Some Light Thoughts about Jesus

So, I’m reading the book of John and I’m thinking about the idea that Jesus is the light of the world. And I’m annoyed this morning that my room was so full of light I was forced to wake-up when I would have preferred to be asleep and I’m thinking, yeah, Jesus is like that.

Light is not always welcome. Sleeping people often struggle against the light, try to cling to their dreams, pull the covers up over their heads in an attempt to delay the inevitable truth of morning. Reminds me of a line from a Dan Fogelberg song: “There is really no way to say ‘no’ to the morning.”

Light is never welcome in a darkroom either. When a photographer is at work developing photos, the work must be done in the dark. Expose the work to light and it is ruined. Photographers are not the only ones who work in the dark and they are not the only ones whose work is ruined when exposed to the light. Sometimes, Jesus is the light that exposes and ruins the work done in darkness.

But, there is light that is welcome. There are lamplights and flashlights, campfires and searchlights, candles in the windows and runway lights; lights that illuminate dark places when we have lost our way or have lost a child or want to guide a loved one home. Whether we are part of the search party or the one searching the skies for them to come, the light can’t be big enough, bright enough, wide enough. Jesus is like that.

The right light is vital for reading, working, or romancing. Artists seek the right light when creating. And art must be viewed in the proper light in order for people to appreciate its nuances. Stained glass doesn’t even make a good window, is pretty useless, in fact, until it is bathed in light. And at my age, I appreciate how much I want to viewed in the best light. When Jesus is the light we use to illuminate our studies, our work, our romance, our creativity, our art, our relationships, ourselves then we assure ourselves the optimal condition for viewing.

Light is also a healing agent. It used to be part of a TB patient’s treatment to spend hours lying in the sun. People buy light boxes now to treat seasonal affect disorder. Lasers have become surgical tools. Jesus is like that, too. Sometimes healing comes simply by exposing ourselves for hours to His truth and sometimes His truth pierces like a scalpel, cutting out the invasive growth formed by repeated sin.

Can it be a cosmic coincidence that we now use light to improve our sight or that dentists use light treatment to remove stains and to whiten what we have yellowed by what we’ve taken in?

We are surrounded by light and have a passing familiarity with light and yet it contains powers and mysteries we’ve only begun to explore. We seek to harness light for our own use and yet we know it cannot really be contained. We are aware that we are working with a power whose force and beauty engages us, draws us to itself and promises brilliance beyond imagining but also has the potential for explosive danger and an energy that is beyond our capacity to restrain. Oh yeah, Jesus is like that.

Take a minute to read John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation 1:12-18. John says, “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” Jesus is the light of the world and He has been since before creation and He will be ever on into eternity.

Is it not amazing that God could choose a simple way to tell us who He is – He is light – sounds so simple, we get that. And yet when we explore that image we are confronted with a limitless truth with more facets than the most brilliant star in the heavens?

Jesus is the light of the world. Wow. I mean, really, wow.