All Things Seen & Unseen

Secrets of the Kingdom In Mark 4.21-34, we have two parables specifically about the Kingdom of God which are introduced by a series of injunctions (Mk 4.21-25) which help to enlighten us further about their meaning. In verse 21, a rhetorical question is answered with the implied answer in the negative. No, we don't put a light under a bushel (KJV, 'a bushel' is measuring bowl or basket) or under a bed. Rather a light or candle is placed on a stand or a candlestick. Jesus says that the secret and the concealed is to be made open and manifest. It would seem that our Lord is referring both to the Parable of the Sower that he has just made plain to the disciples (Mk 4.10-20) but it might be he is making a general statement regarding the way he is revealing things to the disciples. (In the New Testament, a 'secret' usually means something once hidden but now revealed.)

In John 20.29, Jesus says, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'. Seeing Jesus would be a wonderful experience but it's given only to a relative few in number. Peter also says to his readers, 'whom having not seen, you love' (1 Pet 1.8). Why are we promised blessing but don't share in the blessing of seeing the Lord? One preacher I've just heard declaiming on Rom 10.8-21 says a fascinating and helpful thing about the Christian faith. He says that most faiths (the notable exceptions being the Abrahamic faiths) require the use of a god in tangible form for worshippers to see something. The Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity emphasise the fact that God speaks with the corresponding theme that we are invited and commanded to listen. Some years ago, Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) wrote He is There and He is not Silent (1972) . Apart from all of Schaeffer's other achievements, the emphasis he makes upon the speaking God...