Marcos 4
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
Marcos 4
Guzik - If you have the truth of God, you have a solemn responsibility to spread that truth in whatever way God gives you opportunity, even as someone who has the cure for a life-threatening disease has the moral responsibility to spread that cure. God didn’t light your lamp so that it would be hidden. One must either spread the word itself, or spread the influence of God’s word by bringing others to a place where they will hear it; and you really should be doing both. The picture here is of an oil lamp that is designed to light up a room. KJV has candle but this is not accurate because candles were not invented until the Middle Ages! In that culture these lamps were often put on a table or up on a nook in the wall in order to dispel the darkness. It would be totally absurd to take this lamp and put it under a basket or under a bed. In ancient times the lamp would have been usually a small oil lamp and most likely every house had at least one because it was the only source of light in house at night. Some homes had formal lampstands, but for the less well of the house had a notch cut in the wall where the oil lamp could be placed. Jesus is saying that when this lamp was lit, it was not hidden under a basket or a bed, but in a location so that everyone in the room could receive the benefit of the light. Jesus spoke of physical light but His deeper meaning was this was to picture spiritual light. Some say the lamp was Jesus Himself and in some ways this is clearly true because He alone was the "Light of the world," (Jn 8:12) the only One who had power to light up a dark world, much less a dark room! Jesus Himself testified “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” John's prologue to his Gospel repeatedly speaks of Jesus as the Light writing "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." (John 1:4-9+) Swindoll comments that "This first parable in the series concerns a disciple’s responsibility to carry the light of divine truth—the gospel message—to the world. In biblical and other ancient literature, truth is often depicted as light. The same is true of the special manifestation of God’s presence, which appeared in the form of a supernatural light called the shekinah (Exod. 3:1-3; 13:21-22; 19:18; 24:17). The apostle John depicted Jesus Christ as light coming into a dark world, which was his way of declaring that God Himself had come to earth (John 1:1-9). John’s description of the new heaven and new earth reveals that those who serve God “will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them” (Rev. 22:5). Therefore, Jesus Christ, the new kingdom, and the gospel message are all symbolized by the image of light. Consequently, Mark’s Greek is awkward in this parable because he went out of his way to represent Jesus as the Light.....Having identified true disciples in the parable of the sower and the soils, Jesus illustrated the primary responsibility of a disciple in the parable of the lamp. He didn’t call disciples so they would keep the gospel to themselves; Jesus expects His followers to hold high the Son of God so that all might benefit from divine truth. He said, in effect, “Hold Me up before the world so that all may see.” (Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary – Mark) BACKGROUND - Recall that Jesus has begun to unfold the mysteries of the Kingdom to the disciples in the form of parables. And yet these truths about the Kingdom of God were never meant to be put under a basket or under a bed. It would be easy to get bogged down in the minute details of the commentaries in this short set of parables in Mark 4:21-25. Part of the difficulty is introduced immediately by the Greek rendering which literally says ‘does the lamp come’. Clearly a lamp is inanimate.which raises the question of what is Jesus saying? Many conclude that the lamp is Jesus and go into the reasons in the Greek to support their interpretation. A simple approach is that yes Jesus is the Lamp, indeed the Light of the world (John 8:12, Jn 1:1-9, etc) and His teaching was the light that revealed the mystery of the Kingdom of God. But He did this first to His disciples who in turn were to function as the lamp and let the light of Jesus shine through them into the darkness of men's hearts. (“Hold Me up before the world so that all may see.”) I like that combined approach and think it fits well with the context. In the Sermon on the Mount the disciples had heard a similar teaching by Jesus that "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine (aorist imperative - only possible as one relies on the Holy Spirit to obey) before men in such a way (NOT A WAY THAT DRAWS ATTENTION TO US BUT TO GOD) that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Mt 5:14-16+). Paul echoes Jesus' teaching about the Kingdom... Do (present imperative) all things (HOW MANY?) without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that (WHY? WHAT'S THE PURPOSE?) you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation , among whom you appear as