Rise and Shine
How can light teach us about witnessing?
Success is not a comparison - We all have light (John 5:14, 16a)
Since Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5), so also his followers should reflect that light
As in v. 13, “you” is emphatic—viz., You, my followers and none others, are the light of the world (v. 14)
Jesus again used the emphatic “you,” and again clearly stated that this is already what a believer is, not something he might become.
The believer has no light inherent in himself. The believer’s light is a reflected light. Believers are to make certain that nothing comes between them and their source of light
Your light. Either genitive of opposition, the light which you are (Achelis), cf. ver. 14; or genitive of possession, the light of which you are the trusted possessors (Meyer, Weiss).
Before men (ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων). More than ἐνώπιον, “in presence of,” for the position of the lamp “in front of” the people is what our Lord is here emphasizing (cf. John 12:37).
Having accepted Jesus as the light of the world, a Christian, if true to his calling, becomes a reflector of that light.
The phrase τοῦ κόσμου ‘of the world’ [BECNT, BNTC, NICNT, NIGTC, NTC, PNTC, WBC; ESV, KJV, NASB, NET, NIV, NLT, NRSV], is translated ‘to the world’ [CC; NCV], ‘for the world’ [GW], ‘for all the world’ [REB], ‘for the whole world’ [CEV, TEV]. This noun denotes people associated with a world system and estranged from God [LN].
Every one of us should have a lamp, or rather be a lamp, to shine out into the darkness of the world
Only God can light us.
Success is not a competition (people will see your light - Light is to be shared by all (John 5:15, 16b)
In that regard it corresponds to an oil lamp placed on a stand, which nobody will put under a bushel because it is there to give light.
This light will issue in good works that are seen by people, a provision that must be understood carefully, for there were people like the Pharisees who made sure that their good deeds were seen by others and it is not this Pharisaic attitude that Jesus is commending.
Like lights from a city illuminating the dark countryside or a lamp inside a house providing light for all within it, Christians must let their good works shine before the rest of the world so that others may praise God.
By so doing the disciple will give light to all (cf. Phil. 2:15).
Both a city on a hill (5:14) and the lamp … on its stand (5:15) fulfill their function by being elevated, so their light can be seen by many people over a broad area.
All the members of a household may benefit from a lamp set properly on its lampstand. In a similar way it was God’s design that the entire human family should benefit from the light of truth God had entrusted to the descendants of Abraham
A lamp is known by the clearness and strength of the light it gives. The oil in a lamp on its stand may not be visible to those in the room, but the fact that the lamp gives forth light is evidence that there is a supply of oil in the lamp
Jesus argues from common sense to show that it would be ridiculous for his disciples to hide their good deeds from the world.
Success is an opportunity to shine for God - Light shows all God’s glory (John 5:16)
The disciples—that is, the Christians—are the light of the world by letting their works shine just as salt is only salt when it salts
Your light is, of course, a borrowed light.
The good works are to be seen, not in order that the doers may be congratulated as fine, upstanding servants of God, but in such a way that the observers will give glory to your Father
People will always see the deeds that disciples do, and disciples are to make sure that when that takes place it is the light that they will see. And that they will see it in such a way that they will praise God
But the aim of his good works is not to parade his own virtue, but to direct attention to the God who inspired them
The term translated praise means “to make manifest or visible.” When we shine our light before others by living righteously, we are making visible the character of the Father.
Light shines, not so much that men may see the light, as that they may see other things because of the light. Our lights are to shine, not so that men may be attracted to us, but that they may be attracted to Christ, who is the light of life, and to things worth while (Matt. 6:31–34; John 6:27; cf. Isa. 55:1, 2).
Believers’ lifestyles must bring glory and honor to God (cf. Eph. 2:8–10).
Good works do not save, but the good works of the saved glorify God.