The Light of the World

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).  “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:5).  On this page, we have featured scores of individuals who “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).  But, John further says of Jesus: “That was the true light which gives light to every man who comes into the world” (John 1:4).  The extent to which any of us shine as lights is the extent to which we reflect the light of Jesus.  What would we expect of one whose purpose was to give “light to every man who comes into the world”?  We might well expect such a person to run for elective office, to travel widely, to start a college, to build libraries, to accumulate money for an endowment fund, to write books or start papers.  Jesus did none of these.  Yet, during the thirty-three short years that He lived in a relatively remote part of the world, He influenced the world to a greater degree than any other individual who has ever lived anywhere at any time.  What explains His success?

                Jesus Taught Truth.  Truth itself is powerful.  It makes men free (John 8:32).  It saves (2 Thessalonians 2:13).  It makes men children of God (James 1:18), and it sanctifies (John 17:17).  Jesus not only spoke truth, but He spoke it powerfully.  “The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as one of the scribes” (Matthew 7:28, 29).  Officers sent to arrest Him returned without Him exclaiming, “No man ever spoke like this man” (Matthew 7:46).  Jesus lived what He taught.  Luke said of Him that He “began both to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1).  So consistent was His life with the truth that He taught that He could say “I am…the truth” (John 14:6).  Yet, this is not the full explanation of His influence.

                Jesus Taught Others To Teach.  Jesus never allowed the working of miracles or the clamor of the multitudes to hinder His program of training disciples to teach.  He even chose twelve for more exclusive attention.  Toward the latter part of His ministry, especially, He drew those twelve away to remote places for spiritual instruction.  Jesus was the master teacher.  He taught His disciples the facts they needed to know and made applications which they could not miss.  He answered their questions and explained what they did not understand.  Yet, wisely, He did not go deeper than they were able to comprehend (John 16:12).  Having taught them, He sent them out for practice teaching (Matthew 10).  He encouraged them by telling them they would do greater works than He (John 14:12), referring likely to their wider sphere of teaching.  The skill of Jesus is demonstrated in the actions of the apostles after He left them.  They traveled to the uttermost parts of the earth, they did write books and their lives were so reflective of His nature that people everywhere “realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).  Even this, however, does not fully explain His influence in our world today.

                Jesus Taught Those Taught To Teach Others To Teach.  His last instructions before leaving were: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).  When they made disciples by teaching, they were to teach those disciples to do exactly what Jesus had instructed them to do.  They did that.  They taught in Jerusalem in such a way as to make 3,000 disciples in one day (Acts 2:41), and there were daily additions to that number (Acts 2:47).  Not long after, when those thousands of disciples were scattered from Jerusalem “they went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).  They had been taught to teach.

                The Measure Of Successful Teachers Today.  The measure of successful teachers today is their likeness to Jesus.  Paul followed the example of Jesus.  After teaching Timothy, he wrote to him: “The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2Timothy 2:2).  A mistake made by many evangelists is feeling that their job is done when several have been baptized.  Some do understand the need for training teachers.  But all too often, those who are trained feel that it is their job to do all the preaching, teach all the Bible classes, and take the lead in everything.  If there is to be leadership in the next generation, those taught to teach must teach others to teach.  The most successful parents are those who not only teach their children, but also teach their children to teach their children to teach their children the way of the Lord.  Doing this, we can place our trust in “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).  “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).  Much depends upon the manner in which we treat others to “shine as lights in the world, holding forth the world of life” (Philippians 2:15-16).

By: Sewell Hall in "Hall Marks"