Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Well, last time, we were considering the meaning of the parables, why Jesus teaches in parables and the parable of the sower. And the last soil, Jesus talks about is the good soil, which bears fruit for God. And today, we're looking at 1 aspect of fruit bearing, what does it mean to be a fruitful person? And that that links in with this parable today. So we're in Mark 4, and this is verse 21.

He said to them, do you bring in a lap to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on his stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. Consider carefully what you hear.

He continued. 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. Mhmm. Quite a few little bits there's in there.

Yeah. But the this this first bit talking about this lamp, you know, do you bring in a lamp to put it under a boulder a bit? If you if we pick up the the crop analogy. You wouldn't bring a fruitful seed bearing crop and sort of place it away hidden somewhere. No.

The the the way that, you know, that is meant to be sort of dispersed and it's meant to be shared and -- Yeah. -- and the seeds flung out in order to bring more life in other places. I suppose that's what Jesus is trying trying to say here. He's like, if you have the light of the gospel or even the light of the world, he is. You don't stick that sort of away hidden somewhere.

The point the point of, as we were saying in the last couple of corona chronicles, the point of the growing of this plant is the harvest. Yeah. Yeah. And the point of the gospel in us is to then to shine out to others. I think it's absolutely right.

And I think, you know, this is Jesus is just so It's so it's so simple, isn't it? This image? You know, do you bring in a lamp put it under a bowl a bit. Well, no. You know, it's like, you know, going into a dark going into a dark room, but you reach for that it would torch on your phone.

You turn the torch on. Suddenly, the room is illuminated. And then you conceal it with your other hand. It's not 1 You know, why turn it on to cover it up? And And Jesus is saying, yeah, this is 1 of the ways you know that you've got a good fruitful soil is that it will desire to to share out the message and to put the message of the kingdom on a stand where it belongs.

And this is this is something that that, you know, as you said, Jesus embodies himself. So the very reason he came to earth was to put himself on the stand. You know, he is the light of the world. And he hasn't remained hidden. Mhmm.

He's come to this earth to shine the truth about the father. And he calls his disciples to do likewise, with the message of the kingdom. So again, it's just a classic. It's almost too obvious to need an art. It's like a rhetorical question.

Isn't it? It's like, well, you know, do you even want me to answer that? Yeah. But that's the point. It's so simple and and clear, isn't it?

Yeah. But then also, we get this sense that we get this kind of concealing and this revealing going on because Jesus immediately says in verse 23, after we've said this, anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. Yes. So there's there is this idea that life the world has come into the world and you are in the crowd now listening to him, but are you really gonna listen. Yeah.

Are you going to consider care for which is what he says in verse 24? Consider care for what you hear. So there's a sense that, like, the light has come in but you can you can pay attention to it or you can you can ignore it completely. So what are you gonna do now that the light is here is here? Yeah.

I remember reading 1 just lovely line in the commentary once that was talking about this and the previous parable with it. It said, the same sun, which melts the ice, bakes the clay. Right. And the point is it it's the light and the warmth the sun will melt the icy heart. Mhmm.

But the hardened heart will only become -- Mhmm. -- harder under the same sun. Yep. You know. And it's the same kind of thing with a light, isn't it?

It will either bring warmth and truth and revelation, or we'll want to you know, just turn away from it. It's too bright. Wanna go back in the dark, back under the covers, you know, close those curtains. It's and it will it will bake it would bake us. And, you know, Jesus issues quite a frightening morning here, doesn't it?

Whoever has will be given more. Whoever does not have, even what they have. Will be taken from them. In other words, to to sit under the ministry of the word, is to be is to be given something. You know, you're you're you're give you're privileged to hear the spirit word, which brings nice.

It's a gift to you. But if it's not combined with repentance and faith, in the end, even that will be will be taken away. It won't it will be seen to be a a curse rather than a blessing because it not that it is a curse, but it it just confirms you, you know, so I'm just thinking now, pharaoh, you know, that in that in 1 sense, the worst judgment upon pharaoh is that last scene where Moses says, I will not appear before you again, which is to say, you will not have exposure to the word again. So you you've had you've been given -- Yeah. -- opportunities.

But you haven't taken them. And now, even that word is gonna be taken away and you're left to your And, yeah, in the new testament, Jesus even instructs, you know, those who don't welcome the message just, you know, like, you know, just the dust off your feet -- Mhmm. Exactly. -- which was a sign to say, you know, we've given you pearls. You fur in the back in our face.

That's it. Yeah. You haven't you haven't accepted this. So we're going to even withdraw even that message from you. That's right.

But there's an encouragement as well, isn't it a hit? For those who for those who for those who do have, you know, will be give whoever has will be given more. And that, you know, that's that wonderful sense, isn't it? That like, you know, if if if we are by God's grace wanting to hear and be fruitful, then the lord is gonna keep, like, a fruit bush. She's gonna keep pruning us.

So that we can be maximally fruitful. So that we'll go 30, 60, a hundred times. You know, we'll, you know, we'll have that sort of life of increasing fruitfulness really, which is what lovely, isn't it? Yeah. And we see that here because the disciples are given that parable.

But they want more. Yeah. So they go to him and they say, teach it. What what does this mean? And he gives them more.

Mhmm. And then as we see their lives progress you know, after Jesus's death and resurrection, we see them be abundantly fruitful in their ministries, you know, the the fathers of the church. So So we see that verse sort of acted out -- Yeah. -- I suppose in the lives of the disciples. We do.

Yeah. And we're to we're to follow them in that. And they would I mean, you know, they they weren't, you know, models of rubbish for some sort of murdering. I mean, you know, they got lots wrong, like like we do, but but the the posture was 1 of learning from the king, you know, wanting to follow the king. And that's that's what Jesus is encouraging here.

So So there's 2 things. I think, you know, we need to, you know, for those who are Christians watching, you know, we need to be like the lamp on stand. Don't we to go out with the message of the kingdom? But also for all of us, there's a challenge to our hearts. You know, if we're if we're not gonna combine what we're hearing with faith, then we can expect the blessing of the word to be withdrawn in the end.

And so, lord help us to be listeners and to be to be fruitful people.