Once Hidden, Now Revealed

Mark 4:21-34

As we've been working through Mark, there's a puzzle. There's a mystery, a really deep question that the disciples were wrestling with then and that we wrestle with today. It is what we could call the hiddenness of Jesus.

In the beginning of chapter four. We read that Jesus's public ministry is all given in parables. And he explains what the parables mean to his followers. But everyone else, they only get the parable. This is confusing to the disciples and so, they ask why - why not be more obvious, Jesus? Why the hiddenness?

The hiddeness. It isn't only Jesus's teaching. Jesus tells unclean spirits to be silent about him, which we kind of understand because, contrary to popular opinion, not all publicity is good publicity. But it's not just the unclean spirits. He told the man he cleansed of leprosy not to tell anybody about it. In chapter five he raises a girl from the dead, in chapter seven he heals the man who was deaf and mute, and in chapter eight he heals the blind man. And each time he tells them the same thing - Don't tell anyone.  And Jesus tells his disciples to be quiet about him too. When the penny finally drops and they realize he is the Messiah he says to them, "Don't tell anybody." Same thing.

And in chapter nine, Jesus slips away from the crowd at times. And not just once or twice but over, and over again.

What's with the hiddenness of Jesus? What's with the secrecy?

We can wonder about this same thing today. Why doesn't God do more and bigger miracles? Why doesn't Jesus speak more plainly? Why doesn't God just make it more obvious about who he is and what's going on?

Well, Jesus is explaining this to his disciples then and if we'll listen, if we'll hear him, he's explaining it to us today.

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 13:31–35, Luke 8:16–18, 13:18-19 
 
THE “HIDDENNESS” OF JESUS IN MARK 

• Demons silenced: 1:25; 1:34; 3:11 
• Miracles silenced: leper (1:44); dead girl (5:43); deaf-mute (7:36); blind man (8:26) 
• Disciples silenced: 8:30; 9:9 
• Withdrawals for secrecy: 7:24; 9:30 
• Parables conceal truth from outsiders, revealed only to insiders: 4:10–12 
• Private teaching: on inner corruption (7:17–23); messianic suffering (8:31; 9:31; 10:33); second coming (13:24–27) 
• Selective revelation of divine Sonship: 4:10–20; 8:27–9:13 

 
HEART CONDITION 

• John 3:19–20 – People loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 
• John 10:24–26 – “Tell us plainly…” / “You do not believe because you are not My sheep.” 
• Luke 16:31 – “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” 
• Romans 1:18–23 – Suppressing the truth through unrighteousness (related to heart condition and rejecting evidence). 

 
 1) THE HIDDEN LIGHT WILL BE REVEALED

• Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp for my feet...” 
• 2 Samuel 22:29 – “LORD, You are my lamp…” 
• John 1:1–9 – “The light shines in the darkness…” 
• John 3:16–21 – God sent His Son not to condemn but to save… 
• John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.” 
• 1 John 3:1–2 – “When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 
• Revelation 21:23–24 – The Lamb is the lamp of the city. 

 
2) THE HIDDEN WORK OF GOD WILL NOT FAIL 

• Isaiah 55:8–11 – God’s Word will accomplish what He desires. 
• Joel 3:13 – “Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” 
• 1 Corinthians 3:5–9 – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 
• Colossians 1:6 – The gospel is “bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world.” 

 
3) THE HIDDEN SEED WILL BECOME GREAT 

• Ezekiel 17:22–24 – God plants a tender sprig that becomes a great tree; birds find shelter in it. 
• Daniel 4:10–12, 20–22 – Tree imagery for great kingdoms and nations nesting in its branches. 
• Genesis 12:1–3 – God’s promise to make Abram into a great nation. 
• 1 Samuel 16:6–13 – David, the overlooked youngest son, chosen by God. 
• Judges 6:11–16 – Gideon, “the least,” called to save Israel. 
• Philippians 2:5–11 – Christ’s humble beginning and exaltation.