Lucerna | Lamp

"He said to them, Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand?" – Mark 4: 21 (WEB)

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In this parable, Jesus Christ asks questions about how a lamp should be used to fulfill its purpose of providing light. In Matthew 5: 14, we also read about light: “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.”

Jesus Christ wants us to shine like lamps as we go through our daily lives. If we keep our lamps hidden to ourselves, we are only thinking of ourselves, and not sharing the Good News to others in this dark world. The light is meant to be discovered by those that are still in the darkness.

People often tell me that faith is a personal issue and hence should be handled as a private matter. This is the opposite of what Jesus Christ is telling us to do.  The light is not meant to be kept a secret and hidden. It should shine brightly from all God’s children.

Shining your light in this world is not easy. You can get rejected, criticized, mocked, jailed or much worse situations.  Even at some time in his life Peter struggled to shine his light and denied Jesus Christ three times (Luke 22:57).  Corrie ten Boom is one of my favourite examples of someone who shined brightly and shared the Good News even in the darkest concentration camps during World War II. 

Shining light is a responsibility and it is what Jesus asked of us to do. In Luke 8: 39 we read what Jesus said to the man from whom the demons had gone out: “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you."

Let us pray and ask God to give us the courage to reflect the light to others and declare what great things God has done for us.

Reflection on Mark 4: 21 – 29 by Hanne Teach

(Listen to the Podcast here)