Storms and Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. If you have your Bibles with you, or you have an electronic version, please open with me to Mark 4, Mark 4. We’re continuing on in our journey through this great chapter that contains some of Jesus parables. We’ve spent the last few weeks dissecting and diving down into the Parable of the Soils, or what you may have heard more commonly referred to as the Parable of the Sower.
During the first week we looked at what the first century understanding of the soils would have been and really how abruptly Jesus ended that parable in a sense leaving the listeners hanging as to the meaning of His teaching. Two weeks ago we saw the disciples and those who were with them coming to Jesus and asking what the parable meant separating themselves from the crowd that wasn’t interested in the meaning. And Jesus informed them that this was right and proper because it had been given to them the ability to understand or to desire clarity when it came to the parables and to things concerning the Kingdom of God.
Last week Chuck very ably took us through the meaning of the parable and helped us to understand markers to recognize in people that would identify them and more importantly what the spiritual soil of their heart looked like.
This week we’re going to move on away from that parable and see Jesus again teaching an enigmatic parable that defies our understanding. Let’s read through this passage and then take a look to see what the Lord has to say to each of us through His Word today. Please look in your Bibles with me at Mark 4 starting in verse 21.
He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.
For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
This shift in Jesus’ teaching style would have been confusing to the crowds who came to see Him. It would also have been confusing and possibly a little off putting to His disciples. The crowds had come out to see the teacher that had astonished the entire countryside of Galilee with His powerful teaching. The disciples had followed Him for a reason. Just like a modern day apprentice, disciples joined themselves to a teacher to learn something from them. Jesus had switched up His teaching style on them and this may have been confusing to the disciples. Were they too supposed to teach in a manner that hid the true meaning of their words from their listeners? What is the end goal of this style of teaching?
Incidentally, and maybe a little tangentially, this flies in the face of those modern teachers who highlight that Jesus was a storyteller and so we should be too. They miss the entire point of the stories Jesus told - it wasn’t to make things more clear, it was to confirm those who wouldn’t believe even if the truth were plainly spoken to them. It isn’t through clever stories that people get saved - it is through the preaching of the inerrant, powerful Word of God. And this morning we’re going to allow that powerful Word to speak to us. We’re going to see Jesus point in this parable as the passage flows. First we’re going to look at the Light that comes or the light comes, then we’re going to be examined and determine do we measure up or could we lose what we have? If you’re taking notes here or online that is our outline for this morning - the light comes, do you measure up and finally lose what you have. The bulk of our time will be spent examining the light that comes.
“The Light Comes”
“The Light Comes”
Mark says that Jesus also says to them. We are to understand that these particular parables continue the conversation that preceded them and were given only to the disciples and those who had come with them to seek explanation in verse 10. What Jesus says here is a bit awkward in translation and so our English translations have sought to clean up the flow of the language a bit but in so doing we have lost a little of the emphasis of this passage.
Jesus words here are “ο λυχνος ερχεται”. The English translation of that is the light comes. What He is asking is does the light come to be hidden under a basket or under a bed? Or more properly “Does the lamp come in order that it may be placed under the basket or under the bed?” The question then, the most important part of this entire text in fact, is who or what is this light that Jesus is speaking of?
If you’ve been around church you may have heard this passage preached and been told that you are the light - that your life is meant to be lived out in the open and that nothing can be hidden. That you eventually everything you do will come to light and so you need to watch your witness to the world. And there is Biblical support for that line of thinking - Matthew 5 very ably teaches that exact principle.
“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
And so this is a true principle in the life of the believer. But that is not the point that Christ is making in our text this morning. Without getting too deep into the grammar in the Matthew 5 text the article in verse 15 “a” lamp is supplied by translators to make the verse flow in English. In our text this morning the verse reads “ho lychnos” meaning “the lamp”. Jesus is speaking about something specific. More properly He is speaking about someone specific. He is speaking about Himself.
Throughout the Old Testament there are many instances in which the Lord is referred to as the light or a lamp. In David’s song of thanksgiving and deliverance recorded for us in 2 Samuel 22 he says in verse 29
Lord, you are my lamp; the Lord illuminates my darkness.
And then later in the Psalms it is the Law of God that is referred to as a lamp
Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
In the beginning of the book of John, speaking of Jesus John writes
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Later in His ministry Jesus would remove all doubt as He would stand up and say of Himself
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
The lamp, the light that Jesus is referring to in this passage is Himself. Later in the book of Revelation John will confirm what the prophet Isaiah said
The sun will no longer be your light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you. The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your splendor.
as he will write in Revelation 22:5
Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.
