In ancient Israel, the Illumination of the Temple was the culmination of the annual Feast of Tabernacles. It took place in the Temple treasury before four massive candelabra topped with huge torches. According to Kent Hughes, the candelabra were as tall as the highest walls on the Temple, and at the top of the candelabra were mounted great bowls each of which held 65 liters of oil. There was a ladder for each candelabrum, and when evening came, the healthy young priests would carry the oil up to the great bowls and light the protruding wicks. Then huge flames would leap from the torches illuminating not only the Temple but all of Jerusalem. A modern day equivalent may perhaps be the Olympic flame but here there were twelve flames [perhaps one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel]. The Mishnah tells us that "Men of piety and good works would then dance before the candelabra with burning torches in their hands singing songs and praise and countless Levites would play on harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets as well as other instruments of music." Imagine the spectacle of fire, oil, heat, smoke, and perspiration as the priests whirled and danced before the enchanted and dazzled throng. Hughes continues by reminding us that this exotic rite celebrated the great pillar of fire [the glorious Shekinah cloud of God's presence] which led the Israelites during their sojourn in the wilderness and spread its fiery billows over the Tabernacle.
Then imagine Jesus Christ standing in the same location merely hours after the fires had been extinguished, with the great charred torches still in place, lifting his voice and bellowing "I am the light of the world!" There could scarcely be a more emphatic way to announce the supreme truth of the universe. Christ was saying in effect, "The pillar of fire that came between you and the Egyptians, the cloud that guided you by day in the wilderness and illuminated the night and enveloped the Tabernacle, the glorious cloud that filled Solomon's Temple is me! ... "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." He is everything suggested by this sublime metaphor of light -- and so much more.
This immense truth that Christ is the very light of this world must be foundational to our thinking as we consider Ephesians 5:8-14. "For you were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord." [v. 8] We are light! It has been said by a number of preachers including Dr. Gary Barnhouse, and perhaps you have even heard it said, that "When Christ was in the world, he was like the shining sun. When the sun sets, the moon comes up. The moon is the picture of believers, the Church. The Church shines, but not with its own light. It shines reflected light. At times the Church has been a full moon dazzling the world with almost daytime light ... and at other times the Church has been a thumbnail moon, and in those days very little light shown on the earth. But whether the Church is a full or thumbnail moon, whether waxing or waning, it reflects the light of Christ. Our light does not originate with us."
But our text suggests even more than reflection -- we actually become light ourselves: "For you were once darkness, but now you are the light in the Lord." Hughes states that "our light is derived from him -- not a ray of it comes from ourselves. But somehow our incorporation in Christ allows us to actually be light, however imperfect." Peter says that we "participate in the divine nature" [2 Peter 1:4]. Hughes continues that "so authentic is our participation, so real is our light, that in eternity we will actually be part of the light ourselves." Jesus said as much in his Mystery Parables, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" [Matthew 13:43]. C.S. Lewis even seems to concur as he writes "Nature is mortal. We shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol ... We are summoned to pass through nature beyond her to the splendor which she fitfully reflects." The heavens do reflect the glory of God. But we share in the glory of the Father in Christ -- and we shall be more glorious than the heavens. As Christians there is a glory awaiting us that involves, in some mysterious way, shining [not reflecting]. Somehow we are going to enter into the fame and approval of God, and we will be glorious beings far beyond description. The mysteries of Christ are endlessly amazing to ponder indeed!
But there is a caveat! Because we are light, we have a huge responsibility in the world. How are we who have been transferred from darkness to light to live? Paul commands us to "Live as children of light [for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth] and find out what pleases the Lord" [vv. 8-10]. In a word, Christ's light as it passes through the prisms of our lives should produce a sterling character. According to F.F. Bruce, goodness here implies generosity. Righteousness is integrity in all dealings with both God and man. And finally, truth is the absence of falsehood and deception. These are the ethics of light. When the light of Jesus is refracted through the prisms of our lives, there will be sanctifying shades of life for others to see. In this we "find out what pleases the Lord," and so do others.
Jesus spoke as much in his Sermon on the Mount, "You are the light of the world" [Matthew 5:14]. The more luminous our integrity -- our goodness, righteousness and truth -- the brighter the light. How can we shine more brightly? We must spend time alone with Jesus -- the Light -- in prayer, exposing our lives like Kodak film in the pre-digital era, to his presence so that his image, his very character, is melded into ours. If we do this, we can become spiritually like Moses when he descended Sinai after being alone with God -- his face shone with the light of God. This is our calling ... its time we stepped into it!
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