Most homes would have at least one lamp in them. Even though downlights have become the most common way of lighting a house, lamps of various shapes and sizes still bring a warmth and comfort to a room. We can have floor lamps, table lamps, bedside lamps, desk lamps, and even more creative lamps which look like a piece of art.
It is rare to find a lamp that doesn’t have a shade. While it is possible to buy globes that don’t need to use a shade, most of the time lamps will have some kind of shade around the globe. Without a shade, most light globes give off a bright light that can be pretty harsh or stark. Putting a shade around the light of the lamp makes the light softer and warmer, so it is easier to see what the lamp is illuminating.
When we listen to the story of Jesus’ transfiguration in Mark 9:2-9, we can think about it in a way that is similar to a lamp with or without its shade. In John 8:12, Jesus describes himself as the ‘Light of the World’. This title reflects the ancient understanding of the battle between good and evil as a struggle between light and darkness. Jesus used it to point to himself as the ‘Light’ which brings God’s goodness and life-giving love into the world. We can see the light of God’s goodness and glory shining through Jesus in all the stories about him in the gospels. Whenever Jesus healed someone who was ill, liberated someone who was being oppressed by an unclean spirit, forgave someone who had sinned, or welcomed someone who was an outcast, we can see God’s light overcoming the darkness of the world.
As Jesus performed these miracles and did these good deeds, he was like a lamp with a shade around the globe. People could see the light, but they were witnessing a softer, gentler version of God’s glory. They weren’t seeing the full brightness of God’s goodness. When Jesus went up the mountain of transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, it was like Jesus took the lampshade off. Mark tells us that ‘his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could every make them’ (9:3 NLT). Matthew and Luke tell us that ‘the appearance of his face was transformed’ (Luke 9:29 NLT). The light the disciples saw wasn’t just something that was external to Jesus, but it came from within him. As he talked with Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest Old Testament prophets, Jesus removed the shade that softened the light of God’s glory revealed in him and gave his disciples a clearer view of the magnificence of his heavenly glory.
The Apostle Paul reflects on this in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 when he writes about ‘the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God’ (v4 NLT). Paul uses the Transfiguration to point his readers to ‘the glorious light of the Good News’ (v4 NLT) or ‘the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (NIV). Paul has in mind the good news of everything Jesus has done for us in his life, death, and resurrection. The light the disciples saw in the Transfiguration story points us to an even brighter display of God’s glory in his suffering, death, and resurrection.
It might sound strange to think about the story of Jesus’ crucifixion in terms of light and glory. Usually we associate Jesus’ death with the darkness that covered the area for hours. However, we can see God’s glory in Jesus’ death because we encounter the fullest expression of God’s goodness to us in Jesus’ self-sacrifice for us. We can see God’s glory in the face of the crucified Christ because it is a face of unconditional and unlimited love. It is the face of the God who holds nothing back, who gives everything, who endures pain and shame for sinners, and who risks it all out of love for us. This is the face of the God who meets us in our suffering, embraces us with his compassion, rescues us from sin and death, and carries us with him out of the darkness into the light of his resurrection life. No other god has done this. No other god has even promised this. Like a lamp with its shade removed, in the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us, God shines the light of his glory into our lives to fill us with peace, hope, joy and life that is stronger than death.
Paul then goes right back to the beginning of the biblical story to show us how God has always been about creating light in dark places. He points us to the opening words of Genesis which tell us that in the beginning, when all that existed was darkness, chaos and emptiness, ‘God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light’ (Genesis 1:3 NLT). This is the same God who speaks his light-creating word of the gospel of Jesus into our lives and into our hearts. As God speaks the good news to us, his Spirit is at work, creating light in our hearts and driving out the darkness ‘to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ’ (v6 NIV). Even when our hearts are dark and cold, God’s creative word brings his goodness and love to us through the gospel and the Holy Spirit enlightens us by giving us faith. Just as electricity passing through a filament in a light bulb will make it shine brightly, the Holy Spirit moves in our hearts through the gospel of Jesus to create light which shines in our lives.
The light of God’s glory revealed to us in Jesus isn’t just good for us, giving us hope, peace, joy and the other fruit of the Spirit Paul describes in Galatians 5:22,23. As the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts, God’s glory shines through us into the lives of the people around us. Growing in the light of God’s goodness and glory as Jesus’ disciples helps us to bring his light into a world that can be pretty dark. When we learn to live in the way Jesus teaches us by loving God with all our hearts and loving others as ourselves, or by loving one another in the way Jesus loved us, God’s light shines through us and our actions to give light to others. That’s why Jesus says to his followers, ‘You are the light of the world’ in Matthew 5:14. When the glory of God’s love and grace for us in Jesus enlightens and grows in our hearts, it will shine through in acts of love and grace to others so they can see the light of God’s glory in us.
Most of us would have a lamp in our homes so we can see. Sometimes, it can be good to have a softer, more gentle light. At other times, we need a brighter light so we can see more clearly. When Jesus was transfigured, he took of the shade to reveal God’s glory in a brighter way. In his death and resurrection, Jesus gave us the brightest display of God’s love and grace. The Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts so we can know the warmth and love of God’s glory in our lives and display it to a dark world through our words and actions. How might each of us shine with the light of God’s glory this week?
More to think about or discuss:
- What lamp or other lights do you have in your home? Do you have a shade on them? Why? What might it be like to have no shades on your lamps or other light fittings?
- Where can you see God’s glory shining through Jesus? How does the gospel shine the light of God’s goodness and grace into your heart and life?
- How might you be able to shine the light of God’s grace and love into the life of someone you know this week?
Pastor Eugene Online 
Leave a comment