Nor do [men] light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lamp-stand, and it shines for all who are in the house.
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Matthew 5:15 reads: "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." It is the middle verse in a trio (vv. 14–16) where the Lord declares His disciples "the light of the world" and presses home that this light is meant to shine outward, not to be covered over.
Why light, not merely salt
The Lord has just called His disciples the salt of the earth, and now speaks of them as the light of the world. The two figures are not synonyms. William Kelly draws the distinction sharply:
"The salt of the earth represents the righteous principle… But now, in verse 14, we have not only the principle of righteousness, but of grace — the outflowing and strength of grace. And here we find a new title given to the disciples, as descriptive of their public testimony — 'the light of the world.' The light is clearly that which diffuses itself. The salt is what ought to be inward, but the light is that which scatters itself abroad."
That is the key to verse 15. Light, by its very nature, goes out. To hide it under a corn-measure is to contradict the reason it was kindled. Kelly continues:
"'A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.' There was to be a diffusion of its testimony around. Man does not light a candle to put it under a corn measure, but on a candlestick, 'and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.' After this manner let your light shine before men, 'that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' Mark it well."
J. N. Darby puts the same thought in his synopsis with characteristic brevity:
J. N. Darby"The disciples of Christ were the preservative principle in the earth. They were the light of the world, which did not possess that light. This was their position, whether they would or no. It was the purpose of God that they should be the light of the world. A candle is not lighted in order to be hidden."
The phrase "whether they would or no" is weighty. The disciple does not choose whether to be a light; the Lord has made him one. The only question is whether the light will be set where it can do its work, or smothered under the bushel.
What the bushel is
The bushel is any covering — timidity, worldly prudence, the fear of man, the pursuit of comfort — that would hide the testimony the Lord has kindled. J. T. McBroom ties this back to the beatitudes that precede it:
J. T. McBroom"Suffering whether for the kingdom or the King was to be esteemed a favour, and it would have its bearing both on the present and the future… They were the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Notwithstanding the persecution and hatred of men they were to be a force for good, able to meet and counteract in divine power the corruption that is in the world through lust, and shed a beneficent influence on all around them."
Persecution, in other words, is precisely the pressure that tempts the candle under the bushel — and the Lord forestalls it by reminding His disciples that a hidden light is a contradiction in terms.
The light is Christ, not our works
A common misreading turns verse 15 into a summons to display our own good deeds. Kelly warns against this firmly — the object is not our works but the shining of Christ through us, out of which good works will follow:
"When people talk about this verse thinking of their own works, they are generally not good works at all; but even if they were, works are not light. Light is that which comes from God, without admixture of man. Good works are the fruit of its action upon the soul; but it is the light which is to shine before men. It is the confession of Christ that is the point before God. It is not merely certain things to be done."
And further:
"The moment you make good works the object, and their shining before men, you find yourself on common ground with Jews and heathen… What so bad, in the way of a thing done professedly for God, as a work that leaves out Christ, and that shows a man who loves Christ to be on comfortable terms with those that hate Him?… Let your confession of what God is in His nature and of what Christ is in His own person and ways — let your acknowledgment of Him be the thing that is felt by and brought before men; and then, when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father which is in heaven. Instead of saying, What a good man such a one is, they will glorify God on his behalf."
Synthesis
Matthew 5:15, then, is no mere proverb about visibility. It is the Lord's insistence that the testimony He kindles in His own must not be smothered. The disciple is a light by the Lord's own appointment, not by his own choosing, and the light he bears is not his character or his charities but the shining of Christ Himself. To put that light under a bushel — whether through the fear of man, the love of ease, or the wish to be on easy terms with a world that hates the Master — is to frustrate the very reason the candle was lit. Set it on the candlestick, and it will do what light does: illuminate the whole house, and bring men not to admire the disciple but to glorify the Father which is in heaven.