“There was the true light which, coming into the world,
enlightens every man.” John 1:9
Here the Gospel writer John calls Jesus Christ “the true
light.” That would be the real deal. The true
light. The light that makes the other lights seem minor or insignificant.
On a sidewalk in Annville, PA recently, I thought the sun is the true light of this
physical world. It is the one light we absolutely could not do without. The
Earth needs to bathe in its light 24/7.
Many lights, - tail lights, a flashlight, a neon sign, help
us in various ways. They offer us warnings, convey information, guide us, and
make life convenient. We can and often do live without some of these. They are
relatively minor lights that are made possible by the true light of the sun. It
is the source.
So John calls Jesus “the true light.” The true light came
into the world. The Light of God. The moral light. The example. The pattern. The
true Illuminator.
That light “enlightens
every man.” He makes it possible for us to see. Just as the sun enables vision,
so His inner light enables us to see reality. By it we can discern what is
right. Every man and woman has received this light, to some degree. That’s what
John says.
Every culture has some norms of what is acceptable and what
is not. There are some norms of decency acceptable in every nation or tribe.
They don’t all agree, but they do exist. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The moralities
accepted among men may differ, though not, at bottom, so widely as is often
claimed…”[1]
There is not an inhabited place on earth that does not have some acceptable
standard or some concept of what is good and what is not good. This can be
referred to as moral “light.” This is the light that Jesus, “the true light”
has enlightened us with.
Just as the sun has enlightened all of us, so the true
light, Jesus, has shined in our hearts and we have some vision. He is the one
moral light we cannot do without.
John goes on to say, “But as many as received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name…” (John 1:12) Receive the full light of Jesus today.
Believe in Him! The Sun is really bright today!
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