Mark, 4:21-25

²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” ²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “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 they have will be taken from them.”

Between the sower and the other parables, Mark has inserted a short series of sayings about revelation and how we respond to it. The point in verse 21 is obvious: that hiding a lamp away defeats its purpose. Lamps exist to shine and illuminate the darkness. In doing so they reveal things. Jesus is telling us that secrets are meant to come out into the open.

We may wonder how this relates to the Messianic secret in Mark and Jesus’ continual orders to people to keep quiet about his cures. Of course, once again we are dealing with Kairos (the opportune time) versus Chronos (regular chronological time). All will be revealed at the chosen moment – which, of course, will be the crucifixion and resurrection. This means that God’s purpose is not concealment, or the selection of a small group of insiders, but rather enlightenment for humans.

In verses 24-25, Jesus tells us that we get out of something what we put into it. We should all be careful not to let the message go in one ear and out the other.

There is a tension between the first part of this passage with its optimistic view that all will be revealed, and the second which refers back to the parable of the sower and its message that not all will truly listen to the word and follow it. We shouldn’t look for a consistent theology here. But these sayings do offer a challenge to us: we need to make sure that we listen and model our lives on Christ.