Luke 11:33-36 - The Light of God's Word

After Jesus gave His lessons on prayer (vv. 1-13), He casta demon out of a mute man, and even though the “multitudes marveled” (v.14), the religious leaders accused Him of doing it “by Beelzebub” (v. 15),another way of saying, “by Satan”. They also “tested Him” and ask for a “signfrom heaven (v. 16). Instead of giving them a sign, Jesus gave them a sermon. Jesushad been giving them “miracles” or “signs” over the past three years, and theystill rejected Him. Signs are soon forgotten and only bred a craving for more! Basically, Jesus said we don’t need a sign, we have theBook, and He gave them the stories of Jonah and Solomon. Jesus follows up with this proclamation with anillustration of the light of a candle on a lampstand that gives light toeveryone who come into the room (vv. 33-36). You might remember that in thefirst recorded message that we have of Jesus in Matthew 5-7, He gave this sameillustration. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eyeis good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, yourwhole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you isdarkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23). When light comes into a room the darkness immediately isgone. Darkness never conquers the light. By its very nature, light “overcomesthe darkness”. John 1:1-5 teaches us that God, the Word, and Jesus are indeedthe Light of the world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word waswith God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All thingswere made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Himwas life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in thedarkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (overcome) it.” In John 6:5, Jesus declared, “I Am the Light of the world”.God is declared to be Light in 1 John 1:5-7: “This is the message which wehave heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is nodarkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk indarkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light asHe is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JesusChrist His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Light and darkness cannot co-exist! You either have one orthe other. Jesus the Living Word is the Light on the Lampstand. He is the Lightthat gives us light and life! God has given us the Commandments and the Lawlike a switch to expose the darkness of our sin and souls. Proverbs 6:23 says; “Forthe commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are theway of life”. Psalm 119:130 tells us: “The entrance of Your words giveslight; It gives understanding to the simple.” Religion without a relationship with Christ Jesus is afalse light that only allows more darkness! The religious leaders refused tocome to the Light of Christ because of their evil, deceitful hearts. Jesus saidit this way in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that the lighthas come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and doesnot come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does thetruth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they havebeen done in God." The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 11:105: “Your word is alamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Today we have a choice, we caneither walk in the Light or we can stumble around in the darkness! Proverbs4:18-19: “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines everbrighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They donot know what makes them stumble.” May the Lord help us today to “walk in the Light”though His Word. God bless!