.
Jesus is saying you don’t take a lamp and light it and put it under the bed or put it under a bowl. The whole purpose of having the lamp is to put it on the lampstand and let it shine. He’s saying that God hasn’t revealed to them these incredible truths about Himself in order for them to hide them.
Just as natural light illuminates the darkness and enables us to see visually, so the light of Christ shines in the hearts of believers and enables us to see the heavenly reality of God’s kingdom. In fact, our mission is to be light-bearers of Christ so that others may see the truth of the Gospel and be freed from the blindness of sin and deception.
The whole purpose of a lamp is simply to produce light and so obviously it’s always placed in a position which helps it accomplish its purpose. In other words, placing a lamp under a bowl or under a bed defeats the purpose of the lamp in the first place. They exist simply to bring light, in this case, light to men.
Jesus taught and warned against hiding a lit lamp on many occasions but notice how many different places He mentions where a lit lamp shouldn’t be put in a jar, under a bed, Luke 8:16, under a bowl, Mark 4:21 / Matthew 5:15, in a cellar, Luke 11:33.
It’s clear that Jesus is making an application to the Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:1-22 / Mark 4:1-20, and He’s saying that the preaching of the Gospel will bring to light the true nature of the hearts of everyone who hears it, Mark 4:19.
Some commentators believe there is a connection between the things which hide the light and the thorns which choke out the word. They believe that the clay jar stands for the worries of this world. The bowl stands for wealth, and the bed and a place, which is the cellar, stand for desires.
According to all those references the lamp shouldn’t be hidden but placed on a stand, but who or what is the stand? The lamp which is lit is the Christian and their lamp should be displayed on the stand, which is in the church, Revelation 1:20. But we’ve not just to be lights in our meeting place, we need to be lights of the world, Matthew 5:14-16.
The purpose of light is to reveal everything which is present in the house. It’s the light that both enlightens and brings to light, John 3:17-18 / John 5:34 / John 6:40 / John 12:48. Those who hear will be revealed to have open hearts and those who reject the word of God will be revealed to have hardened hearts.
The secrets of all people shall be made evident on judgement day. People must understand and respond to what they hear, they must be like the good soil, Mark 4:8, that grew and produced a multiplying crop.
Where does the moon get it’s light from? How does it shine? The moon doesn’t give off any light in and of itself, it simply reflects the light from the sun. We know that Jesus is the light of the world, John 8:12, and as Christians, our light is a reflection of His light, John 1:4-5.
Jesus Christ is the light and He revealed God and made Him known. He brought the character and the truth of God to all who believed in Him, John 1:9.
It’s through Jesus Christ that the true knowledge of God is made known. He brought the light and revealed the character and person of God. Jesus, Himself is the light of the world, John 8:12.
Christians don’t produce the light, but like the moon that reflects the light of the sun, we too reflect the light of His indwelling life, Revelation 21:23. Christians are supposed to display the character of God, that’s why we were called in the first place, 1 Peter 2:9 / Ephesians 5:8.
While Christians are light, the world is darkness. This is the term used to describe the lost condition. John tells us that there is no darkness in God, 1 John 1:5, which means that there is no sin, no moral question marks, and no blame in even the slightest degree. He uses the word ‘darkness’ as an alternative word for the world and the unregenerate condition, 1 John 2:8-9.
Our Lord uses the same word to describe the whole world in rebellion against God, John 3:19. His saving work is the only way to be delivered from this darkness. John 12:46.
What does darkness do? Darkness impairs vision, we can’t see clearly. In a spiritual sense, the kind of darkness that the Bible speaks of impairs a person morally. They cannot see, they don’t understand the effects of sin or even the root of it in the corruption of the human heart.
Their entire way of thinking is warped by the darkness. Their understanding has been switched off when it comes to grasping moral issues related to his own life.
But Christians are the light, and our purpose is to make God known. If an unbeliever comes in contact with us, they ought to see in our lives the reflection of the character of God. They ought to hear from our lips truth and that which is good. We are to be proclaiming the truth of His salvation, Mark 4:24-25.
Inherent in the purpose of a lamp is that it produces light. It’s therefore placed in a position to accomplish its purpose. Lamps exist for the very purpose of bringing light to men, Matthew 5:15-16.
