One of the most notable traits of the Gospel of Mark is its immediacy. In Mark things happen now – or sooner!  We see this from the beginning of the Gospel in the way important events are described. Mark tells us that at the onset of Jesus’ ministry “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). Without delay he called his disciples (1:18); they immediately followed him (1:18, 20); news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee (1:28).

The pattern continues throughout the Gospel.  The Greek word eutheos, translated “immediately,” “straight away,” “at once,” etc. occurs no fewer than forty-two times in Mark and frequently colors the narrative.  This and other terms of time give a preciseness and immediacy to important events and also to everyday actions. When Mark tells us regarding Jesus and his disciples that “As soon as they left the synagogue they …” (1:29), he conveys a sense of pressing dedication to what they were doing.  When he tells us of the man healed by Christ: “immediately the leprosy left him” (1:42), we see the power that effected not an eventual but an immediate change.

And it is not just Jesus and the disciples that act with speed. Often the agents of evil do also. When John the Baptist is imprisoned, Salome’s daughter doesn’t just ask for the head of John – she asks for it “right now” (Mark 6:25). Mark paints a verbal picture of a cosmos in which good and evil are completely dedicated to their goals and the battle between them is being fought not in some past or potential future, but constantly in the here and now.

Why does Mark’s Gospel differ from the other three portraits of Jesus in this way?  To a large extent, it may have been the result of Mark’s audience. Most scholars believe that the primary original audience for Mark’s Gospel was a Roman one. There is plenty of internal evidence – such as the frequent use of Latin terms (for example, denarius in 12:15, quadrans in 12:42, praetorium in 15:16, and flagellare in 15:15) and details such as Mark’s use of the Roman system of dividing the night into four watches instead of the Jewish system of three divisions (Mark 6:48, 13:35) – to suggest this is true.
  
Mark’s Roman audience lived in a somewhat different world than the largely quiet and pastoral Judea. Romans were used to a faster pace of life enabled by straight Roman roads, organized commerce and efficient messenger systems.  In the Roman world, if something was important it would usually be done quickly – and something done quickly was often likely to be important.

But to only see the immediacy of Mark’s account as a product of Roman attitudes and expectations is to miss the point that Mark, like all the Gospels, speaks to a situation that goes beyond this world’s political and social realities – to the underlying spiritual reality of the story he tells.  Mark’s use of constantly active narrative showing the dedication and non-stop work of Jesus, along with his frequent use of the “historical present tense,” gives every reader of this Gospel a sense of a story that is occurring in the present – a story that includes continual pointers to the need for dedication and an attitude of urgency in doing the work of God. 

​Mark is a Gospel of now and his story challenges us to live out our part in God’s calling not in dwelling on events of the past or plans for the future, but in doing what we have been given to do, now.​

When we read the parables of Jesus in the New Testament, it is easy to presume that the occurrences of a given parable in different Gospels are just parallel accounts of the same event – a retelling of the same story. But this is not always true, as Jesus sometimes used the same parables and examples in teaching different groups at different times. 

There are clear instances of this, and we find a particularly meaningful example in the Parable of the Lamp (often called the Parable of the Candle and the Bushel) found in all three Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels each record this same parable, but Matthew’s account, for example, shows a different setting to that of Mark and Luke.  In each case the parable is varied somewhat, and the lesson being given appears to have a different stress.

Essentially the parable discusses a lamp placed in one of three settings:  on a lamp stand, under a bed, or under a jar or bowl. But we should notice how the three accounts differ and the lessons they convey.

The Lamp on a Stand – the Lesson in Matthew:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15).

Matthew’s account does not include the “bed” mentioned in Mark and Luke because its stress is on the lamp being placed on a stand so all can see its light.  We see this stress in the extra words – unique to Matthew’s Gospel – which compare the lamp on a stand to a city on a hill (vs. 14). The lesson in this telling of the parable is made clear: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (vs. 16).  Matthew addresses those whose light shines like a lamp on a stand.

The Lamp under a Bed – the Lesson in Mark:

Mark’s account introduces another way the light can be treated: “…Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?” (Mark 4: 21).  The “bed” (Greek klinē – a small couch or bed) Christ mentions  was a piece of furniture high enough to allow a small oil lamp to be placed beneath it, but low enough to limit the amount of light that would be visible. 

This telling of the parable seems to focus on the aspect of limited illumination – symbolic of a person who gives out a limited amount of the light at his or her disposal.  This limited light may help those close to the person, but that is all because the light is being held back.  Perhaps we see this in the warning found in Mark’s account: “Consider carefully what you hear … With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more” (Mark 4:24).

Mark’s version of the parable speaks especially to those who limit their light: those who choose to be “low key” Christians in ways such as only sharing their light with others of the Faith – those “near” to them.
 
The Lamp under a Jar – the Lesson in Luke:

Luke’s version of this parable may have yet another stress: “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar …” (Luke 8:16 ESV).  While some translations have “basket,” the Greek word skeuos indicates a ceramic jar, bowl or other container used to hold flour – not an open weave basket.  The meaning is important because placing an oil lamp under such a solid container not only stops all light from escaping, but also cuts off the air, causing the light to eventually go out.

This last fact makes Jesus’ words spoken at the end of the parable particularly significant: “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them” (Luke 8:18).   Luke’s version of the parable seems to speak to those who receive the light, but whose religion is “personal” and they do not share the light they have with others “so that those who come in [from the outside] can see the light” (vs. 16, parenthetical comment added).  

Three Tellings – Three Lessons

So Jesus’ Parable of the Lamp is recorded for us in three versions, each with a different stress.  While the parable seems to have been used on separate occasions, it is clear from the details recorded in each instance that Jesus was stressing different lessons.  The parable speaking of putting a lamp on a stand, under a bed, or under a closed container stresses three ways in which we might deal with the light we are given: sharing it widely, sharing it in a very limited way, or not sharing it at all.  The ultimate question posed by the parable, of course, is what kind of lamp are we?

​
*To learn more about the parables, download the free eBook The City on a Hill: Lessons from the Parables of Jesus from our sister site, here.