 Now, this is actually the parable of the lamp. This is a little parable as well. It's not identified as such. It simply reads under the heading in the NIV, a lamp on a stand, but it is a parable. The parables were more than simply the extensive statements of Jesus, but they were often these little anecdotal pieces whereby he uses pithy statements and this kind of material in order to make a point, and classically so here.