DAY ELEVEN – Monday, March 6, 2023
Mark 4:21-25
According to Mark’s account, Jesus is alone with the disciples when he asks them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lamp stand?” The implied answer is, “Of course not!” But who, or what, does the lamp symbolize?
We all recall Jesus’ evocative same use of that same image of the lamp and the bushel basket, in Matthew’s account, where it comprises part of the very public sermon on the mount. “You are the light of the world. … let your light shine before others.” (Matthew 5:14-16) In a similar vein, John speaks of Jesus–of whom we are to be a reflection–as the true light that is to enlighten everyone. (John 1:1-9) Because of our familiarity with these passages, we may be inclined to assume that, in Mark’s account too, Jesus is comparing himself, and us his followers, to a lamp that must not be hidden. But Jesus has just finished privately giving his disciples an explanation of the parable of the sower, his first parable or teaching story, one told to a very large crowd. Given this different context, another explanation is more likely. Jesus may well be referring not himself, or to us his followers, but to his teachings–the lamp of learning, which is to be a light to our path. (Psalm 199:105). This offers a different sense of the puzzling words that follow. There is a definite reassurance that things that have up to now been hidden and secret will be disclosed. But we have to pay close attention to what we hear, and not let it merely go in one ear and out the other. Jesus concludes, “For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” This threatening and unfair-sounding conclusion refers not to material possessions, nor to our relationship with God, but rather to our capacity to really listen and to take in, to ponder and to incorporate what we learn into our lives, by which our days will be richer and fuller.
Don Willmer
Mark 4:21-25
According to Mark’s account, Jesus is alone with the disciples when he asks them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lamp stand?” The implied answer is, “Of course not!” But who, or what, does the lamp symbolize?
We all recall Jesus’ evocative same use of that same image of the lamp and the bushel basket, in Matthew’s account, where it comprises part of the very public sermon on the mount. “You are the light of the world. … let your light shine before others.” (Matthew 5:14-16) In a similar vein, John speaks of Jesus–of whom we are to be a reflection–as the true light that is to enlighten everyone. (John 1:1-9) Because of our familiarity with these passages, we may be inclined to assume that, in Mark’s account too, Jesus is comparing himself, and us his followers, to a lamp that must not be hidden. But Jesus has just finished privately giving his disciples an explanation of the parable of the sower, his first parable or teaching story, one told to a very large crowd. Given this different context, another explanation is more likely. Jesus may well be referring not himself, or to us his followers, but to his teachings–the lamp of learning, which is to be a light to our path. (Psalm 199:105). This offers a different sense of the puzzling words that follow. There is a definite reassurance that things that have up to now been hidden and secret will be disclosed. But we have to pay close attention to what we hear, and not let it merely go in one ear and out the other. Jesus concludes, “For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” This threatening and unfair-sounding conclusion refers not to material possessions, nor to our relationship with God, but rather to our capacity to really listen and to take in, to ponder and to incorporate what we learn into our lives, by which our days will be richer and fuller.
Don Willmer
