I am the Light

One thing that I have realized about Jesus over the years is that while He is humble and walks in the utmost humility, that does not shake the fact that He is fully confident in His identity: He knows who He is and whose He is. Whose He is matters because when we know that Jesus is God’s, we can fully trust what He says about who He is.

In John 8:12, Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world. Since Jesus is so sure in the truth surrounding His identity, I think it’s important that we take seriously His choice to use the word “light” here. When He says that He is a light, what does this say about His character in a way that we can truly relate to?

I think that there is a lot more that can go into this, but I think more than anything, I realize a sense of how absolutely safe Jesus is. I know that may seem like a bit of a jump, but don’t worry—I’m going to elaborate!

What do you look for in a friend? Obviously, there are a lot of things that I like to see in my friendships, but a big one for me is safety. I want to be free to be myself around them without fear. If something hard is going on or there’s something that I don’t love about my past, I want to know I can open up those parts of my heart to them without being judged. I want them to know my hopes and dreams and for those things to be celebrated and not pushed to the side.

When I think about Jesus being the light, I think about how light exposes everything in its path. So, if Jesus is the light of the world, when He is around us, things are going to be exposed. The good, the bad, the ugly. My past sins? Seen. My hopes and dreams? Seen. Literally every single aspect of my heart and my mind? Seen.

And at first thought, the idea of that vulnerability can be honestly really scary. The things of our hearts are special, so letting Jesus expose all of these things (since He is the light) can be a lot to take in. However, a few verses later in the same conversation, Jesus tells us that He judges no one. If you look at this passage from John 8 and then one a few chapters later in John 12, you will see that both times when Jesus talks about being the light, He also talks about trust and the idea of judgement. Jesus tells us that He is not here on earth to judge.

This is important: when Jesus tells us He is the light, He almost immediately follows this by saying that He does not judge. He knows that it can be scary to expose our hearts and our histories and literally every part of our hearts, but after He tells that we are seen, He lets us know that what is seen is not judged. We actually get to choose to trust Jesus and be in relationship with Him instead of simply being scared of HIs judgement.

So, when we realize that Jesus is trustworthy and that His seeing us is a good thing, we get to live in the safety of friendship with Jesus. So, what does this mean for us?

I think that it means that we get to live in the freedom of knowing that God is trustworthy. He sees our sin, and when we live in Jesus, He chooses to not judge us for it. He actually loves us, comforts us, and calls us out of the darkness and into the higher places. Every single part of our hearts is safe with Him, and we have the privilege to choose to trust Him.

I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to just sit and be with Jesus. (Maybe play some peaceful background music like this.) Ask Him to come in and be the light. Ask Him to expose the good things He sees in you. Ask Him to expose the hard places. Acknowledge that He doesn’t judge. (If you feel judgement in shame in this moment, know that this is not of Jesus. That is not in His character. Hold fast to the truth of His character and not any negative things you’re feeling in the moment.) Ask Him where He wants to go from here. And even where it’s hard, allow Him in. The places and peace that will come in this process are worth it.

Author | Hannah Cole