When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life … if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
John 8:12, 36
The above verses offer us tremendous hope…firstly in God’s promise to be present in the darkness, and secondly in his ultimate victory over it.
When Jesus says He’s the light of the world, He doesn’t mean that we will never experience darkness…sin happens, suffering happens. But the promise is that although these things may happen, you don’t have to walk in darkness.
We all go through times of darkness and ask ourselves “Does God love me? Will God sustain me?” The answer to those questions is “absolutely, yes”
Christianity doesn’t promise that when you come to Christ all your problems will go away. But Christianity does promise that, although there may be dark times in your life, that light is possible and life is possible because Jesus is with you - if Jesus is with you, you have light in your darkness.
And secondly, Jesus promises there will be freedom from darkness, that we can step out of the cave completely!
I remember going to Hoyts in Hornsby to watch a back-to-back run of the Matrix trilogy. In case you haven’t seen it or need a refresher, the Matrix tells the story of a computer programmer named Neo who discovers he is living in a cyber version of Plato’s cave (see image above). A mysterious stranger named Morpheus steps into his world to warn him that all he sees is merely an elaborate computer program through which evil machines keep the human race captive as docile pawns in their power games.
“You are a slave, Neo” he tells him. “Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind"
We step out of the cave, out of the prison, by filling our minds with Jesus’ teaching until we recognise this world’s lies for the shadows that they really are (Ps 119:104-105), and by renewing our minds through God’s word by the power of His Holy Spirit…Jesus promises that the gospel which forgives us from sin’s penalty will also free us from its power (Titus 2:11-12)
So let’s step out of the cave...
Let’s not be like those who refuse to move towards freedom because they're stuck in wrong thinking or because the light is too bright.
Morpheus challenges Neo “I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one who has to walk through it.”
A far better Saviour than Morpheus is calling…it’s time for us to step out of the cave.
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