καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· Βλέπετε τί ἀκούετε. ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν καὶ προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.
Mark 4.24 SBL Greek New Testament
Heard a really great talk on vv21-23 this morning, particularly focusing on the connection between bringing the lamp of the word into the room, and seeing things that were hidden in order to be seen. And before you jump to the wrong conclusion, it wasn’t about esoteric hidden things; it was the stuff you and I need to know in order to get our assignments done. The practical plans for doing the impossible set before us.
In the process of looking at the passage afterwards and making sure I had absorbed the message, I was looking at the notes I had written for myself some time back on verse 24. I touched on this briefly in the ‘Seeing the Kingdom’ book, but I think it bears repeating.
And He said to them, “See what you hear. In whatever measure you measure with it will be measured for you, and imputed to you.”
Mark 4.24, my rendering
So firstly, I see no justification for the NIV’s oblique “consider carefully what you hear…” Jesus wasn’t an English politician. I understand why they did this, but my view is that they have missed Jesus’ very concrete meaning.
Hearing the word is necessary but, by itself, inadequate. In another context Jesus said that hearing His words and not doing them is like building a house straight on the sand in a wadi. Hearing and doing, on the other hand is like digging down to the rock and setting the foundations on that rock.
In the current context, the necessary additional step is not doing but seeing. Or is it actually the step between hearing and doing? The back end of the verse gives us the clue.
”In whatever measure you measure with it will be measured for you, and imputed to you.”
What is the connection with seeing? Easy. If you hear, for example, the word about the goodness and generosity of God; but in your heart, you picture remains one of lack, what measure will you measure with? It will still be the measure of lack and scarcity you would taught from birth. As a result, what you receive will also be determined by lack and scarcity, and you will conclude that God’s generosity is a mostly metaphorical one.
But if you allow what you hear to determine what you see, so that you are able to start acting out of the same goodness and generosity you know God has towards you, then your experience will also change. You will experience that goodness and generosity as a practical reality.
So is “See what you hear” an important statement. In my notes on this verse I had written this:
“Don’t just hear it, SEE what that looks like. What Jesus says to you is MEANT TO CHANGE WHAT YOU SEE. Followed by measure you use will be used for you, and he who has will get more, who hasn’t will lose it. THIS IS THE DOORWAY THROUGH WHICH KINGDOM “GOODS” COME INTO THE EARTH REALM.”
And to explain what I mean by ‘Kingdom “goods”’, I don’t just mean receiving your new car or whatever else you have need of, although it clearly includes these; but this is actually about how what you hear becomes concrete experience. Forgiveness as a way of life? You can hear about forgiveness every day, but until you see it you will neither experience it, nor be able to mete it out to others. Wisdom? Success? Prosperity? Until you can see yourself in the picture with those attributes, say hello to the same old ‘don’t know what to do, missing the boat, life of lack’ you have been enjoying (if that is the word) all your life.
And please note, I am just telling you what the Man said.
So next time you hear the words of Jesus, ask yourself, “if I actually believed this, what would my picture look like?”
You may be surprised by the results.
Seeing the Kingdom 