Light. How many times has light dispelled darkness and thereby, dispelled fear? We are fearful creatures. We are afraid of ignorance. We are afraid of being too weak. We are afraid of disappointments. We are afraid of setbacks in life. We fear snakes. We fear mice. We fear spiders. The list of phobias is endless. Perhaps the greatest fear with which humans deal is the fear of death and/or the fear of hell.
GOD IS LIGHT:
From the time God led the Israelites through the wilderness at night by the pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21-22), God has pictured Himself for the Jews as their light.
Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”
In the midst of troubling times for Israel, Isaiah proclaims, “O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (2:5).
In Isaiah 42:6, God is speaking to His Servant – in a passage quoted in Matthew and applied to Jesus – “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations.” A similar verse – Isaiah 49:6 – is quoted by the aged Simeon as he held Baby Jesus in his arms in Luke 2:32.
So Jesus is “Light” in the flesh…
JESUS IS THE LIGHT:
Jesus made the claim to be the light of the world on two occasions – John 8:12 (the other is 9:5). The immediate context of John 8:12 is the woman caught in adultery. The law of Moses had commanded both the man and woman in such a situation to be stoned to death. The man was not brought because the Pharisees were not interested in obeying the law. Their motivation was to trap Jesus.
But the Light of the world exposed the Pharisees. First of all, He exposed their hypocrisy. “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7). They withdrew, being exposed by the Light of God.
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Secondly, Jesus also exposed the sin of the woman guilty of adultery. But He doesn’t do it the way of the Pharisees. As she stood there all alone, Jesus told her, “I do not condemn you. Go. From now on sin no more.” Jesus’ statement shows that He knew she was sinning and let her know that He knew. The Light exposes everyone – the hypocrites and the sincere. But He does not condemn but forgives the sincere who repent. “Go and sin no more.”
In John 12:46, the Light of the world said that “whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” So, being baptized into the Light causes us to become “sons of light.”
Now that Jesus has returned to heaven, Christians are “lights” in the world…
CHRISTIANS ARE LIGHT:
Christians are frequently called “sons of light” (Luke 16:8; John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:5), by which is meant we have the qualities or characteristics of light. In fact, as preachers or teachers of the Gospel, Paul and Barnabas use Isaiah 42:6 & 49:6 – being a light to the Gentiles to apply to themselves – Acts 13:47.
Matthew 5:15-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
The problem is that the world hates the light – the world hates Jesus – “because their works are evil” (John 3:19). So, they will not come to the light “lest their works should be exposed” (John 3:20).
Finally, in Ephesians 5:9, Paul writes that the fruit of light is being good, right and true.
–Paul Holland
