2606AFC020626 – By, In, and For Light
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Isaiah 58:8-10 –
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[a] shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
Psalm 112:4 – (GNT) [1]
4 Light shines in the darkness for good people,
for those who are merciful, kind, and just.
1 Corinthians 2:4 – 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power
Matthew 5:14-16 – 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, (↔ Music Link) so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
John 8:12 – (GNT)1 12 Jesus spoke to the Ph arisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”
John 1:4-5 – (AKJV) [2] 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Greek katelaben , attain, come upon, comprehend, find, obtain, perceive, (over-)take, overpowered, extinguished, overcome, perceive, receive: take hold of exactly, with decisive initiative (eager self-interest); to grasp something in a forceful (firm) manner; (figuratively) to apprehend (comprehend), “making it one’s own.” John 1:4-5 – (GNT) 1 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
John 1:3-5 – 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. What do you think? Did we start off with enough Scripture? As we develop the theme given in the title, we plan on linking the Scripture to those prepositions. That will be done, of course, by looking at the word “Light” and how that word relates to Jesus. We will begin with Jesus’ declaration to the Pharisees in John 8:12: I am the light of the world. The Apostle John’s Gospel uses the word “Light” about two-dozen times – more than any other Gospel. This is especially true in the Prologue which I usually cite as being John 1:1-34. Now, if we contrast John 8:12 with Matthew 5:14, The passage from John is a declaration of Jesus’ Divinity. The passage in Matthew is a reminder to believers that they can reflect the Light of Jesus through their good works, through the process of being a true Disciple.
This brings to mind the publication by Sherry Wendell which is titled Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus. This topic has been brought up by many authors, but Wendell’s is the most comprehensively developed in recent years. One of the statements in the opening of her book declares that only 30% of people who were Baptized Catholic are still active. By implication an even more startling statistic is that 70% of people who were Baptized Catholic are not reflecting the light of Christ. I suppose I could say that my personal pet peeve in that area is that Catholics don’t really know Scripture. St Jerome famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” Not only is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church divided, but there are so many denominational divisions – At least 45,000! – and Pentecostal and charismatic churches are growing in number faster than any other types of Christian groups. There are also increasing numbers of “sorta-kinda-Christian” Churches. These are Churches that project an image of Jesus that is not biblical, and not theologically compatible with True Discipleship. We won’t be discussing those here.
One other point I usually try to make clear – my own personal belief – is that it is possible for us to both reflect the Light of Christ and also to radiate the Light of Christ – I paraphrase The Apostle Paul here – “if only the Light [Spirit] of Christ is in you.” I came to this understanding during Easter Vigil services when the Baptismal Candle is lit, and then everyone lights their own individual candles off of the flame from the Baptismal Candle which came from the New Fire which represents the radiant Light of Christ. Therefore, it seems to me, that we have (and share) the opportunity to radiate the light of Christ. Again, to me, that’s a pretty exciting realization!
In the passage from Matthew where it says (v. 16) “Just so, your light must shine before others,” we could define Just so – which is the Greek word houtōs – with other words such as thus or in this way, along this line, even so, or as just described (a city on a mountain or a lamp on a lampstand). And, campers, why are we supposed to let our light shine before all? Well that boils down the exact reason we have a Church, we have a religion, we have a credo, and we have Scripture – so that in the Light of Christ, reflected in our Good Works, others may see the good works that we do. Because why? Because, it is all for the glory of God! Now, as we know, there are atheists, agnostics, pretenders, and just-good-folks all of whom do good deeds. And yes, (I believe) God is glorified in their good works because their generous nature is a Gift from God. Nonetheless, it seems to me it all comes back to that prescription of intentionality. If we bathe our good works in the Light of Love, then they are seen as gifts from God and not from ourselves. This is why last week I place a musical “word of understanding” in our post. It was here: I want to be like Jesus so I want to be a Christian In My Heart. (↔ Music Link).
Now, I know that Jesus was not a Christian; he was a very radical Jew. Nonetheless, The Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians 3:17 – 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. And of course we also have Galatians 4:6 – 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” All of this – ALL. OF. THIS. – is because Christianity is not about rules, not about rituals and rites, not about vainglorious repetitions, but instead Christianity is all about RELATIONSHIPS – especially relationships with God (and remember, that word G O D means the God as Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Only Begotten Son, and God the Holy Spirit).
Now, let’s tackle those prepositions. First up – BY. By Light. The Apostle John tells us in his prologue that Jesus was with God from the Beginning, In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In verse 9 he says, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” Here, Jesus is referred to as The Word and the Light. In verses 3-5 he tells us 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. Here The Apostle John equates Jesus with Word (Logos), Life, and Light. Jesus and the Holy Spirit were there with the Father of Light (yep, that means the Father of Jesus), so – in a manner of speaking – everything that was created was created BY … Light.
Next up IN. In Light. Here’s another example of a reason to know Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5 – In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Ah-HA! The first created phenomenon was LIGHT. Reminds me of I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. There is quite a punch in those words! Jesus, born as Light, from Light, In Light, BY Light – FOREVER AND EVER. Now, if we intentionally believe that, we’ve gotten hold of a very powerful revelation about the Nature of God.
Last up FOR. For Light. As stated earlier, I think we can not only reflect the Light of Jesus, but also radiate the light of Jesus. At this point I’d like to ask all of us to answer a question: How many of us reading this post know a person who just glows with the Light and Life of the Spirit in Christ? You can see it in their face, hear it in their voice, feel it in their touch. If such a person were to put a hand on your shoulder and look you square in the eyes and say “ Jesus loves you,” you would know that being in their presence fits the definition of “Where two or more are gathered in my Name …” Belovéd, we are created in the likeness and image of God. That means that we can both reflect and radiate the likeness and image of God. In other words, we are made for Light!
As I wrap this up, I want to “hark back” to November 30th, 2025, the first Sunday of Advent and a short digression presented there:
- There are two kinds of people in the world – Christian and non-Christian.
- There are two kinds of Christians in the world – Catholic and non-Catholic
- There are two kinds of Catholics in the world – Active and dormant
- There are two kinds of active Catholics – happy and unhappy.
The happy Catholics go to Church because they love to be in the presence of God as part of the Body of Christ who are all worshipping with other Catholics (happy and/or unhappy!). The unhappy Catholics go to church because it is their only way to fulfill their Sunday obligation.
Whenever we TRUST in God enough to fully SURRENDER to his Presence and his Will, then we reaffirm that we BELIEVE God’s Word so that we can RECEIVE him in the Holy Eucharist as The Real Presence of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. That is By, In, and For Light – the Light of Christ (↔ Music Link) which is Light which must be shared. When we intentionally do that, we get the results described in Isaiah 58:8 –
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
That is not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power – the Power of the Holy Spirit,
That is indeed Light from Light! And then there is this from Isaiah 42:6 (GNT) –
6 “I, the Lord, have called you and given you power
to see that justice is done on earth. (Micah 6:8 – AGAIN!)
Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples;
through you I will bring light to the nations.
Our Immortal, Invisible God can act even as he is silent as Light – think of that adelphos, God is silent as Light! (↔ Music Link) Now it is time for me to go silent, too, and so I thank you for coming along with me this far. Light a candle for me and for all the folks for whom Scripture is a chore, and for whom Church is only a place to be seen. Perhaps the Light on your candle will light up another part of the World with the Light of Christ, because we are indeed created by, in, and for Christ who is the Light of the World, and for, in, and by him so are we the Light of the World. Because why? Because
4 Light shines in the darkness for {and FROM} good people,
for those who are merciful, kind, and just. AMEN.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
[2] The Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible (‘the KJV’), the rights in which are vested in the Crown in the United Kingdom, is reproduced here by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press. The Cambridge KJV text including paragraphing, is reproduced here by permission of Cambridge University Press.
