The Beatitudes: Light

Jesus said,

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16

The Jews were very familiar with this phrase. The prophet Isaiah had quoted God as saying:

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 42:6)

They called their famous rabbis “lamps of Israel." But they knew that it was God Who lit the lamp. They understood that Jesus was saying they must shine with God’s light to all the world.

The same is even more true for you and me today who believe in and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I have the presence of Christ within us. Wherever we go, there will be the presence of Christ. Think about how profound that is. You may be the only person in your family, or in your workplace, or on your block who has the Holy Spirit.

--> Who else will go to those people with the gospel, if not you?

Think about darkness and light. Which is more powerful? To find out, bring a match with you, and go into a closet in your house. Shut the door, so that it is completely dark in there. Then light the match. Light always dispels darkness.

When you have the presence of Christ in your life, you are called to bring Him to others

Outer righteousness without inner righteousness is like salt without saltiness; it's like a light that doesn't actually shine...

...It’s like a refrigerator that has bad food in it.

* What inner heart issue might be keeping you from being salty in a particular situation?

Being a lamp is not enough, your light must be lit by God.
* Who do you see in your life who lives in darkness?

* What can you illuminate for them?

* What excuses have you been using to give yourself permission to put the light God has given you under a bushel?

You are to go where the light is needed

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John the Baptist: Tell About The Light

It might seem strange that in John's account of the Lord Jesus' life and ministry, John the Baptist would introduced in the first few verses. But this points to one of the heresies that John was combatting – there were groups of people in as late as 200 A.D. who were worshiping John the Baptist as the Messiah.

The apostle John had started out as a disciple of John the Baptist; he knew him well. So the apostle John quoted the Baptist several times as saying he was not the Messiah, but a messenger.

God sent a man named John,who came to tell about the light and to lead all people to have faith. John wasn't that light. He came only to tell about the light.

[emphasis mine] The Baptist understood that he was not the light, but he was to prepare the people to believe the true light when they saw it.

The task of a witness is to point to the truth. You know the phrase “to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” We use that in a court of law because that is what everyone is expecting the witness to do, to bring out the truth.

In fact everyone who knows Who Jesus really is, is called to be a witness to the truth.

Witnessing is both verbal and nonverbal – to keep integrity, the words have to match the life of the person saying the words. How well does my own life act as a witness to the true light of Jesus? Well how much of Jesus’ light, His wisdom, is active in my life? That’s how I would know.

And how capable am I of telling the whole truth about Jesus?

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