Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 4 Study # 1
June 9, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: The next parable of Jesus regarding "the mystery of The Kingdom of The God" addresses the divine purpose for the proclamation of the Word as a "Lamp" that shines into the darkness in order to reveal truth that has been "hidden" heretofore.
Introduction: In our studies thus far, we have considered "the parable of the reasons for the responses of men to the proclamation of The Word". This is a most fundamental revelation to those disciples who will be "sowers of The Word" so that they, themselves, may be fruitful in that regard. What we have seen thus far in the parables of Mark 4 is that there are specific reasons for the responses of men to The Word and that the "sowers" are to disallow those responses to inhibit their "sowing" of "The Word". Jesus declared that this was
the most basic "truth" that would allow a greater understanding for the disciples as they were exposed to further "truths" that would be contained in the parables to follow.
This evening we have come to the second of Jesus' parables: that of the Lamp.
- I. Pre-considerations to This Parable.
- A. Larger contextual issues.
- 1. Previous context: the parable of the reasons for the responses of men.
- 2. Following context: the caution regarding the issues of "to what" and "how" one listens.
- B. Translation issues.
- 1. The translation of 4:21 in the NASB: 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?"
- 2. A more accurate translation of 4:21 based upon the Greek text: And He was saying to them, "Does The Lamp ever come in order that it might be placed under the dry measure, or under the bed; no (but) in order that it might be placed upon the lamp stand".
- II. The Details of This Parable.
- A. The most basic issue of this parable is the question/declaration regarding the purpose of The Lamp: Why does it come?
- 1. Does it ever come to be totally frustrated in terms of its identity and function?
- a. Its identity is "Lamp".
- b. Its function is "to shine into the darkness so that what is there can be seen".
- 2. Does it not always come to "make manifest"?
- a. In both explanatory phrases in 4:22 the issue is the same (phanerothe and phaneron).
- b. There is absolutely no point for The Lamp to come without this basic purpose.
- B. Then, there is the issue of "The Lamp".
- 1. In the flow of the parables, "The Lamp" is "The Word" that "comes" through the "sowing" by the sower.
- 2. But, in the larger context of the use of "Lamp" in the New Testament there is an even more basic issue: the reasons that men react as they do.
- a. It was this issue to which the first parable was addressed.
- b. It is also this issue to which the use of "Lamp" is addressed in the New Testament.
- 1) In Matthew 6:22-23, the "Lamp" is applied to "the eye" and its impact upon the whole person.
- 2) In Luke 11:33-36, the Matthean idea is directly tied to the issue of our present parable.
- c. In respect to Matthew and Luke, at issue is the condition of "the eye" that is the focus of attention.
- 1) If the eye is "clear" the body is filled with light.
- 2) If the eye is "bad" the body is full of darkness.
- a) This "bad" issue is wrapped up in the Greek term and its "theological" meaning in the New Testament, which is the "evil" of being fundamentally committed to earning a good reputation-unto-acceptance with men as a mirror of the Luciferian intention in the angelic rebellion.
- b) Jesus, in John 5:44, declared this in another way: the commitment to earning a good reputation-unto-acceptance with men is totally disastrous to the bottom line in respect to being acceptable to God: faith.
- d. Thus, the root issue of "The Lamp" is the issue of what the pre-set of the "lamp of the body" is.
- e. At this point, Mark uses the second parable of Jesus to highlight his own issue and perspective of Jesus.
