I remember going down into the depth of Mammoth Cave in central Kentucky. Down winding trails amid stalactites and stalagmites we traversed mostly in silence except for the faint sound of water dripping in the background. When we reached the largest cavern several hundred feet underground, the guide pointed out the extensive system of electric lights in the cave, and then, after a warning, shuts them off. The blackness is so thick and total it is disorienting. I have heard of darkness so complete one could not see their hand in front of their face, but this was the only time I have ever experienced it.

That is comparable to people not plugged into the eternal source of light. Spiritually they are living in a dark, isolated, cold existence that will only become bleaker and bleaker if something is not done.

In the cave, after a few seconds of complete blackout the guide lights one match. One tiny match can light up an entire cavern of thousands of square feet. On the first Christmas morning it may have seemed like one small match, but Jesus was born and his twinkling light began to flutter in order to dispel the darkness of evil, death, and hell.

In Jesus' day, the world was dark, cold, and impersonal. The people yearned for hope and a new dawning. They longed for light. In fact this light was so desired that John in his gospel used this image as a recurring theme to communicate the coming of Jesus Christ. Over and over again John records Jesus' announcement that He is the light. One of those occurrences was when Jesus was completing his public ministry. The crowds had begun to wane. The flurry of activity around him was not as strong. Yet, Jesus reminds His hearers, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness" (John 12:46, NIV).

The Revelation of the Light

Jesus revealed to His hearers that He was the light. What did Jesus mean? Light was symbolic of deity. The Rabbis used light as a name for the Messiah that was promised to come. So when Jesus said He was the light, He was claiming to be the long-awaited Messiah that would come. He was saying that He was God. Christmas is just as much about the Savior's deity as it is about His infancy.

Light is also necessary for daily existence. Without sunlight crops don't grow, plants can't go through the process to give off oxygen, we humans become depressed. We need light to survive, to live physically. We also need the light from God to survive spiritually. God's light exposes our sin, leads us into the truth, and reminds us what is good. Just as the universe has only one sun, and it is the center and source of physical life; so there is but one God who is the center of all and the source of spiritual life.

So, Jesus reveals himself as the light. For what reason?

The Reason for the Light

Jesus states that reason: "So that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness" (John 12:46b, NIV). If light represents God, the source of spiritual life, then darkness represents everything God is not. It represents falsehood, evil, death, and hell.