A World of Shadows

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” – Ephesians 5:13-14

Everything that becomes visible is light.  I know I have commented on these two verses before, and the idea fascinates me.  It often seems we live in a world of shadows.  We have probably all been out in the woods before dawn or as the sun goes down and seen things that ought not be there.  Stumps and broken snags become ogres and trolls.  Apparitions arise from a clump of weeds shifting and moving in the wind.

The world system – that which is not the kingdom of God, is a shadowy place as well.  Lies shade the lifeless and impotent, causing frightful creatures to dance before our eyes.  I wonder if God didn’t destroy Sodom and Gomorrah by suddenly pulling back the cloak of darkness, pretense, bluster, and self-deception behind which the inhabitants lived.  They were already pillars of salt.  The light destroyed their illusion of life.

I know that’s more or less what happened to me.  I wasn’t a bad man who became good.  I was a dead man who came to life.  I was a pillar of salt hoping it didn’t rain.  I knew in my heart what I was, but, like a lot of people, I could hide it from others, though mostly from myself, most of the time. 

It’s a funny thing about Jesus as you read the Gospel accounts.  The prostitutes, the tax-collectors, the rejected dregs of society ran to Him and followed after Him.  The rich young ruler came to the Lord, thinking that he would be accepted, applauded, and approved for his virtuous activities then went away saddened; the covetousness he had hidden from himself was made plain in the light of Christ.  Religious and political leaders, the wealthy and the well-educated, in many cases, erected against Jesus a barrier of arguments, perceived offenses, and violations of law or protocol to keep out that light. 

There are cases where our faith is going to legitimately and unavoidably cause contention.  We ought to be walking in the Light with the Light of Christ shining through us.  When we go into a dark place or around fallen or backslidden people, sometimes we are going to get the sense of rats scurrying for cover to avoid exposure.  But we, too, are a long way from perfect, and we should be careful that we’re not deliberately or pointedly contentious and using Christianity as an excuse.  I think far more people are drawn to saints than are offended by them.  Those sleeping often want to wake.    

I Saw The Light

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.  – Ephesians 5:13-14a

Not all English translations handle this phrase the same way.  Since it is all Greek to me, I checked Wuest and a couple of others that confirm it as reasonable.   My old Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Whole Bible (1871) says this: 

whatsoever doth make manifest—rather, "everything that is (that is, suffers itself to be) made manifest (or 'shone upon,' namely, by your 'reproving,' Eph 5:11) is (thenceforth no longer 'darkness,' Eph 5:8, but) light." The devil and the wicked will not suffer themselves to be made manifest by the light, but love darkness, though outwardly the light shines round them. Therefore, "light" has no transforming effect on them, so that they do not become light (Joh 3:19, 20). But, says the apostle, you being now light yourselves (Eph 5:8), by bringing to light through reproof those who are in darkness, will convert them to light. Your consistent lives and faithful reproofs will be your "armor of light" (Ro 13:12) in making an inroad on the kingdom of darkness.

What I find most interesting about this is how utterly true it is that anything visible is light.  The eye literally can see only light, a given range of the electromagnetic spectrum.  We see only the light coming off of an object and never the object itself. 

“I saw the light” – what else would you see? 

Now, the rest of verse 14, which appears to be a quote:  Therefore it says,  Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  There is no single source from the Old Testament that quite matches it – Isaiah 60:1 is close.  Arise, shine, for your light has come,and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  Malachi 4:2 says “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings”.  A couple of other verses in Isaiah talk about waking up or rising from the dead.  The phrase “Christ will shine on you” is cross-reference to Zachariah’s song in Luke 1:78.  Most likely, then, if Paul is quoting something, it is an early Christian hymn. 

There is much that can be gleaned from this thought.  Light makes things visible by turning them into what we might call a language of sight.  If I look out my window and see a tree, I am really seeing the light that means “tree”.  When Christ, the true light, shines upon us He reveals all that is present, good, bad, and ugly.  It occurs to me that this may be related to Adam and Eve suddenly perceiving their own nakedness where before their sin they were clothed in light. 

In any case, it’s something to think about, the implications of which may justify further exploration.