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Thursday, September 21, 2017

Who is the Light of the World?

The Transfiguration, Alexander Ivanov, c. 1845, Moscow
[for my friend Benjamin Tercero]

Primarily, Our Lord Jesus Christ gives this title to his very self. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12) He is the light in the darkness which came into the world, and the darkness has not overcome Him. (cf. Jn 1)

But notice also what the Lord says in relation to this truth, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." The light of Christ dwells within the Christian. But I ask, to what degree? How brightly does it shine?

The other place where we find the phrase "light of the world" is used in Matthew's Gospel, and when Christ uses it, He says it not in reference to Himself, but to His disciples -- that is, the Church.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." (Mt. 5:14-16)

And why should that surprise anyone? After all, Paul says the church is, among other things, the body of Christ, and the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. (Eph. 1:23) We know Jesus is speaking of the Church because he specifically follows up the statement with "a city set on a mountain cannot be hidden", a city being a visible, established community of people. The society of saints itself is designated as "the light of the world."

To say that the Church is his body, even his "fullness" in the world, then the light of Christ, the light of world, only ought naturally to apply to the Church -- it is to be his light in the world, in a very dynamic and real sense. A sacrament to the non-believer.

Applying that there is, in fact, a light of the world, Christ also affirms the other end of this reality: the world is in darkness. The darkness of sin, of a broken humanity. It needs to be shown the light of Christ, to know the redemption and reconciliation which He provides. The Church is to be that light in the world -- to demonstrate, exercise and bestow that healing and forgiveness, to give tangible evidence of that reconciliation.

If you are not the light of the world -- living the Christian life in faith, hope and love -- all the earth will be in darkness, and you yourself will be dwelling in it. You must let your good deeds shine before men for the Father's glory, because it is the Father's glory itself, the grace of Christ, which will give them their brilliance. We were "made to walk in our good deeds." (cf. Eph 2:10)

This is how intimately Christ and the Church associate with each other: they are both, very properly, called "the light of the world." It is Christ's light, but it shines from the tower which is the Church as from a lighthouse, guiding souls to the truth that will set them free -- for just as Christ is truth (Jn. 14:6), the Church is pillar and bulwark of truth (1 Tm 3:15).

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