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Luke 8:16–18
“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” (v. 18).
Before we move on to Jesus’ teaching in today’s passage, we need to make one final comment about the parable of the sower in Luke 8:4–15. Some would appeal to this parable as evidence that Jesus taught the possibility of true converts’ losing their salvation, since the seed exhibits some temporary growth in two of the soils. Yet that cannot be the case in light of our Lord’s teaching on the permanence of salvation in places such as John 6:44; 10:22–30. We must remember that the purpose of the parable of the sower is not to give an extended discourse on the perseverance of the saints but to explain why people respond to the Word of God differently. Some people do appear to believe for a time and then fall away, but they were never in a state of salvation. They fall away because the gospel never took deep root; they had only a shallow experience with Jesus and never possessed saving faith.
In Luke 8:16–18, our Savior continues to teach on the Word of God and the proper response to it. The parable of the sower focused on why some people respond and others reject the Word, and today’s passage addresses more what the right reception of the Word looks like. First, Jesus says that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bed but rather puts it on a stand to illumine a room (Luke 8:16). In that culture, people used small oil lamps to light their homes, and these lamps had to be elevated on a stand to provide sufficient illumination to a large space. Christ’s point seems to be that rightly receiving God’s Word involves not keeping it to oneself but sharing it with others, just as one shares light by putting a lamp on a stand.
Verse 17 features our Lord’s statement that nothing will remain hidden but that all will be made manifest. Lamps bring to light things that are concealed by darkness, and the Word of God functions in a similar way to expose sin. Here we have a warning about final judgment and a stress on believing the gospel before it is too late. Either we will allow the Word to expose our sin today so that we can confess it and be forgiven, or we will reject the Word and be condemned when our sins are exposed on the last day (Rev. 20:11–15).
Finally, Luke 8:18 says to be careful how we hear, since more will be given to the one who has, and those who have not will lose even what they have. Jesus means that those who hear and believe will receive even more truth from God, but those who hear and reject the Word will lose what little truth they have access to.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We cannot take for granted that God’s Word will always be available to us. If we do not believe on Christ today, our hearts will be hardened, and there is no guarantee that an opportunity will come again in the future. Believing God’s Word is always our most urgent task, and if we trust Scripture, God will give us more understanding of it. If we disbelieve Him, we may lose what understanding we have.
for further study
- Psalm 119:105
- Mark 4:21–25
the bible in a year
- 2 Samuel 1–3
- Luke 18:1–17
- 2 Samuel 4–8
- Luke 18:18–19:27