While in the act of healing a man blind from birth, Jesus makes the following declaration,

“⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The first word that stands out is the first word, “We.” Jesus does not intend to act alone. Here I do not think he is referring to his Father, but to the disciples, who are to work alongside of him.

The next thing that stands out to me is the phrase, “night is coming, when no one can work.” At this moment there is no need to speculate as to when this is or will actually be. It is enough to know there is such a time coming, to motivate us. We will not be able to work whenever or for as long as we want. Procrastination may be a fatal error in this case.

Finally, I see the phrase, “As long as I am in the world,” which somewhat limits the statement, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is not, or does not intend to be the light of the world in the same way forever. From this statement it seems he no longer fills that role at the present time, since he has left the world physically to be with his Father.

Are these then the days of darkness? Is there no light to be seen or by which to see? Well, not exactly. Jesus has left some light behind if we are prepared to accept the mission.

Remember that first word “We”? There is still work to be done and we are the ones to do it. If we need any further confirmation of this, we find it in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:14-16.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

In John 8 Jesus first announced that he was the light of the world. In John 9, he added the stipulation that he was the light of the world as long as he was in the world. In Matthew 5, he tell his disciples that they are the light of the world and explains how they are to fulfill that function: Through their good works.

There are numerous reasons to serve Jesus in this world. One of them is this. He expects his light to shine through us, to be reflected off of us, to give the world some way of seeing him. The moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun. Nonetheless on a clear night, a full moon appears to be very bright. Let’s become experts in reflecting Jesus.