A Light to the Nations – A Messianic Prophecy

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” – Isaiah 60:1-3 (ESV).

This prophecy has a two-fold emphasis.  The Messiah, who is the Light to all nations will come. Then, because He has come, God will put His light and beauty upon the people, attracting the nations to the Light of Christ.  Isaiah is foreseeing the glory of all of God’s people being united under the Light.  The bright future of God’s people calls for faith and action.  We cannot stand dormant in the Light.  “The Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen in you” (v. 2) indicates that God will make a clear distinction between His own people and those who still remain in darkness, those who have not acknowledged Him.

The fulfillment of this prophecy was spoken by Simeon when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem when he was forty days old.  There old Simeon blessed Jesus and said, “”Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32, ESV).  Imagine the joy of old Simeon in seeing and holding the Son of God!  He had been promised the privilege of doing so before his death, and the occasion of Jewish purification of Mary and child was the occasion that linked the prophecy to the event Simeon was experiencing.  This is another example of how God fulfills what He promises.

Jesus Himself said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”  (John 8:12, ESV).  He furthermore told us to be lights for Him:  “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.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16, ESV).  To be light is to wield positive influence.  We speak of coming to the light of the truth.  A single candle can banish the darkness in a room.  Likewise, a Christian life, lived under the direction, influence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ can make an untold difference in lighting others to Him for salvation. This is every Christian’s calling:  to come to the Light and to reflect His light.

Prayer.  Lord, Christmas was filled with light.  The star shone to lead Wise Men to Jesus at Bethlehem.  “The glory of the Lord” that surrounded the shepherds as they heard the announcement by the angels of the Savior’s birth must have been surrounded by great light.  And Jesus, the Light of the world, tells us, “You are the light of the world!”  Let us arise, shine, for our light is come!”  Amen.

Jesus: The Light of the World

“Again Jesus spoke to them saying, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” –John 8:12 (ESV)  “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” –John 1: 4-5 “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.  But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” –John 1:9-13 (ESV).[Read John 8:12-20]

The occasion of Jesus announcing that He is the light of the world came during the annual Festival of Tabernacles when the Jewish people and leaders were assembled at the Temple in Jerusalem. The festival was observed for eight days, about this time of year.  It commemorated a joyful celebration of the harvest but also remembered the time when the people dwelt in tents or tabernacles during the years of wilderness wanderings.  God had delivered them from those hardships.  Every night during the days of the Festival, the priests would light four large candelabra in the court of the women and these gave much light.  They reminded the people that God had led them with a pillar of fire by night and a glowing cloud by day that had shown God’s direction, protection and provision.  They would sing and dance, repeating assurances of God’s presence:  “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1) or “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). In the midst of the celebration of lights, Jesus stood and said, “I am the light of the world!”  The learned Jews among them should have known that Light was one of the names given to the Messiah.  That was seen in the prophecy of Daniel 2:22: “light dwells with Him” and in Malachi 4:2: “But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”  Unfortunately, the Pharisees hearing Jesus argued with Him and told Him that they did not believe His testimony, that it was not true.  Regardless of what the Jewish leaders believed, they were standing there, observing and hearing the very Light of the World as He sought to enlighten them. What a pity that they would not hear the truth that the Light had been with God since the creation of the world.  John would write about the Light at the beginning of his gospel.  Even at that moment that true Light stood and taught among them.

Following the discourse with the Jewish leaders, Jesus went outside the Temple courtyard and soon found a man blind from birth.  He told His disciples in the presence of the blind man, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).  He then proceeded to restore sight to the blind man, bringing the poor man from darkness to light.  A discourse ensued between the healed blind man and the Jews, but the man told the Lord he believed in him, praised Jesus for restoring his sight and worshiped Him.  He had experienced the miracle of Light performed by the one Who is the Light of the world.

James Hudson Taylor lived in Brighton, England.  He got a burden for the lost of China, and arranged for a loan from his bank to start the China Inland Mission in June of 1865.  The mission work was hard and tedious, but Taylor persisted in his mission “to open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness”(Isaiah 42:7).  And Jesus, the Light of the World, calls each of us  (as he did James Hudson Taylor) who have come to His light to be light-bearers wherever we are:  “Ye are the light of the world,”  Jesus said as He called us.  And our privilege is to follow Him and let our lights shine where He has stationed us.  “Therefore, let your light so shine!” Let us reflect the glory of the Father through the Light of His Son.   (Matthew 5:14-16).

The Christian as Light

“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.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” –Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV).

Perhaps no song or teaching is as expressive of the Christian as light in the world as the chorus we learned to sing a children in Vacation Bible School, complete with the actions that accompanied the song:

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine;

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Put it under a bushel, No!  I’m going to let it shine;

Put it under a bushel, No!  I’m going to let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Won’t let Satan blow it out, I’m going to let it shine;

Won’t let Satan blow it out, I’m going to let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Jesus said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Several Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament foretold of the Light of the world coming to dwell among men.  One is found in Isaiah 60:20b:  “the Lord will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning shall be ended.”  Where there is light, darkness scatters.  Light also has the connotation of truth.  Where light is, people cannot dwell in the darkness of spiritual ignorance.  “I am the light of the world,” said Jesus of Himself.  Light reveals, and part of Jesus’ earthly mission was to reveal the truth of God to a world in spiritual darkness.  Jesus is the Light of the world.  So are his disciples.  The light/dark contrast is basic to Christian theology.  “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’ has shone in our hearts to give the light (Greek photismos) of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV). As lights, Christians are to be fundamentally different from the world.  And we are to bear witness of the Light, the Christ who reveals the truth of God and leads us to the true light.  Like a lighted city on a hill and a light not hidden under a bushel, the Christian shines for the Lord, giving Him honor and glory.  Let us pray that we may reflect and spread abroad the true light found complete in Jesus Christ.