Light Meant to Shine: Mark 4:21-25

In the dim interior of a Galilean home, Jesus reached for an image everyone knew: the small clay lamp that sat on its stand, its single flame pushing back the darkness.

"Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand?"

Of course not. No one wastes oil to hide light. The flame exists to illuminate—to help mothers find their children in the night, to guide feet across uneven floors, to make the invisible visible.

"For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open."

The parables were not meant to obscure forever. The secrets were temporary. Everything hidden would eventually blaze into view. The whispered truths would become shouts. The mystery of the kingdom, veiled for now, would one day flood the world with light.

"Consider carefully what you hear," Jesus warned. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

It sounded harsh, almost unfair. But listen: those who received the word, who treasured it, who acted on what little they understood—they would receive more understanding, more insight, more light. And those who heard but did not receive, who let the word bounce off hardened hearts—even their small flicker of understanding would gutter out.

The lamp burned on its stand. The question was simple: would they let it illuminate them, or would they turn away into the dark?