The Light of Life

Isaiah 62:1

“For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.”

“The first - person speaker here is either the Servant-Messiah of 61:1-3 or the prophet Isaiah.  He will speak until Jerusalem’s spiritual transformation is complete.  Light is an important theme describing God’s work among His people (58:10; 60:1-13).  It is also connected with the Messiah (10:17; 42:6).  (Taken from page 1222 of the HCSB)

Let me make a case for it matters not where Jesus is speaking in the first person or if Isaiah is speaking as the Spirit speaks into his mind and heart.  The apostle Peter gives this insight; “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  (2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV)

Light is the real thing, it can be measured and darkness is only the absence of light, the smallest amount of light will displace darkness.  Jesus made this statement and then asked a question: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?”  (Matthew 6:22-23 ESV)   Do you recall Jesus talking with the religious guys and He told them; “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Isaiah is telling about a time we call future, where Jerusalem will be filled with those who have the light of life.  In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus tells all who are in Christ, who by faith have received grace and the free gift of Salvation that we are the salt of the earth and He goes on to say we are the light of the world.  Before you get the big head, you had very little, if anything to do with this; and the apostle Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 5:8, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of the light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”

Each of us were controlled by sin, it was a cruel master, it abused and abandoned us in time of need, but Jesus rescued and gave us life and light to a world in darkness and sin, and this is our calling: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice