I immediately start singing every time I see these words together (I am the light of the world) : you can say that Minister Michael Mahendere, song artist of the song “Salt of the Earth”  did a good Job by combining Matthew 5:13-16 and making it ‘memorizable’ and yet true as it may be, we first need to encounter The light of the world before we can take upon ourselves this great declaration

“”Jesus says I am the light of the world whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.”  If we don’t follow him, we walk in darkness. Yet again, allow me to make use of some lyrical provisions made available through the giftings of artists “ way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are.” Sinach

I wear glasses and the failure to results in nothing but a strenuous moment of squinting which results in headaches:  my eye condition has a lot to do with light- too much affects me and too little causes me to strain. Bulbs, lamps, candles etc. are used to dispel darkness. The evidence of light (its role and significance )all across the Old Testament is noted in books like Exodus 13:21 where the Lord provided light at night with a pillar of fire and in Exodus 27:20  “…pure oil of pressed olives for the light to keep the lamps burning continually” . The contrast with John 8 is that God isn’t sending something to give us light, He says He is the light.

Light was an important symbol in the feast of tabernacles and in the setting of John 8, as Jesus spoke in the temple, He applied the symbol to Himself.

THE LIGHT DISPELS DARKNESS : In the world and in our hearts.

In the same way that these natural and artificial sources of light help get rid of darkness , Christ has come to dispel darkness. (John 1:5) “The light shines in darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it” We are not strangers to darkness. Our news headlines , if for nothing else, are confirmations that we live in a fallen world, a world where crimes are rising, murder has become the order of the day, people have given themselves into their own sins and even with the truth within reach, people have rejected it. People are either being ignorant of the darkness, advancing it or accusing others and revealing the darkness in themselves(John 3:19-21) “And the judgement is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light for their  actions were evil…”

The light: Illuminates and Exposes

Many of us like the light only when it gets rid of the darkness that is external and yet this light – Jesus – not only deals with what is seen but exposes us (the darkness that is within) Those who accept the light must accept the light in entirety. We can either see Him as light , receive Him and follow Him or perish in darkness.

John 3:20 “All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants”

COME SEE THE LIGHT : Spiritual Blindness

John 9:5 "..But while I am in this world, I am the light of the world". 

The man born blind ; that became reason for arguing among the Pharisees upon realizing Jesus had healed on the Sabbath;  got to know Jesus not only as Healer or Restorer but as the light. In meeting Him, He saw the light and yet more than that, He saw the light of truth in God’s word in latter verses  (John 9:35-36) Even today, the eyes of  hearts are blind just as the Pharisees were; though not physically (John 9:40).

Jesus as the light also becomes the lens in which we see God because no one has access to the Father except through Him. He is  the light in which we see our situations (good or bad). He is the light in which we see ourselves. With Jesus as our light, the way we see everything changes.

John Piper says “The light that is Christ; the light of Christ, is not an inference drawn from an argument. It is the brightness of the glory of God shining on the retina of the human soul. You know it’s there not because you conclude it from an argument but because you see it with the eyes of the heart.

The invitation is extended to us today just as it was in (John 12:36 ) Are you consciously choosing to follow the light? 

As we know Jesus as the light of the world, we are able to reflect His light to others. Walking in fellowship with Jesus  means walking in the light (1 John 1:5-7) and there is no other light; all others pale in comparison.

You are light and you are so loved. Stay anchored and keep His light shining through.