Today in our Scripture Jesus teaches us three short parables which all tie together to form a fuller understanding of who God is and how he operates in our lives. You’ll notice as we read the Scripture today there are some verses that are quite difficult to understand and on a first reading we may become a bit confused about what Jesus intended. As we read the Scripture, I would pay special attention to verses 24 and 25. Well, let’s read the Scripture and then see what God has in store for us morning. Mark 4:21-34.
(Read the Scripture from your favorite translation. I am using the NIV.)
Our Scripture starts out talking about a lamp, so I thought I would start out this morning talking about a related subject: Light bulbs. {maybe only Alaskans find them funny}
Q: How many former Alaskan Governors does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but he will need his state purchased Lear jet to get it done.
Q: How many Alaskan pipeline workers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: We’re supposed to do maintenance?
Q: How many Alaskan lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Exactly what do you mean by light bulb?
Q: How many Alaskan fly fishermen does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Don’t talk to me when I’m fishing.
Q: How many Alaskans who came from Texas does it take to change a light bulb?
A: I don’t know, but the light bulbs in Texas are bigger and brighter.
Q: How many moose does it take to get a light bulb changed?
A: Obviously a tourist question. Why would you let a moose change light bulbs?
And finally…..
Q: How many members of the Trinity does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Jesus is the light, and He never changes.
Yeah I know, Katie said they weren’t very funny.
So we have before us three short parables where Jesus speaks about himself in the first parable and then Jesus speaks about the kingdom of God and our spiritual maturity in the next two parables. We see in the first parable that Jesus Christ cannot be contained and in the next two parables, that the kingdom of God is destined to grow, and that it will grow beyond all of our expectations and beyond our wildest imagination. In fact, we see a mysterious principle at work: 25 “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
Before we get into understanding what Jesus is teaching us this morning, we need to understand the broader context of this passage. These parables are distinctly eschatological; What I mean is, that not only do they talk about life right now, but they also speak of the culmination of all things at the end of time when all people of all time are standing before God in judgment. These parables are written to give us reassurance in our faith right now and also to give us insight concerning the nature of the coming of the kingdom of God.
Additionally, Jesus teaches in parables at this point in his ministry for two reasons: First, as we saw last week, the Word of God can only be fully understood by those who have the Holy Spirit, so the parable is directed at those who believe, who have the Holy Spirit; those with the Spirit are able to hear and comprehend, not by of their own intellect, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Second, Jesus teaches in parables at this point because most people are not ready to hear His Word. If Jesus spoke in a direct way to the people, they would have been forced to make a decision immediately about who Jesus Christ was, and in that decision, they would have expressed rejection and unbelief. If I can be more direct in what I am saying: these people were not ready to hear the Holy Spirit and if Jesus spoke in a way they could fully understand – everyone would have simply turned their back on Jesus, and walked away. They were not ready to receive the Gospel. So Jesus teaches in this way as explained by verse 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus means, anyone who has the Holy Spirit, let them hear through the Spirit.
Let’s take a closer look at the first parable. Verse 21 “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?” The NIV which we read this morning doesn’t render this phrase very well, for when we look at the original Greek we read, loosely translated, A lamp doesn’t come to be placed under a bowl or a bed. This rendering gives us a better understanding of the full meaning of the verse.
{Note to reader: see the Greek (GNT) for the literal Greek wording, or see the following classic translations to see this is a more concise rendering of this verse: Youngs , BBE, DRBY, DOUAY, Geneva.}
It is a very strange reading for a lamp. A lamp is an inanimate object, it doesn’t come and go on it’s own, it is brought from one place to another. Yet here we see Jesus saying that the lamp comes….This is because this lamp is not an inanimate object, this lamp is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Jesus here in this first parable, is speaking of himself. Jesus is the light, Jesus is the Word, Jesus cannot be hidden, Jesus comes and like light, he reveals himself; He comes not to be hidden, but for revelation.
