“Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.’ These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.”
Question: What does it mean to “believe in the light”?

What is this Light?

The question “What is the light?”, in the gospel of John immediately becomes “Who is the light?”, and the answer is given in John 8:12, where Jesus states, “I am the light of the world”.

Aspects of Light

Light reminds me of many attributes of Jesus:

• Truth: Light reveals truth, it shows the real nature of things, in contrast to darkness which conceals the nature of Satan’s lies and the false idols of our modern world;
• Life and growth: light is clearly essential for plant growth, but it is also essential for strong bone growth, and also for the healthy functioning of cells in the body.
• Warmth: Light brings warmth to revive us from the deadly cold of Winter;
• Guidance: This earthly life is like a dark tunnel full of pitfalls, snakes, and evil, but the light from the end of the tunnel is just enough to guide us safely past those. Or like a dark and stormy sea, but with a distant lighthouse house to guide us around the deadly rocks.
• Wisdom and understanding: the term enlightenment reminds me of the deep understanding Jesus gives.

Believe in the light

This belief is not about agreeing to certain doctrines or academic theology, it’s a belief from the heart. Romans 10:9-10 states, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” It’s a heartfelt belief that allows us to trust Jesus with our life, not just our mind, a growing relationship of complete dependence upon him who has saved us from death, of faith that will never end.

Sons of light

As we live in that relationship, and grow in that light, we begin to reflect that light in how we live, without being aware of it.

Thanks be to God.