Shining Jesus - Himalayan Heights – July 29 Readings: Matthew 5:14-16 – Light of the World

Matthew 5:1-12  The Beatitudes

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Matthew 5:14-16

Jesus' most famous sermon took place on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee. There is enough meat packed into the three brief chapters of Matthew 5-7 to sustain years of Bible Study. After the Beatitudes, Jesus described the purpose of his disciples' work in this world, a work we now know of as the church. They were to be salt and light. We will take two days to reflect on these concepts individually.

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Through the Bible Readings: Job 7-8, Acts 21:37–22:21, Psalm 89:7–13, Proverbs19:1-2

 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional:  Shining Jesus    

Jesus told his disciples, "You are the light of the world." We are all familiar with the verse, paired with the identification of the disciples as the salt of the earth. As Jesus' disciples were to hinder the decay caused by sin in this world, they were also to confront the darkness of sin with the light from above.

There is a slightly confusing aspect to this. In John 8:12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He claimed that HE was the light of the world in John 8, but he also, in Matthew 5, says that the disciples are the light of the world. Which is it?

Of course, you know the solution. John 9:5 spells it out. "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When Jesus walked on earth, he was God's light, shining truth and illuminating the way of God. He alone was the shining brilliance of God's glory in the world of sin and darkness. He was God's sun, shining brightly, but then he left the world and returned to heaven.

When he ascended, the brilliance of God's glorious sun was gone, but the light was not gone. The light of Jesus Christ still shines, in his disciples. He is the sun, but we are God's moons, reflecting the brilliance of Christ in a dark world.

There are two truths here we must remember. First, the statement, in the Greek, is emphatic. YOU are the light of the world. Now that Jesus is gone, the light of Christ is going to shine through us if it is going to shine at all. There is no Temple today where the Glory dwells - he dwells in you! If this lost, sin-sick world is going to see Jesus, it will see him in us.

Because of this, it is unthinkable that we would hide the light of Christ or let sin, unholiness, or the love of the things of this world hide the light of Christ. We are God's plan A and he does not have a plan B. We are to let our lights shine so that people would see our good works and glorify the Father in heaven.

The problem is this world is not the sin and darkness that we complain about. The problem is that the salt isn't salty and the light is hidden. Sin is doing its job, it is the church of Jesus Christ and the redeemed of the Lord who are letting down!

Father, may I shine brightly with the love of Christ. May nothing hinder the light of the glory of Christ in me from shining brightly through me!

Think and Pray:

Is the light of Jesus Christ shining brightly through you?
What in your life might be hiding the light of Christ?