The Kingdom of Heaven, Part 2

Mark 4:21-23

And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

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I call this post "Part 2" because we have already discussed some of the characteristics of the Kingdom Parables in a previous post. These parables reveal to us the surpassing value, the progressive growth, the final judgment, and the hidden quality of God's kingdom. Mark's gospel provides one kingdom parable that is not found in Matthew or Luke: The Lamp under a Basket. Because of this distinction, it seems appropriate to further address the "hiddenness" of the kingdom.

We have countered the popular gnostic claim that Christianity is a secret religion which makes God a mysterious transcendent being, only knowable through ecstatic experience. Gnosticism is repeatedly denounced in the New Testament, both implicitly (in the reality of the Incarnation) and explicitly (in the teaching of Christ and his apostles). We see this in Christ's affirmation of marriage, of eating and drinking, and his overarching interest in physical healing and financial responsibility. The ordinary material matters of life are of immense significance to God, since our obedience to Him in these matters is essentially what being a citizen of the kingdom is all about, albeit by means of faith in Him and a motivation to glorify Him.

Despite this affirmation of the material world, we have readily admitted that God's kingdom has a hidden quality, rooted in Adam's rebellion and mankind's fallen nature. We "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1) and literally blind ourselves to God's glory, revealed in creation and in His Word. Strangely enough, even Jesus' closest followers were often blind to the truth of His identity and His message. Mark is also distinctive in his emphasis on the slowness of the disciples to grasp who Jesus was and what His ministry would look like (see Mark 4:38ff).

Fortunately, the parable of the Lamp Under a Basket reminds us that this hidden quality of the kingdom is only temporary. In fact, Jesus tells us that "nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light." In other words, secrets are not meant to be hidden forever. Jesus' teaching was part of undoing this hidden quality; and his cross and resurrection even moreso. That is why the authors of Colossians and Hebrews can both say with confidence that Jesus himself is the glory of God, in whom "all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell" and in whom we behold "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" (Col. 1:19 and Heb. 1:3). What is recorded in Mark's gospel is the record of this Incarnate God and what He has provided as a solution to our deepest need. Rather than some fleeting experience, it is our faith in Jesus Himself and the historical space-time sacrifice for our sins that gives us an objectively right relationship to God. Because of who He is and what He has done, we can stand in His righteousness and know with complete certainty that we are forgiven and accepted and renewed by His Spirit. This is the kingdom to which we belong - a lamp once hidden, but now placed on a stand for all to see.