Jesus Is the Light
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21)
Whenever I want to see something clearly, I simply bring it into the light. When the light shines upon the object in question, be it matching colors, spots and stains, or a necklace clasp, the light brings clarity and ease to an otherwise muddled and difficult to discern or do task. It is amazing what light exposes–just clean a window and then let the sun shine through–the light reveals the streaks all too quickly! Our spiritual life is no different. Wherever the light of Jesus shines, the darkness in our lives becomes evident. Jesus came as the light for all of us. John tells us:
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
-1 John 1:5-7
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
(John 1:9)Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:44-46)
Jesus came to get us out of darkness. Certainly this was what the prophet Isaiah was talking about:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)
Just as in creation God brought light out of darkness, He also brought light to our dark world by sending His Son. Paul tells us:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Jesus came to lead people out of Satan’s kingdom of darkness into God’s kingdom of love and light. Paul tells us:
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
-Matthew Henry
Christ’s light came to shine upon the souls of men, yet we read in our verses for today many shunned the very light that would save them. Devoted to darkness, desirous to remain wallowing in their sin, they wanted nothing to do with the light. Not wanting to change or have their evil exposed, they chose to remain in their bondage to sin rather than turn to the freedom and abundance found in Jesus.
While Satan would have us believe the apple he holds out is beneficial and for our best, it will always bring death and destruction. Conversely, Jesus holds out to us life overflowing. As David tells us in the precious words of Psalm 23:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
(Psalm 23:5-6)
Take It to Heart
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
“Don’t slack off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted people to strive for, and a degree of which you have had in conversion. Thus pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight, that you may know your self and be brought to God’s feet, and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. Those that have most of these things still need to pray for them; for there so much blindness and hardness and pride and death remaining that they still need to have that work of God upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them. This will be a further bringing out of darkness into God’s marvelous light, and a kind of new conversion.” (Jonathan Edwards, Advice to Young Converts)
