With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given

 

 Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." 

 

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. 

 

- Mark 4:21–34 

 

Yesterday we read that again Jesus began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught the many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'  And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

  Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."  Continuing from yesterday's reading (above), we see that Jesus has given a parable which is about endurance in our faith, and the fruitfulness thereof (our capacity to "bear fruit" in faithfulness).  So this lamp that must be set on a lampstand, and remain unhidden, is the light of the truth of Christ, how we are illumined, and what we do to produce that fruitfulness He spoke of.  This is connected to our capacity to hear the word -- the seed of the Sower.

 

Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear.  With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  My study Bible comments that this is a call to attentive listening and discriminating response.  It says that we must not only hear, but hear properly.  More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts -- these will grow in understanding.  My study Bible quotes from St. Mark the Ascetic:  "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."  Note also that Jesus repeated this message many times.  It is found also Matthew 7:2 and Luke 6:38, each time in a different context. 

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.  For the earth yields crops by itself:  first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.  But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."   My study Bible comments that this parable is found only in the Gospel of St. Mark.  The kingdom is a reference to the entire span of God's dispensation or plan of salvation.  The man is Christ, and the seed is the gospel (see verses 13-20, Christ's explanation of the parable of the Sower).  His sleep, my study Bible says, indicates Christ's death, from which He will rise.  That the man does not know how the seed grows shows that Christ does not manipulate man's response to the gospel, but each person is free to receive it and to let it grow in his own heart.  The harvest is an indication of Christ's Second Coming, when all will be judged on their reception of the gospel.  

Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?  It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."   My study Bible comments that the mustard seed and the leaven represent the disciples who, according to Theophylact, began as just a few men, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  It says that these also stand for faith entering a person's soul, which causes an inward growth of virtue.  This soul will become godlike and can receive even angels. 

And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.  My study Bible comments that to unbelievers, the parables remain bewildering.   To those with simple faith, it says, these stories using common images reveal truth in was they can grasp, as they were able. 

If we can expand from the final note here in my study Bible, we learn from St. Mark's words that Christ spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  This gives us a very strong idea that our faith is meant to be an expanding, growing, and learning journey.  It is not something which simply grasps us at one point, but rather something that keeps offering us more, and keeps opening us up to more, as we are capable to hear it.  And there we come to Christ's repeated emphasis, in using the words of the Prophet Isaiah, on how we hear ("Take heed what you hear"; see also Isaiah 6:9-10).  These lead to the teaching He uses in a number of different contexts:  "With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  In Matthew 7:2, Jesus applies these words to how we practice judgment, whether we leave judgment to God.  In Luke 6:38, Jesus is applying these words to the practice of forgiveness, that we are forgiven as we forgive.  Here in today's reading, Jesus applies this same principle to how we hear, how we receive the word of God; that is, the word of the Sower, Jesus.  What this seems to imply is that Christ's teaching can be universally applied on many levels, that this is the way that our Divine/human cooperation works.  It seems to be similar to the understanding of repentance, that although God extends forgiveness to all (for this is how we receive Christ's words from the Cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do"; see Luke 23:32-34), we must also repent in order to realize that forgiveness.  It tells us about this Divine/human synergy, what is understand as our need to cooperate with and to live the word of God in the practice of our faithfulness.  God does not want us as pawns, but rather as those to whom God has given free will, in a freely loving and obedient relationship, within which we are disciples (or "learners") who grow in likeness to the image our Creator has given us (Genesis 1:26).  When we are offered a choice in life -- of whether we forgive, or practice mercy or a kindness, or obey in prayerful participation with God -- we should always keep this cooperative, seemingly reciprocal principle in mind, which Christ asserts to us so often.  It is an important reminder that God asks us for our participation, for this is what love is made of.