I think we look at this parable and we tend to apply it immediately to ourselves: We say to ourselves, “I shouldn’t hide my light, I should let my light shine. The world will be such a better brighter place if I shine my might”. Isn’t that a little self absorbed? Where in these verses does it tell you to shine your light? Take a look for yourself. It isn’t there, is it? No, it doesn’t talk about your light, because you are not the light, Jesus is the light. Jesus isn’t talking about you and your light, Jesus is talking about Jesus, He himself is the light. We saw in the earlier chapters of Mark that Jesus is THE authority, period. Jesus is not brought from here to there like an oil lamp. Jesus is in command, Jesus is in control, Jesus is in authority – Jesus the light, who comes under his own power and Jesus by his own volition and will NOT be placed under a bowl, He will NOT be placed under a bed, He will defy those forces who try to dismiss him and He WILL be placed in a position for all to see. This parable in conjunction with the next two parables speaks of the growth of the kingdom of God from obscurity to full manifestation. This parable my friends is about what has already happened, and what is to come at the end of all things.
We read in Isaiah 45:21-23,
21 Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
Additionally, we read on Romans 14:10b -12,
10 b….. For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Further, in Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus in this first parable speaks of himself as the light who will come to shine so bright that all will acknowledge him whether they like it or not. Jesus starts off hidden, but will end up in a place where all will see and acknowledge Him. Jesus was hidden at his coming as an infant born to poor Hebrew peasants, who would recognize him as the God incarnate? Even in his ministry as we have seen here in the Gospel of Mark, people see impossible events happen and yet only a few seem to comprehend, but His recognition gradually increased and is still increasing to this day. Understand that at the end of time, everyone will stand before Jesus and everyone will know and see the light that Jesus is. The power and influence of the Gospel is gradually being revealed as time marches on and at the culmination of all things all will stand before our Lord Jesus Christ – I will, Pastor Ted will, your great, great grandfather will, the kid serving you coffee at Starbucks will, those who proudly claim to be atheists will, as well as those who claim to be believers and alongside all of them all - will be you, standing before the Lord Jesus Christ who will shine like a light on a lamp stand for all to see and bow down in acknowledgment and worship. Verse 22, "For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open". Jesus is the lamp in the parable, the lamp that is concealed and is meant to be brought out in the open.
God has not brought forth Jesus to conceal his identity, the day will come when all will be revealed. That day will be at the culmination of all things when the apparent weakness and obscurity that the world imagines of Jesus, will be exchanged for glory and power. He is a lamp and He will not be concealed.
We must continue to note that Jesus is speaking of the culmination of all things when he continues in verse 24, “Consider carefully what you hear,” Jesus warns us – in the rest of verse 24 continuing into 25 Jesus is certainly NOT telling us how to make money, Jesus is NOT telling us about massing material possessions; Jesus is informing you about your spiritual life, He is revealing a mysterious principle of how spiritual things work…let’s read those verses: “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
Remember this is about your spiritual life now and…..into eternity. Verse 24, “With the measure you use”. If the measure that you put into following Jesus Christ in your life is rich and profound (this is in the sense of eagerness and joy), “it will be measured to you—and even more”; You will receive, both starting now in your relationship with God AND in the eschatological revelation, not only the same measure you used to build your spiritual life but even a greater measure.
See, ultimately richness of the salvation you receive both now and in the future will be far richer than ever imagined or anticipated. Further, what will be ultimately possessed in the kingdom of God will depend upon what is possessed NOW – not by what you posses materially, not by what you have accomplished, not by what you have achieved, not by anything, except, your obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Your obedience now, determines your future measure, everything else is insignificant.
25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” What this verse means is this: Those who believe will be rich in salvation at the culmination of all things; Those who do not believe will not receive the richness of salvation, for salvation will be taken away from them.
If you do not believe, you lose everything, which literally means, you lose your soul; If you do believe, you gain the richness of salvation and, the more you put into your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ the more full, and the more satisfying and blessed that relationship will be, both now and even more into eternity. Another way of saying this is: The believer who is already blessed by God, should anticipate the unimaginable generosity when he is before God; The unbeliever, he will lose it all, even his very soul.
