under a bushel
Mark 4:21
4:21 under a bushel. Mark records two parables (that of the candlestick and also of the silent growth of the seed sown) after that of the Sower, both amplifying the latter. The first stresses the importance of sowing—that is, letting our light shine and keeping it bright. The second reminds us that the actual subterranean growth of the seed, finally springing out of the ground and producing fruit, is not the work of the sower, but of the Creator who designed this amazing mechanism. It symbolizes the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the one who has heard God’s Word (compare John 3:8, Ecclesiastes 11:5-6). The human witness conveys the Word, but he does not “win” the soul. As Paul said: “Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (I Corinthians 3:7).
