“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works an glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16)
What were you doing on Monday, April 8, 2024? You do remember, don’t you? Maybe it will help if I say that a total solar eclipse was visible that day across a significant part of the US. Where I lived at that time we saw it, though it was at a different time of day then for you in Springfield, IL. Partial eclipses are common, and depending on just how partial it is you might not even notice it. But total eclipses are rare for any specific location. According to Nasa, the next total eclipse that will be visible here will be on September 14, 2099. I need to mark that on my calendar!
Ordinarily the moon reflects the light of the sun onto the earth. During an eclipse, however, the moon actually blocks the sun’s light, preventing it from reaching earth. Under the right conditions, a total eclipse may block the sun’s light for as long as two minutes.
Spiritually speaking, Jesus is “the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). And yet the Lord told His disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14a). So which is it? Is Jesus the light of the world, or are His disciples the light of the world? The answer, of course, is, “Yes!”
As the sun is the source of literal light that illuminates our planet, so Jesus is the source of spiritual light. And as the moon reflects the sun’s light, so we are to reflect the light of Christ. Our good works do not originate light, but they do reflect the light of Christ. Similarly, our proclamation of the gospel of Christ is like shining a glorious light (see 2 Corinthians 4:4). We certainly didn’t originate the gospel, but it is our privilege to make it known.
The Lord said a city located on a hill cannot be hidden, and people don’t light a lamp only to put it under a basket where nobody benefits from the lamp’s light (Matthew 5:14b-15). Unfortunately, we sometimes hide the lamp or locate it down in a valley instead of up on a hill. By our sin and our silence, we may even block the light that we ought to be shining – a spiritual eclipse, so to speak. The sun is still burning brightly during an eclipse – we just can’t see it. And the light of Jesus shines as brightly as ever, even when we are blocking it. But in that case nobody is benefitting from His light.
Reflect, don’t block!
Joe Slater
