When arriving on Isle of Wight for a month of work this autumn, I was struck by the number of advertised events to do with lights. There had previously been summer events with illuminations but they had not registered with me. When questioning our Heavenly Father about what I should write for this week’s ‘thought’, the subject of light sprang to mind and was confirmed at church the following day when the speaker referred to this subject.

The precise thought I believe God gave me is that as the times grow darker, the lights that our lives potentially give off become far more noticeable and important.

In John 8, the day after the last day of the autumn festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), Jesus was back teaching in the temple. He said in v12:

I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.

The darkening days of autumn following this festival may well have enhanced the picture that Jesus was giving. His listeners may have been led to consider the contrast portrayed in Psalm 107:10-12 which says:

Some lived in darkness, in death-dark gloom, bound in misery and iron chains, because they defied God’s Word, scorned the council of the Most High. So he humbled their hearts by hard labour; when they stumbled, no one came to their aid.

At Jesus’ words their hope may have stirred when recollecting that the same passage goes on in vv13-14 to say:

In their trouble they cried to Adonai, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them from darkness, from death dark gloom, shattering their chains.

Was Jesus this awaited rescuer?

Times of Great Darkness

It was in a time of great darkness for Israel when Jesus had made his home at Capernaum of Galilee and preached the Good News to the Israelites around the region. Because of the dark times of Roman oppression, people were looking to Adonai for the promised Messiah and would have seen Jesus’ light shine out all the more clearly. These same listeners may have recalled the prophecy in Isaiah 8:23-9:1 that Matthew (4:12-16), refers to:

Land of Z’vulan and land of Naftali, toward the lake, beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Nations – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the region, in the shadow of death, light has dawned.

This same picture could apply to our rebellious British Isles and many other Gentile nations today. It is such darkness into which we are surely heading more and more. But it is also in times of darkness that our own lights may become most evident.

As part of Jesus’ explanation of Torah in his ‘Sermon on the Mount’, he told his disciples:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

As the darkness increases over our land, so we must let our light shine all the more!

Author: John Quinlan. All Scripture quotes from the Complete Jewish Bible.