And Jesus is the lamp that will shine on the hearts of men - when He is lifted up, hung on the tree and put on a stand for all to see His light will reveal the sinfulness and condemnation of all men and their need for a Savior. And so He continues on with the question does the lamp come - stop there for a second. Mark has already illumined us to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah who is to come and that is the event that Jesus is referring to here.
He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.
Christ had come for a purpose to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom as He says in Mark 1:38
And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”
But now Jesus returns to the enigmatic speech that characterizes the rest of the parables that He would tell. He says “there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.” Well, wait a minute Jesus. You just said that no one brings a lamp in to hide it under a basket or under a bed. There were two separate reasons that you would do this - put a lamp under a basket or under a bed.
You would put a lamp under a basket or what may have actually been a bowl to extinguish the lamp completely. The lamps were earthenware jars that would house oil and then a floating wick would be put in that would be lit and give light off to the room or wherever the lamp was being used. One principle of putting out a flame is to starve that flame of oxygen. Putting the lamp under a bowl would remove the source of oxygen and put the flame out all together.
Anyone who has kids knows what goes under a bed. If ever I want to find something that is missing or that someone is trying to hide I can almost always locate the item beneath one of my kid’s beds. The same principle is in play here with the idea of hiding a lamp under a bed. It may have been a way to shield the lamp from outside eyes and to keep whatever was taking place within the home a secret.
Jesus makes the point that a lamp is not fit for either of those places but instead is placed on a lampstand so that it will provide optimal lighting to the whole home. But now He is making this cryptic statement about things hidden and things concealed being revealed and brought to light. In most cases things that are hidden are hidden for a reason and are not meant to be revealed. Things are concealed for the same reason because they are not meant to be brought to the light and examined. What things could Jesus be talking about here?
In light of what He has just claimed regarding the lamp, this is again a reference to Christ Himself. For the moment, for this moment, in His ministry His true identity, who He is as the Messiah and the Savior of men, the Son of God has been hidden from people but it will not always be that way. This is the divine secret, the messianic mystery that has existed throughout the ages but is now about to be revealed. This is the secret the prophets wrote about, that the Apostle Peter would later reveal
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated.
They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.
This is the great mystery that Paul wrote about in Ephesians 3
The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.
By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.
This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
And explained in Ephesians 3:9-10
and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.
This truth is what has been hidden and, as Jesus is making these statements, is being hidden. Jesus reaches back to what He has just told them, the truths we looked at in verses 10-12
When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.
He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables
so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”
This truth - that Jesus is the light of the world who will be lifted up on a lampstand and when He is He will illuminate the whole world, shining into the darkest corners of our souls and revealing the condemning presence of sin and the abiding sentence of judgement that we justly deserve - is the great mystery that will be revealed. This is the mystery that was hidden from the masses that came to see Jesus teach.
That Jesus, the very Son of God, truly God and truly man had come to live among them, to walk alongside them and to teach them the great mystery - but they couldn’t hear it and so many of them were lost.
In 2001 a movie was released entitled A Knight’s Tale. One of the very last scenes of the movie - and truly the only scene I can remember - involves a joust and the loser while lying on the ground is approached by all the main characters of the movie with this line “You have been weighed, you have been measured and you have absolutely been found wanting.” The sentiment however is not original to the movie - in Daniel 5:27 when explaining the writing the hand left on the wall Daniel tells Belshazzar
‘Tekel’ means that you have been weighed on the balance and found deficient.
Jesus ends this parable of the lamp in the exact same way that He closed out the parable of the soils - If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen. But unlike that parable Mark doesn’t simply stop here or interrupt the narrative with something else, He goes on to say “Pay attention to what you hear” and then He tells His disciples why - because they will be measured.
Do You Measure Up?
Do You Measure Up?
Jesus makes two statements that we’re going to look at together and then track back to deal with each one in turn.
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.
For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
There is both a promise and a curse in these words for us. There is a promise that we can be given more of something but also the curse that even what we have we could lose. Let’s look first at the promise. Jesus says that by the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and more will be added to you.
On the surface and at first glance this passage would seem to say whatever standard you use to measure yourself - according to that standard you will be measured. In other words if you don’t rightly hear the parables, if you continue to resist the Gospel and attempt to earn salvation then you will be measured by that standard and you will fail. But if you hear the words of Jesus, the Spirit enables you to grasp their meaning and you place your faith and trust in Christ for His righteousness then more will be added to you.
The phrases “it will be measured” and “more will be added to you” are divine passives meaning that it is God who does the measuring and the adding.
