We are the Lighthouse

41 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;

let the peoples renew their strength;

let them approach, then let them speak;

let us together draw near for judgment.

2  Who stirred up one from the east

whom victory meets at every step?

He gives up nations before him,

so that he tramples kings underfoot;

he makes them like dust with his sword,

like driven stubble with his bow.

3  He pursues them and passes on safely,

by paths his feet have not trod.

4  Who has performed and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?

I, the LORD, the first,

and with the last; I am he.

5  The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

the ends of the earth tremble;

they have drawn near and come.

6  Everyone helps his neighbor

and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

7  The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,

and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,

saying of the soldering, “It is good”;

and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

8  But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

9  you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, “You are my servant,

I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

10  fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

5  And now the LORD says,

he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,

and my God has become my strength—

6  he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

16 n“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

8:16–18. Jesus used the obvious to teach hidden truths. No one went to the trouble of filling a pottery lamp with oil, fixing the wick, and getting it to burn, only to hide the burning lamp in an opaque pottery jar and under a bed. The lighted lamp has one purpose: to light a room. The same is true with the Word of God. God does not give his Word to be hidden among a secret few or to be the cause of concern because no one can understand it. What God speaks and what God teaches, he will explain to the right people at the right time (see v. 10). So listen to God’s Word in such a way that he can open it up to your understanding, not in such a way that you will find only what you look for.

Do you think you have heard the Word and grown? Be careful. If you listen faithfully to God and hear his teaching, you will receive even more. Failing to listen to him will cause you to lose even what you think you have. Hearing the Word of God brings change. You either mature or go backward in your Christian experience. Do you have ears to hear? Only one type of soil produces maturing Christians. That soil is a good heart attuned to God as he reveals the meaning of his Word to you.

These sayings, like the parables, have a depth and width of meaning beyond the present context. Luke reused each in another context (see 11:33; 12:2; 19:26). But in this context the sayings relate to how a person listens to the Word of God.