Wednesday, 4/24/13
Jesus said, “I came
in the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in
darkness.”
Those words about
Jesus being the light have somewhat illogically brought back a memory of mine
from sixty years ago. When I was going to live in the Orient, I brought a
camera with me, and along with the camera, I had purchased a light meter. To
get the right exposure for a portrait, I’d hold the light meter up to someone,
and if there was too much light coming from a face, I’d ratchet down the size
of the lens opening. Now, modern cameras have built-in light meters.
What I am awkwardly
getting around to is saying that
although Jesus called himself the light, his brightness would not have been
detected with a light meter. No, he was using the word “light” as a metaphor
for some great immaterial quality of his. What is that quality?
There are two
phrases in Scripture that might help us understand how Jesus is light.
The first is Psalm
36, verse 10: “With you is the fountain
of life, and in your light we see the light.”
The second is John’s
Gospel, Chapter One, verse 3: “What comes
to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.”
In both passages the
light he provides for us comes from his life itself. I might be wrong in this,
but I like seeing his life as pure goodness and pure truth. When we completely
submit ourselves to him, the light he provides for us is an understanding of
what is the good and right course for us to take.
1 comment:
Father, I like your explanation of Jesus and light. I never really thought about like that, but it makes sense. God bless, Theresa Longino
Post a Comment