Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 4 Study # 1
June 9, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(162)
NASB
21 And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand?
22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has [
anything] been secret, but that it would come to light.
23 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
- I. The Overall Import of the Parable.
- A. It has to do with the purpose of "a lamp": to shine light throughout the room.
- B. It has to do with the purpose of "hiding" things and "making things secret": to be revealed and to be exposed by light.
- C. It has to do with whether, or not, "ears" exist for genuine "hearing".
- II. The Larger Context.
- A. Prior to this parable is the "mystery" revealed by the "fundamental parable": that fruitfulness is determined by the condition of the "landing places" upon which it falls; and that those "conditions" simply exist as a fundamental part of the way things are.
- B. After this parable is the "mystery" revealed by the caution that "the measure one chooses is what determines what is measured to that one" with the consequence that those who possess get more and those who do not possess have even what they possess taken away.
- C. Thus, this parable stands between "fruitfulness by reason of established conditions" and "what actually determines those conditions". This "in-between" parable, then, sets forth a most basic reality: what is currently "hidden" and "secret" will have its "day in the light" so that it will make understanding possible for those who have eyes/ears to receive the light.
- III. The Details.
- A. The "And..." indicates a smooth transition from the first parable to the second: implying a continuing "thread" of content.
- B. The "...He was saying to them...".
- 1. The imperfect tense of lego adds to the "And" because of the "continuing action" involved in an imperfect tense: Jesus is continuing to deliver "doctrine"; serious truth.
- 2. The "...them..." is the same group as in 4:13 -- the disciples who do not understand His parables.
- C. The "...is it...".
- 1. The translation begins to unravel at this point.
- a. The "...is it..." is the translators' beginning of a faulty translation: it does not exist in the text.
- b. The translation "is not brought" fails altogether: the verb is ercomai (used in 599 texts of the New Testament and is translated "brought" once), it is present tense ("comes", not "brought"), and is "deponent" -- middle or passive in form, but active in meaning. The translation should read "Is the lamp ever coming in order that...?"
- 2. Jesus' point: Is it ever the case that the lamp comes to be covered so that it cannot shed its light? Implied answer: No, never. That defeats the very identity of the lamp as well as its purpose.
- D. The "...the lamp is coming so that...".
- 1. Critical to this parable is the choice by Jesus of "the lamp" ("lamp" preceded by "the") as His subject.
- a. There are only 14 uses of "lamp" in the New Testament.
- 1) Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21; and Luke 8:16, as well as 11:33 are, together, references to the fact that no one lights a lamp and then covers it to that it cannot shine on whatever is within its "reach" as a "light producer".
- 2) Matthew 6:22 and Luke 11:34-36 declare that "the eye is the lamp of the whole body". An evil eye fills the body with darkness while a clear eye fills the body with light.
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3) Luke 12:35 exhorts the faithful to "keep your lamps lit" with a view toward the "coming of the Master".
- 4) Luke 15:8 describes the activities of the woman who has lost one of her coins and claims that her first act is to "light her lamp" so that she can "search carefully".
- 5) John 5:35 says John the Baptizer is identified by Jesus as "the burning lamp" because he was the prophet who was to come before Him.
- 6) 2 Peter 1:19 calls "the prophetic word" "a lamp shining in a dark place".
- 7) Revelation 18:23 says of "Babylon, the great city" that "light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer".
- 8) Revelation 21:23 and 22:5 both identify Jesus, The Lamb, as the "replacement Lamp" in the New Jerusalem (replacing the sun, the moon, and other lamps as sources of light).
- b. The "Thy word is a lamp..." thesis of Psalm 119:105 is in absolute harmony with our current text: "the sower sows The Word"; John, the Word Bearer, was a lamp; Jesus, The Word, is the ultimate Light of the Final Kingdom.
- 2. Jesus' question is that of "purpose": "...so that...".
- a. Is it ever the case that a lamp comes "so that" it might be (aorist subjunctive passive) "set" (tithemi) "under the instrument for measuring dry elements such as grain"?
- b. Is it ever the case that a lamp comes "so that" it might be set "under the couch"?
- c. His answer is emphatic: "No". Lamps come into a room to illumine what is there.
- 3. Jesus then declares that the "always" intention is that it might be "set" upon the stand that was built to hold the lamp.
- E. "...for not a hidden [thing] is (exists) except for the purpose that it might be made manifest, neither comes into being a carefully hidden [thing] BUT that it should come into a manifest state".
- 1. Both of the words "hidden" and "manifest" are repeated for the sake of emphasis.
- 2. The issue is that "hiddenness" is a prerequisite for clear "manifestation".
- a. Jesus is saying that "hiding things" is an action taken so that when they become "unhidden" there can be a "manifest" (clear) grasp of those "hidden" realities.
- b. The strong implication is that there are some things that are "kept back" ("hidden") because there are certain other things that must become clearly understood before these things.
- c. "The Lamp" is "The Word" and certain particulars must be "set in place" in the darkness so that when "The Lamp" is set upon its stand the "illumination" will be significantly impactful.
- F. "If any one possesses an ear to hear, let him hear".
- 1. It is fundamentally the "point" of an "ear" to allow hearing unto understanding.
- 2. But, many "ears" have already been "plugged" (Isaiah 35:5; Zechariah 7:11) so that the ear-function is denied.
- a. This is an intentional reference backwards to Mark 4:9-12.
- b. It is a continuing revelation that the lack of ability to hear is rooted in a prior, evil, commitment (Luke 11:34 and John 5:44). Lust for the approval of men is deadly beyond degree (Galatians 1:10).
