“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’” (John 8:12 NKJV). Jesus claimed to be “the light of the world,” but what is this “light”? Before one can claim the “light of life” as Jesus promised, one must understand the meaning of “the light.” The Greek word for light, phos means to “shine or make manifest, especially by rays” (Strong’s). Nelson’s Bible Dictionary describes this light as an “Illumination; the opposite of darkness.” “Jesus is the “personification of light or divine illumination” (Nelson’s). The light Jesus discussed is an illumination, and He is the source of that radiance.
Isaiah predicted that Jesus would be “the light of the world.” “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2). Also consider Isaiah 60:1-3. We see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew 4:15-16 and John 12:35-36, 46.
“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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5). Here, the apostle John stated that Jesus is the light and that He was with God in the beginning when God spoke light into existence and divided the light from darkness (Genesis 1:3).
James told us that God is the Father of light. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). First John 1:5 says, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Heaven has no need for the created light since the glory of God lights it, and Jesus is the light (Revelation 21:23). God is light, and Jesus Christ is light – since both are deity!
Throughout the New Testament, light is used as a symbol for truth, righteousness, goodness, redemption, knowledge, purity and holiness. On the other hand, darkness is portrayed as error, evil, ignorance, death, and sin – the works of Satan. “As the sun is the source of all light, power, and energy on earth, Jesus the Sun of righteousness is the source of all spiritual light, power, and energy. Light is the only thing that can come into contact with filth and remain uncontaminated” (Coffman).
The Bible also symbolizes light as the Word of God. John 1:1-5 affirms that Jesus is the Word, and He is the Light. The Book of Psalms declares, “Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Psalms 119:104-105). “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). Jesus is the light, and through His Word – the Bible, we obtain the knowledge that will set us free from the darkness of sin. The light of Jesus is not salvation, but the knowledge of His will, by which obedience to His Word redeems our sin-sick souls. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Jesus is the light, and it is the illumination of His light that brings the hope of salvation to a lost world hiding in a sea of darkness. Jesus exposes the darkness to the light in hopes that all who see it will become faithful followers, seeking an eternal home where there is no night.
Works Cited
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. CD-Rom. Seattle: Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 1994.
Burton Coffman Commentaries. CD-Rom. Abilene: ACU Press, 2001.
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. CD-Rom. Nashville: Nelson, 1986.
