Certainly among the most celebrated words in Sacred Scripture are those read in the opening lines of Genesis: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters. Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light” (1:1-3). It is difficult for modern society truly to appreciate the significance of light, of daylight, in the ancient world. Today’s living rooms, back yards and neighborhood streets can be easily illuminated with the flick of a switch. Darkness in the ancient world, except before a fireplace or a camp fire, meant isolation, danger, and often dampness and cold. Sunlight was indeed a blessing that brought bodily warmth, agricultural growth, and a sense of wider community. Light was truly a gift from God.
St. John in his celebrated opening verses to his Gospel recollections similarly underlines light as an awesome gift from God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:1-5). Light here symbolizes the very presence of God made possible through the arrival of His Son and through the life of grace that Christ would bestow on believers throughout the centuries.
This coming Sunday’s Scripture readings unanimously celebrate the significance and benefits of the light of His grace that God bestows on the world. Isaiah understands this light to be a well-lived life: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard” (Is.58:8). The psalmist similarly employs light as a sign of a Godly life: “Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just” (Ps.58:8). The Gospel acclamation briefly rejoices in Jesus’ own role as the supreme illuminator: “I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life” (Jn.8:12).
And the words of Jesus Christ from his Sermon on the Mount famously celebrate the light that a well-led Christian life will mean for the world: “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.5:14-15).
Light in the Sacred Scriptures is clearly the reflection of the life of God in the lives of believing men and women. The believing, virtuous, and charitable life of a Christian here on earth is truly a window on heaven, a light shining through the darkness of the sin, error and evil that has marked history since Eden. Yet the light that is the Christian life is not always the brilliance of a noonday sun nor the brightness of a full moon. St. Paul in today’s letter to the Corinthians cautions the believing world that the light that empowers the Christian life entails challenges, demands sacrifices, and is fearsomely daunting: “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1Cor.2:1-2).
Yes, Jesus was most ironically the supreme light of the world when he hung upon a disgraceful cross and endured the contempt of a jeering mob. “Jesus Christ and him crucified” is an essential Gospel message and a profound example of what an authentic Christian life entails. Sometimes light can be more daunting than dazzling. As St. Paul continues to testify, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1Cor.2:3-5). The true Gospel light, the true Christian life, bestowed by Christ and sustained by his Church, perseveres through the darkness, struggles through the night and endures the gloom that sin inflicts on the human race, firmly believing that “Jesus Christ and him crucified” was indeed the prelude to Jesus Christ and him glorified.
