At this time of year, we are familiar with the idea of light not lasting very long! In fact, as I write this reflection mid-afternoon, Jesus’ words ‘you are going to have the light just a little while longer’ rings true in a very literal sense. At this time of year, any tasks which require daylight also require us to keep an eye on the time, in case darkness overtakes us.
Jesus reminds his hearers that light being overtaken by darkness is also about to happen in the spiritual realms. Even if it is correct for his questioners to say that the Messiah carries eternal authority and therefore will indeed remain forever (v34), he wants them to know that the human life of the Messiah will be short, and about to cease (v35). The two are not mutually exclusive: as we saw yesterday, the Son of Man will reign forever precisely through his sacrificial death.
His advice is simple: believe in the light (v36), and walk in the light (v35). As he is the Light of the World, Jesus is inviting them (and all people) to believe in him. But it’s about more than just believing: since the Light (ch8) is also the Way (ch14), then we are to follow this Way – which is another way of saying, as Jesus puts it in this passage, that we are to walk in the light.
It’s a lovely image, and a very practical one: it’s much easier to navigate by light rather than darkness. If you try and do it in the dark, you won’t know where you are going (v35). Jesus’ light leads us in the way which leads to abundant, eternal life.
And as we walk in the light, something else happens: we become what we behold, we ‘become children of light.’ (v36) It’s an image St Paul picks up in his letter to the Ephesians – and here we can see how so much of what Jesus teaches has been passed down to the early Christian leaders: ‘For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).’ (Ephesians 5:8-9)
If the fruit of the light sounds like something of a mixed metaphor, let’s not forget that most plants need light to grow – and in this case, as we walk in the light and become children of light, the ‘fruit’ that grows in us is goodness, righteousness and truth. It’s a pretty fair summary of the sort of life Jesus had in mind when he addressed the crowd in today’s passage.
So, today, may the Lord grant us all grace to walk in the light of the Lord – and let’s pray that this light may shine forth in goodness, righteousness and truth. Amen.