Bible Studies

THE LIGHT OF TRUTH

by Luella Campbell
06/20/15
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THE LIGHT OF TRUTH

He said to them, ‘Do you bring a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead don’t you put it on its 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.’ (Mark 4: 21-25).

Some important principles for life which Jesus wove into His teaching over and over again.

Who and what was He talking about when He used the illustration of the lamp? In context, I think He was talking about the reason for speaking in parables. God’s word is the light. Jesus brought the light to them as He taught and preached God’s word and showed them how to live in the light in their daily lives. What would be the use of coming to earth if He did not shine that light for people to see what was in their own hearts? People are afraid of the light because it exposes the darkness in their hearts. It was Jesus’ role to bring the light so that the sin in the human heart could be brought out into the light.

“It is inevitable,” said Jesus, “that everything hidden in the heart will eventually be brought into the light. No one can hide from God. He is inescapable. How much better that you respond to my word now so that your hidden sins be dealt with before Judgement Day.”

One of the reasons for speaking in parables, Jesus had explained to them, was to confirm the hardness of people’s hearts. If they had no intention of receiving His word, every time He taught them, their hearts would become harder. The sun that melts wax hardens clay. It was up to them, His disciples, therefore to listen and respond to His teaching with all their hearts because the measure of their hearing would be the measure of their receiving.

It seems harsh, doesn’t it, that those who have will receive more and those who do not have will lose the little that they have. But that is just how it works. God has offered us forgiveness for our sin and grace to live a new life. The measure of our response to His mercy to us will determine the measure of our experience of His grace to live.

God is absolutely fair. His judgment is not arbitrary. He has set the standard but He has also given us the choice to obey or not to obey. The outcome will depend on our response to His truth. He does not force us to obey but He will judge us by our response to His requirements. We will, in the end, be our own judges when we stand in the light of His revealed truth.

Imagine a bride dressed in her dazzling white bridal gown. In the centre of her bodice is a stain which does not show up in ordinary light. However, when she steps outside into the brilliant sunlight, there it is, visible to everyone and spoiling the beauty of her garment. Imagine her walking down the aisle to meet her bridegroom with the awareness that a stain spoils the purity of her gown.

It is the pure light of the Son that shows up the stains of sin on our hearts. We can either pretend they are not there, try to hide our sin from Him, or come to Him for forgiveness and cleansing so that the stains are washed clean and removed forever from us.

Why did Jesus keep on preaching to those who were hardened in their unbelief? The religious leaders and Pharisees, the very ones to whom had been entrusted the responsibility of teaching the people the word of God, were the ones who refused to receive the light. Every time they heard the word, they were given another opportunity to believe but also another reason for God’s judgment to fall on them when they rejected the word.

How important for us to heed Jesus’s warning. “Be careful how you hear. Don’t be like the footpath or the rocky or thorny soil because, if you lose the word of God, you have nothing to guide you on the path towards the Father. We are all on a journey. Our destination is determined by our response to the truth of God’s word.

If we choose to ignore or reject His word, there will be consequences. We will have no one to blame but ourselves if we arrive at a destination which we did not plan. Jesus said that His way leads to life. He is the way to the Father. Anyone who follows Him will never walk in darkness. God’s word is the light on our path. Without His light we will find ourselves off the path and lost in the wilderness.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path (Psa. 119: 105).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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