I will hold the Christ-light for you

‘I AM THE LIGHT OF THE

WORLD’

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

‘The Light of the World’ is one of the most famous pictures of Christian art. In fact, this particular version of Holman Hunt’s work (he painted three in his life time) is one of the most well-travelled art work of all time. This is the one that hangs in St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It is an allegorical artwork painted between 1900 and 1904, but based on the first, of 1853, which hangs in Keeble College Oxford (the second, painted shortly afterwards, can be seen in the Manchester Art Gallery).   

This “sermon in a frame” toured the globe visiting most of the major towns and cities in Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. It has been seen by millions of people and is one of the best-known works of its period. Purchased from Holman-Hunt by the industrialist Charles Booth it was donated to St Paul’s and dedicated at a service in June 1908. The choir sang psalm 119 which includes the verse: “Thy word is a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my path”.

In the painting, there are two lights: the lantern is the light of conscience and the light around the head of Christ is the light of salvation. The door represents the human soul, which cannot be opened for the outside. There is no handle on the door, and the rusty nails and hinges overgrown with ivy denote that the door has never been opened and that the figure of Christ is asking permission to enter. Interestingly, the morning star appears near Christ, the dawn of a new day, and the autumn weeds and fallen fruit represent the autumn of life. The writing beneath the picture, is taken from Revelation 3: ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.’

Today we think about another name Jesus gave to himself in the Gospel of John. There are two verses in the gospel which specifically refer to this ‘I am’ saying. The first time comes in Chapter 8 and comes immediately after Jesus has saved the life of the woman caught in adultery. This sets the context for the saying: John 8.2-20: Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

This saying comes out of a conflict with the religious leaders of the time, in particular the Pharisees, who claim to shine the light of the law on the society they regulate and manage. Jesus claims to be not only the light for his people but for the whole world. This light is compassion and truth. Jesus shines the light of loving consideration and care on woman and shines the light of truth on her accusers. So, it is possible to infer that Jesus’ light is both loving and searching. The Prologue in the first chapter of the same Gospel describes it in this way: ‘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.’ 

So, in this instance, Jesus’ light is not understood by the Pharisees, yet they cannot argue against it either. One thing we can say about the Pharisees is that they understand what sin is and cannot deny that they themselves have sinned. And the woman? She walks into a new way of life, one guided by light. (Of course, we can critique this passage especially in asking, ‘What about the man who was also involved in the adultery’?) There seems to be no end to this light. It seems that it is impossible for the light to be extinguished.

The second context for Jesus’ description of himself as the ‘Light of the World’ is found in the next chapter and is connected to the healing of a man born blind. This is a wonderful chapter in its own right: the story of the healing, the questioning of the Pharisees, the way the parents respond and the courage and humour of the man who is healed, show something of the fine story-telling skill of John. Here are the first 12 verses: As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

This time Jesus seems to be suggesting that there is a time when the works of light will not be possible. ‘Night is coming, when no one can work,’ he says. Was that his crucifixion? Is this 'night time' yet to come? Yet Jesus also promises that ‘as long as he is in the world, he is the light of the world.’ What might we make of this? Are there times when the world [or ‘The System’] is so devoid of daylight, so full of darkness, that even Jesus cannot work? 

I don't believe so, ultimately. But there will be times in our lives when we feel that deep sense of darkness and maybe even a sense of abandonment by the light. However, in the end, 'The System' will be judged and the darkness will be defeated. I find this teaching of Jesus both comforting and uncomfortable, both full of hope yet full of realism. I am reminded of the wonderful words of the hymn 'Brother, Sister, let me serve you'. 

I will hold the Christ-light for you

in the night-time of your fear;

I will hold my hand out to you,

speak the peace you long to hear.

Jesus stands at the door with the lamp of his salvation and the will be there when the night closes in. For he has promised to be with us always, even to the end of time.