The function of light is to reveal that which is present in the house. There is nothing hidden that will not be manifested. In reference to the preceding parable of the sower, the preaching of the Gospel will bring to light the true nature of the hearts of everyone who hears it.
It’s the light that both enlightens and brings to light, John 3:17-18 / John 5:34 / John 6:40 / John 12:48. Those who hear will be revealed to have open hearts.
Those who reject the word of God will be revealed to have hardened hearts. They must understand and respond to what they hear. They must be as the good soil, Mark 4:8, that brought forth abundantly.
Jesus has just finished saying, ‘if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear,’ Mark 4:23, then He goes on and warns His disciples to take great care with how they listen.
We have to remember that the Gospel is so precious, because the Gospel contains the message of eternal life and the message of eternal death, depending on how a person responds to it.
The words, ‘it will be measured to you,’, Mark 4:24, mean those who are of a humble nature are receptive to the teachings of Jesus. They hear with the intention of producing.
As a result of their willingness to hear, they will grow. To the ones who grow, therefore, more will be given in the sense that the righteous will receive far more in eternal glory than they expect, Romans 8:18.
The words, ‘whoever does not have,’ Mark 4:25, mean those who aren’t of the nature of the good soil will not produce. They will thus not receive the bounty of more. That which unrighteous hearts possess will be lost in the final reckoning of all things.
Their good works will be in vain because they aren’t in Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:58. The unrighteous will lose whatever they had. These measures are the kind of judgments people give of others, resulting always in their being judged in the same fashion, Matthew 7:1-2 / Luke 6:37-38.
If people listen to the Gospel carelessly, then they will find that they don’t have what it takes to remain faithful unto death, Revelation 2:10. If we take the Gospel lightly, even what little we have gained will be taken from us. But if we receive the whole Gospel and obey it, then we will gain more than we can imagine.
And so, Jesus is saying, the more the Christian studies God’s Word, the more they will learn as it’s revealed to them through His Word but those Christians who don’t study God’s Word, will not learn anything new and what they do already know will be taken away from them.
We see this in action when Jesus shares the Parable of the Talents, where the one-talent man buried his talent, instead of putting it to good use, then it was taken from him and given to the man who had ten talents, Matthew 25:19-28.
The Christian needs to shine whenever they find themselves, they need to continually grow, through studying God’s Word, 2 Peter 3:18.
The Bible is a light, but it’s useless if it remains closed on the bookshelf. In order to receive profit, we must open it up and read it. Although studying the Scriptures is essential, many read the Bible in vain, because they don’t read it correctly.
It’s significant that in the middle of a text stressing the importance of hearing the word, Jesus emphasised the need to be careful how we hear, Mark 4:24.
The fact that people who read the Bible come to markedly different conclusions about what it means demonstrates that many are not understanding it properly. Some are careless and simply don’t put much effort into their study.
Others twist the Scriptures intentionally, misinterpreting them to try to confirm the beliefs and practices they have already determined to follow.
How to study the Bible? Some common-sense principles can help us understand the Scriptures as we study.
First, learn to study in context.
The Bible has two main divisions. The Old Testament, the first 39 books, and the New Testament, the last 27 books.
The New Testament is the part that directly relates to us today since it contains the teachings of Christ and the apostles. The Old Testament gives the background of God’s preparation of the Jewish nation for the coming of Christ.
These Testaments are subdivided into books, 66 in all. It is probably best to study book by book. This study was designed to take a person through the gospel of Mark step-by-step.
We need to concentrate on what we read in the Bible to be able to understand it. Since each book is divided into chapters, it is helpful to approach our Bible study by working with a chapter at a time. Read through the chapter two or three times.
On the first reading, work to simply discover what the chapter contains, but on the second reading, we can begin to try to analyse the main points. Keep a notebook handy. Jot down a note or two about the main ideas or events of the chapter.
A notebook is a good place to write down questions that arise as we study. Writing them down so that we won’t forget them allows us to progress in our study without getting side-tracked.
Later, we can search for the answers to these questions ourself, or we can ask someone else to help us.
