The Light of the World

There was a road in suburban South London where neighbours would vie, at this time of the year, to outdo one another in seeing who could have the most Christmas light decorations on the outside of their houses. People would come and drive down this street just to admire the spectacle. According to Homebase, the British will put up enough festive lights to go to the moon and back fifteen times. Light is an essential element of the seasons of Advent and Christmas.

For us, it’s only when the Christmas lights are up that it truly feels like the most wonderful time of the year. One of my favourite verses is from the book of Wisdom which reads: For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, thy all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed. That word which leaped down was the Light. We hear in the Gospel today that John the Baptist was to be a witness to speak for the light. In Psalm 119 we find this declaration: Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Jesus is the living word and he is the light that shines in the darkness. Our Christmas lights — on the tree, outside the house and in our city centres — declare that in the midst of darkness there will be light.

We are aware of the darkness that covers our world, as seen in the death and destruction in Israel, and Gaza, and in Ukraine. There is also the darkness that many of us feel enveloping lives; the darkness of jealousy, greed, hatred and selfishness. In John 8:12 Jesus applies the title to himself, while debating with the Jews, and states: I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Whenever I visit the National Gallery in London, I like to go and stand before a small devotional painting done by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (‘little Gerard of the Brethren of Saint John’). It depicts the nativity scene. Jesus is not in traditional swaddling clothes. Instead the tiny naked child exudes rays of supernatural light, which illuminate the night-time scene referred to as ‘one of the first realistically painted night scenes in Northern art.’ As the commentators say, it is so dark you can barely make out Joseph, standing behind to the right, or the faces of the ox and ass as they too look into the manger at the unexpected contents. The light emanating from the Christ Child lights up the faces of the little angels and emphasises their wonderment at his miraculous birth.

Here is a wonderful image of Jesus, the Light of the World.

Loving Lord, you are the light that banished the darkness in my heart, the darkness that envelopes our world. Come and shed the rays of your healing love on us all today.

Canon Father Anthony Charlton
Canon Father Anthony CharltonParish Priest