Christological Titles – Light of the World
Thomas Alva Edison was lying in bed, life quickly ebbing from his body. He wanted to speak, but his voice was inaudible. The attending physician bent low, ear pressed to mouth, and he heard the great inventor say in the quietest whisper, “It is beautiful over there.” And then he died.
Edison, a man of science, throughout his adult life only sought that which was true and could be factually verified before ever being reported. It must be asked: would his last comment in his earthly existence be any different? In that moment of transition Edison saw a glimpse of heaven, and reported it was indeed beautiful. In the midst of the darkness of death, Edison was able to verify the light of a new day dawning.
In every culture studied by anthropologists, light and darkness have always symbolized the same, good and evil respectively. Most familiar to us may be the Chinese symbols of yin and yang, two half-moons embracing one another to form a circle. Yin, black, is evil. Yang, white, is good. Each force must keep the other in perfect harmony for the world to remain stable for habitation. This symbol is called a taegeuk.
The South Korean flag places the taegeuk at its center, surrounded by the symbols of the four elements which represent creation: air, fire, earth, water. This is the only flag in the nations of the world whose entire message is religious, depicting the beliefs of Buddhism.
In Judaism the contrast of light and dark, good and evil, prevailed among the priests and prophets. In the creation story God acknowledged the goodness of light. “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness, covered the face and the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” (Gen 1:1-4) The Psalmist sings, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” (Ps 27:1) The prophet Isaiah declares that in the last days, “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light.” (Isa 60:19) Judaism thought in terms of light as being the creative power of God, ever present to give guidance. This is why during the Exodus the Israelites were guided when “The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.” (Ex 13:21)
In the first century, as it was in the preceding centuries, one week each year in the city of Jerusalem, the Jewish people celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles. This commemorated their journey through the wilderness as they escaped the subjugating grasp of Pharaoh. As they made their pilgrimage to the land promised to them by God, the land flowing with milk and honey, they were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. During this feast they were to reside not in their homes, but dwell in booths, or “tabernacles,” made of branches in order to remind them of the barrenness of the wilderness experience.
On the first day of the feast in the section of the Temple known as the Court of the Women, four great candelabras were erected, each having four great golden bowls, in preparation for one of the most dramatic ceremonies in Judaism. When evening came people flocked to the court until it was filled to capacity; the crowds spilling out beyond the Temple walls. Then, when darkness descended, four youths of priestly lineage lit the great candelabras. Suddenly the darkness was pierced with light. A light so brilliant it is said to have illuminated every street and courtyard in the city. Once again, the pillar of fire by night guided the people.
At the exact moment the candelabras were ignited, the evangelist John reports that Jesus, standing in the Temple courtyard, spoke these words, “I am the light of the world.” (Jn 8:12) Jesus could not have possible chosen a more dramatic place and a more dramatic moment to make his great claim that he is the true light of the world. It is the declaration that he is the divine guide of God. It is the confession that in him the glory of God’s light has come to earth. Jesus understood that he was piercing the shadows of earth as was done on the day of creation.
Repeatedly, Jesus referenced himself as the light of the world that would subdue the darkness of evil, guiding all on the path of righteousness. Jesus assured his followers that “I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12) In the same vein he states, “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (Jn 12:46)
Throughout his public ministry, using the analogy of contrasting light and darkness, Jesus offered hope to those who had faith in the Son of God.
Jesus does not stand as a beacon just unto himself, for he entrusted to us the task to be radiant in the sea of darkness where we dwell this day. Jesus was very forthcoming when he dictated from his Sermon on the Mount, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others.” (Mt 5:14-16) It is our challenge to cast out the darkness of deceit and despair.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel joined the assassination plot to terminate the life of Adolph Hitler with a desire to end tyranny of the Third Reich. The original impetus for the war, which the Field Marshal supported, was perceived as a noble cause to restore the boundaries of Germany as they were prior to 1919; the evolving program of genocide and dictatorial rule that erupted after 1939 was not a mandate the honorable soldier could subscribe.
The final turning point for Rommel was learning of this atrocity: The infamous SS Das Reich Division, in reprisal for the killing of a German officer in the town of Oradour-sur-Glane, on June 10, 1944, had driven all the women and children into a church, then the village church was set on fire. Individuals emerging from the inferno were mowed down by machine-gun fire. Within the walls of this sanctified structure, all 643 women and men, including 27 children, perished.
The Fuhrer was unmoved when Rommel informed him that there were two villages named Oradour, and the SS massacred the wrong one. He requested permission to punish the offending German officers, which was harshly denied. Rommel confronted Hitler, “How can you wonder at the strength of the French Resistance behind us when the SS drive every decent Frenchman into joining it?” Der Fuhrer snapped, “That has nothing to do with you!” Rommel realized darkness had engulfed his beloved fatherland. As a result of his zeal to bring forth the light of justice, he was executed by forced suicide on October 14, 1944.
The world is a dark and foreboding place. Let us rejoice that Christ has conquered the darkness with the light of new life, and let us not evade our calling to “let your light shine before others.”