The Master proclaims that he is the Light of the world. Yet why do so many of us fail to see the Light of Jesus?Why is there so much spiritual blindness in spite of the illumination provided by the Master’s light? We need to ponder on this significant question and then apply this question in our daily life.
Surely when the Master tells us that he is the Light of the world, he does not mean that he gives the light for our physical vision. Jesus uses the metaphor `light’ to refer to the essential illumination for our spiritual blindness through the valley of darkness in this world. It is a paradox that even when the eyes do see the physical reality of things, the spirit simply begs to differ. This was particularly true in the days of Jesus when with all the incredible miracles being performed before their very eyes, many of the Jewish religious elites chose to see things as they wished to see. They did not want to see things as they were- the miracles of Jesus as visible symbols of the divine revelation of the coming of the Messiah. To support their distorted vision and flawed interpretations according to their personal agendas, they picked and chose some Bible verses to justify their perspectives. The Bible is a massive book that contains all kinds of life stories for the good, the bad and the ugly. If people choose to quote from the Bible to support their bad and ugly agendas, they would get plenty of ammunition to shoot at their enemies. Even Satan himself did that to Jesus during his temptations in the desert! This is the crux of the problem facing the modern Christian disciples. How do we see the core of Jesus’ teachings? Where do we choose to focus the light of Jesus? On the good or the bad or the ugly? Wherever you choose to focus the searchlight of Jesus, that is where you will interpret Jesus’ teachings. If you focus on the ugly aspects of Christianity, you can find plenty of that ugliness in the church history.
What we need to realize is that Jesus’ light is meant to provide illumination for the personal inner journey of each individual. Jesus’ light is meaningful and enlightening if, and only if, you use it to illuminate the darkness in your own life journey. Unfortunately what most of us have done is to use Jesus’ light to shine the spotlight onto our neighbor’s failings or dark spots in their personal lives. By doing so, we fall into the danger of focusing predominantly on our neighbor’s black spots while conveniently neglecting to remove the huge ugly plank in front of our eyes!
This is the great danger that is conveniently ignored when we practice self-righteousness towards others. This prevalent spiritual blind-spot has been highlighted by the psychologist, Dr. Robert Anthony, in his book, “Total Self-Confidence” with his insight, “Nothing can destroy a relationship or break off communications faster than value-judging. If you wish to develop a positive self-esteem, it is imperative that you stop all value-judging…You must cease value-judging yourself, then you will cease value-judging others, and start loving both yourself and others… The secret of loving and being loved is to stop value-judging forever!”
Wow! This writer has been illuminated by the Light of Jesus when he interprets the core teaching of the Gospel on unconditional love in the right perspective. Stop using the Light of Jesus to look for the black spots in other people’s lives; instead focus the light on your own life so that the light will lead to the right practice of repentance and wholesome spirituality in your life.
(Excerpt from my upcoming book, “In Search of Jesus- His Way & His Truth for those with Wounded Self-Esteem.”)
Submitted by Alphonsus YKK
WHOLESOME PERSPECTIVES OF GOD'S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & GRACE 