So, how does all this happen, this richness of salvation? Jesus tells us in the next parable. A man scatters the seed, this we know is the Word of God. It is placed in human hearts and it grows. As the seed grows, it transforms this person who has received the Word, and this person matures spiritually producing grain – as we saw last week, the fruits of the Spirit. The kingdom of God grows. Who causes this growth? We saw this last week, The Holy Spirit causes this growth.
The farmer trusts in the natural order of things, for he knows that he cannot grow the seed. Like the lamp, the kingdom of God comes, it comes to us, we don’t bring God’s kingdom, we are not in charge, God is…for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. With those words from the Lord’s prayer we acknowledge this: God plants the seed of the Word, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, it grows – how, we really don’t know, we as humans can never fully understand the process, but what we do know is that God is the agent, He is the one who makes it grow. Kingdom of God comes mysteriously by God’s initiative, God’s appointment, without human intervention; The world goes about its business ignoring what God is doing – yet, the kingdom of God grows in the hearts and lives of His children.
In this second parable Jesus is speaking of the culmination of all things, yes, but He is also speaking of your spiritual life, right now, and He likens your spiritual life to growth in a garden. It takes time, it takes cultivation. I water, I weed, I prune, I fertilize so my garden will mature – but, in the natural order of things, when it comes right down to it, I do not make my garden grow. The same thing with my spiritual maturity: remember from last week, we immerse ourselves in the Word of God and hearing of the Holy Spirit to produce fruits of the Spirit – this is what Jesus is talking about here. Ultimately, God makes our spiritual growth happen, but we still need to tend the garden.
We also saw last week that Christians who have weedy lives become quite frustrated with God when a crisis occurs, or a difficult situation arises that they need to hear the Holy Spirit’s guidance on. They tell God their situation, but they do not hear or see any answers, then they become frustrated. Jesus tells us here that your spiritual life is like a garden, it takes time, and over time, paying careful attention to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, you will be able to sense the direction of God. It is like this: If I want carrots tomorrow, planning them tonight will not do me much good. I should have planted them a long time ago to be able to harvest the fruits of my labor. In the same way when we say, “God, I need an patients for the situation I am dealing with tomorrow” also makes no sense. Since we have not cultivated hearing and understanding the Holy Spirit – the fruit of patience will not be produced overnight, period. That is just the way it is. All the pleading, whining, and hoping will not make it happen. I want results, I want to hear God’s answer now!…it just doesn’t work that way. You have to mature, before you can harvest.
Last year I had a bunch of eggplant in my garden. They grew huge, this being Alaska, and they produced a bunch of eggplant….but the fruit never matured and the eggplants could not be picked. All this wonderful growth, and no mature fruit, the plants were useless – eventually a moose came by and ate them all in about four minutes. That was the end of that.
Notice that the harvest that we read about in verse 29 anticipates our growth, “As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” God plants the seed and anticipates that we will grow – beyond anyone’s expectations – this is what the last parable is about.
Proverbial in Jewish thinking, the smallest of all seeds, is the mustard seed. Notice that attention is not focused upon growth as in the last parable, but upon contrast of the smallest and the largest. This is about expectation like the kingdom of God. God comes into our life and though insignificant in the beginning, the matured result provides strength and protection and shade that one could never imagine looking at the small seed. Understand that this growth Jesus is speaking of will see results both now, and also at the end of time. Jesus is saying that this little thing, which you regard as such a small part in your life, can grow beyond your wildest imagination.
See, Jesus is encouraging us. Hang in there, stay with me for this growth in your life will happen, as you tend your garden, it will happen in a mysterious way in a way which no one in this world can fully understand, or explain. Jesus is the lamp, the light of the world, and at some point in time, it will become painfully clear to all of humanity. To those of us who are believers, Jesus promises us a spiritually rich reward, beyond all of our expectations or what we could ever imagine – If we tend the garden, He will make it happen.
See, there is this mysterious principle found in Word of God. It may just appears as a collection of words, not especially significant, something we overlook on a daily basis, something that we find it hard to imagine the impact it can have on our lives…yet remember the mustard seed.
