I. THE GREAT LIGHT—
THE TRUE LIGHT, THE LIGHT OF LIFE
Christ is the great light—the true light, the light of life (Matt. 4:12-16; John 1:9, 4). Isaiah 9:1-5, referred to in Matthew 4, unveils Christ as the great light. Then verse 6 shows that He was a child born of a human virgin and a son given by the Eternal Father. Christ as the great light shines in darkness. When we have light, everything is in order. If I awake late at night, I dare not go into the kitchen if there is no light there. We cannot see in the darkness, and we do not know what lurks in the darkness. When we see everything, we have peace.
As the all-inclusive One, Christ is the light. If He were not the light, we would have no way to go on spiritually. The Gospel of John is a book on life. John 1 stresses that Christ came as light and life. This light is the true light and the light of life (vv. 9, 4; 8:12). This light "shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (1:5). Darkness cannot overcome light. Wherever light goes, darkness flees. Light subdues, defeats, and overcomes darkness. A brother may be quarreling with his wife, but when the light shines within him, he stops quarreling. He exchanged words with his wife because he was in darkness. But when the light shines, darkness is gone, and he stops quarreling. When darkness is present, everything is in disorder. But when light is present, everything is in order, and everyone is at peace.
Isaiah unveils Christ as the light in a very beautiful and poetic way. Isaiah 9:1 and 2 say, "But gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterwards He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in the darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death light has shined." He treats the land with glory by being the great light. Gloom, anguish, and contempt were in the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali—Galilee of the nations—because darkness was there. However, the people who walked in this darkness saw a great light. They were dwelling in the land of the shadow of death. Darkness is the shadow of death. When people walk in the darkness, they are in the shadow of death. But upon those in the land of the shadow of death, light has shined.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 37, by Witness Lee)
