Seeing and Hearing
TRANSLATION
(16) “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they place it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. (17) For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought out into the open. (18) Take care then how you listen, for whoever has will be given more, but whosoever does not have, even that which they think they have will be taken away.”
(19) Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. (20) And someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” (21) But he replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice.”
OBSERVATIONS
This brief segment consisted of two paragraphs, each with its own distinct message. In each, key repetitions lead to an understanding of the messages conveyed. In the first, we find three repetitions of “lights/light” (vs. 16) along with the related word “lamp” (vs. 16). In the second “mother and brothers” occurred three times (vss. 19, 20, & 21). In the first paragraph Jesus emphasized the importance of paying careful attention to the truth that has been entrusted to us. In the second, he cautioned that only those who hear and obey the Word of God can be considered members of his family.
OUTLINE
I. Understanding what has been revealed to us is a crucial part of discipleship. (16-18)
II. Only those who hear and obey the Word of God can be considered part of Jesus’ family. (19-21)
IDEA STATEMENT
Only those who both understand and obey what has been revealed to them can become Jesus’ disciples.
APPLICATION
In many areas of the world the most significant human relationships are family ties. The claims of blood relatives take precedence over all other social commitments. While family ties are important, Scripture makes it clear that such relationships can become idolatrous in two specific ways. In the Genesis creation account, God established marriage as humanity’s strongest bond with these words: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). The bonds that hold parents and children together must be loosened to accommodate the new partnership which a husband and wife form in their commitment to one another. This is not meant to destroy family ties but rather to enhance them with a new family member.
The second relationship which must take precedence over family is our love for the Savior. In today’s passage, Jesus demonstrated this personally within his own family when he stated in their presence, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” His personal commitment to his disciples, those who hear and obey the Word of God, powerfully underlined the priority that our love for Christ must hold in our lives.
Later Jesus would state this in more striking terms: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26). Christ’s use of hyperbole in these words was intended to emphasize the importance of discipleship. He was not calling for his followers to actually hate their family members. Instead, he was using the word “hate” to say, “Your commitment to be my disciple should make the relationship with your family look like hatred in comparison.” As shocking as his words might have seemed when he spoke them or when we hear them today, they help us understand what Jesus requires of those who would become his disciples. Our love for him must supersede all other relationships.