An example from the Galilean marketplace may help us here. If you go over to Winco to buy flour you can grab a 5 lb bag and it’s simple. But in the Galilean marketplace it was more like the bulk foods section. The price of flour was set at a certain amount per measure. If you wanted to buy flour you would approach the miller and, after you laid your money down, he would measure out the flour in accordance with how much you paid. Now imagine the chaos that would ensue if the price remained fixed regardless of the measure you the consumer produced. It is the same with salvation. It is God who sets the measure of His grace - but it is also God who sets the price for payment. This is where the analogy falls apart because no amount of payment on our part could ever earn or achieve His grace. It is only through His measurement and what He adds to us that we are ever able to be worthy of the salvation that Christ purchased for us on the cross.
And to whoever has more will be given. Meaning that, just as Christ affirms in verses 10-12, there are some who have. There are a definite people to whom His grace has been given and who, solely because of His grace, will measure up. And Christ goes on to say that there are some who do not.
Lose What You Have?
Lose What You Have?
There are those who do not have and even what he has Christ promises that this will be taken away. It has been a rather mild winter here in Spokane Valley and we have had many days where the sun has shown. But that is not always the case. And even though the sun has been shining there aren’t that many hours of sunlight each day. During these darker winter months it is not easy to get our vitamin “D” requirements. And so many will turn to artificial tanning booths to get the requisite doses of vitamin “d”. But these booths, while providing some vitamin d, regulating our moods for a bit and even providing a nice mid-winter tan, can never replace the actual sun and the benefits of real sunlight. This analogy breaks down as well but I think you see the point.
There are some who try to seek the benefits of Christ without actually seeking Christ. They seek an artificial light, an artificial righteousness and ultimately an artificial salvation through the systems of works righteousness or the health and prosperity gospel or even the anti-law gospel that says that anything goes and I have freedom to live however I want as long as I pray a prayer and say Christ is my savior.
Just as artificial light and tanning beds can never replace the actual sun, these false systems will never replace the truth that Christ taught and those who follow them will find that even the good things in their life - their moral lifestyle for instance - will be taken from them. This may not happen here on earth but it will certainly happen on the day that they stand before Christ in judgement. This is the difference between a Christ-honoring life and a Christ-exalting life. Here is an example of Christ-honoring versus Christ-exalting from relationships. A Christ-honoring relationship is one that is centered around something good (i.e. the Seahawks or a commonly shared hobby) but doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Christ. We can share a love for the Seahawks without Christ being a part of that. A Christ-exalting relationship is one that defies all understanding, defies all reason that can only be explained because Christ is the center of it. Christ-honoring people are those who will say “Lord, Lord we did all of these things in your name” only to hear depart from me because I never knew you. These are those who, as the prophet Isaiah wrote
The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service— yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.
These are the people who never come to Christ because their hearts are hardened soil - or even if they seem to come to Christ they fall away because their hearts are the rocky soil or the thorny soil. So that even what they seem to have is taken away from them.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If you were weighed. If you were measured today where would you be found? The light of the world has come. Speaking on these verses Charles Spurgeon said this - and this is a lengthy quote and not all of it is on the slides but I think it is important for us to hear.
300 Quotations and Prayers for Christmas Jesus Christ Could Not Be Hid
Our Lord Jesus Christ could not be hid. In the narrow circle of the Holy Land, He shone so clearly that Gentiles came to the brightness of His rising. Yet, to make Him seen to the ends of the earth, He needs to be set on the lampstand. He was lifted up by crucifixion; and soon He was further raised by resurrection. He was lifted up from earth to heaven at His ascension, and in another sense He was set on high by the descent of the Holy Ghost and the widespread ministry of His servants. Our Lord was thus taken from under the bushel of the obscurity which attached to His humble origin, brought away from the dark cellar of the despised Jewish nation, and set out in the open, where Greek and Roman, barbarian and Scythian, might rejoice in His light. It is our duty to keep His name and His truth ever before the world, waiting for the time when every eye shall see Him on the throne of His glory.
You see what was once hidden is no longer hidden - it has been revealed. What was once concealed is no longer but instead has been brought to light. That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second person of the trinity came to earth as a man. That He lived as a man suffering the same needs, wants and physical struggles that we do with fatigue and hunger and pain. That He died a substitutionary death on the cross on our behalf to make the definitive and final payment for sins of those who would believe in Him. He made this payment to the Father taking on Himself the wrath that we justly deserved and imputing, or giving, us His righteousness the righteousness of a life lived perfectly in obedience to the Law. The righteousness that we could never attain in an infinite number of lifetimes. He did all of this because of His love for His Father and His love for us. Introduce Communion.