21 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you hide a lamp under a bowl or under a bed? No! You put the lamp on a lampstand. 22 Everything that is hidden will be made clear and every secret thing will be made known. 23 Let those with ears use them and listen! 24 “Think carefully about what you hear. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you, but God will give you even more. 25 Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them.” ~ Mark 4:21-25
Today, we return to Mark 4 where the Lord Jesus had begun teaching the crowds using parables. In fact, on this particular day, He used a parable which the disciples later asked for an explanation. The Lord Jesus has just given His explanation of the parable of the sower, and now, He gives more teaching regarding how we must hear in order to be effective in His call on our lives to be His messengers.
In v.21-23 of today's passage we read, "21 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you hide a lamp under a bowl or under a bed? No! You put the lamp on a lampstand. 22 Everything that is hidden will be made clear and every secret thing will be made known. 23 Let those with ears use them and listen!"
Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator. Of course, Christianity is not a religion because we could never be able to earn God's favor. This is why the Lord Jesus came to this earth to die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin.
In today's passage, the Lord Jesus taught about our ability to perceive coming on the heels of listening. He began this teaching with an invitation to "listen" in Mark 4:3. Twice he has challenged anyone with ears to hear to "listen." The reason the Lord Jesus taught using parables was to enable those who are eager to learn from Him to hear and understand. But, when His teaching is rejected, we can expect a measure of hardening of our hearts to the truth. The Lord Jesus made it clear that understanding the parable of the soils was key to understanding all of His parables. The humility that ushered us into God's family is the characteristic that forges His kingdom in our souls.
The parable of the sower accentuates hearing His word deeply, and, as a result, enjoying the results of the power of His word in our lives. The parable of the lamp in today's passage magnifies what is and what isn’t seen. Through this teaching, the Lord Jesus is saying, "See what you listen to." This means if we are to see deeply with our hearts, we must listen deeply. And then, the goal beyond that is that others would come to know Him through our yielded lives. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "The Bible is not the light of the world, it is the light of the Church. But the world does not read the Bible, the world reads Christians! You are the light of the world."
In biblical days the lamp was a shallow dish made out of clay, just about three to four inches in diameter. This dish had a shallow little lip on one side so that a wick could be laid in it with a few ounces of oil. And, the lamp stand was a little shelf that protruded out of the wall. The brightly lit lamp was not only set on the lamp stand, it shined brightly into the darkness.
I find it reassuring that the Lord Jesus used the clay lamp to illustrate us, His followers. We are but clay pots. And, as a result, we are privileged to be the instruments of God. In those days the jars of clay were common, inexpensive, and frail. And, despite our weakness, God has chosen to use clay pots with the dissemination of His treasure. The greatness of His treasure is in sharp contrast to the frailness of the clay pots. The stark contrast shows that the power is certainly from God and we are merely instruments of His great power. Key here is humility which thrives with such understanding, and, the message shines brightest out of such a posture.
The higher the lit lamp was placed in the house, the more light it dispersed. So the idea here is that the Gospel was never intended to be kept hidden, but to be given out to everyone. Our responsibility is to live in and out of the light of the Gospel to the world as the Lord leads our yielded lives on a given day. As we live our lives organically, His power is shown forth through our yielded lives.
In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 “Think carefully about what you hear. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you, but God will give you even more. 25 Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them."
Our capacity for insight into the truths of God expands as we listen and see more deeply. It is not that we see and hear, it is that our hearts and minds are so focused on the words of the Lord Jesus that His message pushes out the shallow and gives way to His depth. There is a relationship between the effort we put in and the understanding we receive from God. The amount of careful listening we put in, equals the amount of understanding we get. The more reading, seeking, discerning, the more understanding we receive. And likewise, the less of these things we do, the less understanding we receive.
And, in the end, it is the Lord Jesus who gives us what we really need: His perspective. The more we live in and out of His truth, the less of ourselves we will see. The essence of true spiritual insight and the resulting usefulness is that of being humble enough to seek and listen. The power of the gospel is not the product of human genius, it is that we, as mere clay pots, are weak enough to realize our utter need for Him.
