We've probably all heard it said before that Jesus is "the light of the world." As Christians, I hope believe it, too. There is definitely plenty of scripture that says Jesus is our light. I was talking with my Nana tonight, and she was telling stories from when she lived in Nepal. She was explaining to me that people in Nepal would not go out in the dark because a fear of evil spirits. They would stay where there was light because they had an knew that there was something evil wherever the darkness was. There was one time when she was coming home from a wedding, and her vehicle broke down. She tried to get people to stop and help her, but no one would stop. She finally decided in order to stop someone she would have to go out in front of the next coming vehicle and take the risk by either getting help or getting hit. Thankfully, the next car was someone coming home from the wedding. What she found out later, however, was that the other people were afraid to stop because they thought she was a spirit. Here she was, out in the dark, alone, wearing a long, black coat, on the side of the road, trying to get someone's attention, and people think she's a spirit . Can you see how their culture would see it this way?
I think the Nepali people's view of darkness can help us understand what it means when Jesus says he's the light of the world. Although some of us have a fear of the dark, it doesn't mean quite the same thing to our culture today as it might have then. John 8:12 says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Never walk in darkness. For some Nepalise who become Christians, they find it so freeing to not have fear of darkness.
1 Peter 2:9 says, " But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Jesus calls us out of that darkness and to be free from the fear associated with it. We are chosen by God to live in his light. The next time you read something about the light of Jesus, or maybe even sing a song that has to do with darkness or God's light, think about what this really means. What is Jesus speaking to us?