lights in the world, (HOW ARE THEY LIGHTS? BY NOT GRUMBLING - ONLY POSSIBLE SUPERNATURALLY -- EVEN IGNORANT MEN CAN DISCERN THERE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY POWER IN SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT GRUMBLE WHEN THEY CLEARLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO GRUMBLE! AND SEE THE "POWER SOURCE" IN PRECEDING PASSAGE - Phil 2:13NLT+!) (Php 2:14-15+) And He was saying to them - Compare a similar beginning He was saying in Mark 4:9, 11, 13, 4:24, 26 (v13 has "He said"). Who is them? While the phrase He was saying has been used to introduce a new subject, it does not mean that this requires a new audience. I assume He is still addressing His 12 disciples (and those others in the inner circle) as described in Mark 4:10). Indeed, He has been speaking of the mystery of the Kingdom (Mk 4:11) and these would be the men to whom He would pass on the baton to carry that mystery into the world. The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. THOUGHT - In Ps 119:130 the "simple" were the disciples (and you and me) and the "unfolding" was done to them initially by Jesus and to us by the Spirit of Jesus in His written Word and thereby they and we have been granted the privilege of understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. But privilege always brings responsibility. We are responsible like Jesus' first disciples to let our little light shine for the glory of God. Amen A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Literally as noted above it reads "Does the lamp come." Both questions (basket and bed) expect a negative reply - "No!" Any other answer would be ridiculous. Jesus wanted His disciples then (and today) to first consider the absurdity in such activity. Why would one light a lamp and then purposely try to conceal the light produced by the lamp? That makes no sense! If one lights a lamp, it is in fact more reasonable to place it on a lampstand where the light could be seen by all in the room and provide the benefit to all. In this case the intended benefit was not physical light but spiritual light to those souls who lived in spiritual darkness. As He would warn in the following parable (Mk 4:25), if you hide it you misuse it and you lose it!
Marcos 4
Guzik observes that "In the span of a few moments, the disciples saw both the complete humanity of Jesus (in His tired sleep) and the fullness of His deity. They saw Jesus for who He is: truly man and truly God." (Ibid) Became afraid (5399)(phobeo from phobos = fear source of our English "phobia") means to be in an apprehensive state that can range from mild uneasiness to stark terror as when one is frightened, terrified or alarmed. In ancient Greek the word phobos came from the word phebomai meaning to flee, or to be startled. Thus phobos meant flight or terror, and was connected with fear of the unknown, fear of the future, and fear of authorities. Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? - Notice that they are not addressing this question to Jesus, but were speaking about their feeling of awe among themselves. These same men had witnessed multiple miracles of healing and exorcisms and yet still had questions. "In hushed tones, they pondered Jesus’ true identity. They realized that they did not yet really know Him." (Hiebert) Brooks adds that "“In Mark the mystery of who Jesus is continues until his death and resurrection and even beyond.” (NAC-Mk) The creation is personified as obeying its Creator! Clearly the implication is that Jesus is the Lord over Creation. One can picture this little band of disciples buzzing over this miracle. And remember Judas Iscariot witnessed this and yet refused to believe in Jesus! Miracles of Jesus have never saved anyone! Only faith in Jesus saved then and now and forever. Amen THOUGHT - It is notable that the disciples still choose to follow Jesus even though they did not truly know Who He was. Today we know Who He is and sadly too often don't follow Him as we should in spite of all the proof! Flesh dies hard. Flesh needs to be put to death EVERY DAY! We desperately need the Spirit's power EVERY DAY! Gal 5:16-17+ needs to be tattooed on our forehead, or better yet ON OUR HEART! Obey (5219)(hupakouo from hupó = agency or means, under, assumes the need for submission + akoúo physical hearing and apprehension of something with the mind - akouo gives us our English acoustics - the science of design which helps one hear) literally means "under the hearing" or to listen under, listening with attentiveness and then responding positively to what is heard -- to obey what is heard. Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness, No shelter or help is nigh; Carest Thou not that we perish? How canst Thou lie asleep, When each moment so madly is threatening A grave in the angry deep? Refrain The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will, Peace, be still! Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea, Or demons or men, or whatever it be No waters can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies; They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace, be still! Peace, be still! They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace, peace, be still! Hiebert - This nature miracle, so contrary to ordinary human experience, has been the object of much skeptical scoffing. Unquestionably the disciples accepted the conclusion on the spot that the wind and waves had miraculously responded to the command of Jesus. The Gospel writers obviously intended their account to be understood literally. Men’s evaluation of the credibility of the account will be determined by their attitude toward the supernatural. No one who accepts the scriptural portrait of the supernatural nature of Jesus Christ will have much difficulty in accepting this picture of His authority over the material creation. Rawlinson aptly remarks, “The broad truth of the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation once assumed, no wise person will proceed rashly to draw the limits between what is and what is not possible.” (Ibid) Brian Bell - Life Lessons from Mark 4:35-41 - Let’s lift out some life lessons from this passage. 1. Christ cares for you and can help in your crisis. The disciples accused Christ of not caring. Let’s not make that same mistake. This incident reveals both the humanity and the deity of the Lord Jesus. He fell asleep in the stern of the boat; that’s His humanity. He spoke and the storm and the sea were completely calm; that’s His deity. He understands what we’re going through because He is fully man and He can do something about it because He’s fully God. Hebrews 4:15-16: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.” 2. Christ is in complete control of everything. We don’t know what’s coming but Jesus does. He’s great and He’s good and He is wise. What do you need to trust Him with right now? Chuck Swindoll writes, “Anything under God’s control is never out of control.” Can you trust Jesus in the most threatening of circumstances? Every crisis we go through is really an opportunity to get to know Him better. His sleeping days are over. Psalm 121:3-4: “He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” I came across a quote from Francis Chan a week ago that is quite powerful: “Can you worship a God who isn’t obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?” 3. We all must go through storms to get to the other side. It’s easy to faithfully worship in fair weather but a lot harder when the hurricanes of life hit. We’re not promised an easy trip but we are guaranteed arrival at our destination. Remember this - the only way to the other side is through the storms. Settle this right now so you’re not surprised when the storms come. In early Christian art, the church is often depicted as a boat driven upon a perilous sea. Jesus told the disciples to go to other side in verse 35 and in 5:1 we read, “They came to the other side.” 4. If you’re going through a storm you better have Jesus in your boat. Go back and look at verse 36: “And other boats were with Him.” But only one of them had Jesus in it. Is He in your boat? Is the Lord in your life? Since Jesus can still the winds and the waves He can clobber your addictions, put your marriage back together and lead you into the future! Jesus said, “Let us go over.” He didn’t say, “Let us go under.” It was about a year after my friend Tim drowned that I was saved. God used that storm to bring me to salvation. How about you? 5. Make sure that Jesus is steering your ship. Are you allowing Jesus to be commander of your boat? It’s very interesting to read in verse 38 that Jesus was “asleep on the cushion.” The use of the definite article “the” shows us that it was a specific cushion. This cushion was reserved for the captain of the ship. Jesus is in the spot of the steersman. Is He steering your life? Have you given Him control...of everything? If you have not been saved and you’re not allowing Jesus to steer your life, you are headed into a huge storm on the Day of Judgment. 6. Grow in your awe of Christ. Settle the fact that life is not about you. Later on, in Matthew 14, the disciples are on the water again and the boat was getting “beaten by the waves.” Jesus comes to them on the water and they become terrified. Peter then walks on the water. I want you to see what happens next in verse 32: “And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” I’m sure this reminded them of what happened during the storm several months earlier. Only this time they don’t wonder what kind of man Jesus is. Now they get it. Listen to verse 33: “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” 7. Jesus won’t always calm the storm but He will calm you. The Apostle Paul went through a terrible storm in Acts 27 that the Lord did not calm. Listen. Paul had great faith and he had a shipwreck; the disciples had little faith and the Lord stilled the sea. It all has to do with His sovereign will. He may not still the storm that you’re in right now but He can still you. He may not always change your circumstances but if you surrender to Him, He will change you in your circumstances. Warren