Let’s read Matthew 5:14–16
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
This is the second metaphor Jesus used to describe the way in which his followers ought to live in the midst of a world which overwhelmingly does not share their faith and in some cases may even try to destroy them.
What did he mean by it?
Why light?
The idea of being “light” is perhaps easier for us to understand than that of being “salt”. Throughout the Bible, God is frequently described as either being or providing light to his people. The same is true of Jesus. Light consistently carries positive connotations within God’s message and it’s easy to understand why.
After all, light is extremely beneficial and is one of the most basic human needs for survival. It lets us see where we’re going and allows us to find our way and avoid danger. It shows us what is true and what is false about a particular matter. Light from the sun is what enables plants to grow, maintaining the Earth’s eco-system and making it possible for us to survive here.
Jesus said that we his followers are “the light of the world”. In John 8:12, Jesus used the same phrase to describe himself: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
This is our first important point. The light that we shine into the world, as part of this metaphor, is not a light that we ourselves own or produce. It’s the light of Jesus, which he shone by virtue of his own life of perfect obedience to God. We can’t produce that light ourselves. But we can reflect it. By looking at Jesus and trying to be like him, we can reflect at least some of his light out into the world.
As a Christian you should feel a strong desire to take what Jesus gave you, encapsulated as “light” in this example, and share it with others. The idea of shining light into the world isn’t so that you and I can show off to people how good we are. It’s so that we can show them how beautiful Jesus’ character and teachings are, in the hope that they’ll come to follow him as we have.
Good deeds
In verse 16 Jesus specifically linked shining his light to the performance of certain actions: let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds…
In a moment we’ll consider what he might have meant by “good deeds”, but first we need to look at what he said in Matthew 6:1
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
At first glance it may appear that Jesus was contradicting himself in these two verses. Does he wants us to do good deeds for other people to see or not?
The answer is to look at verse 16 in its entirety: In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Good deeds should be done for others to see if your objective is to glorify God. If your objective is to glorify yourself (“to be seen by them“), it’s better to do these things in secret or anonymously, if possible.
Sometimes by its very nature a “good deed” can only be done publicly. For example, running a marathon to raise money for charity or taking a refugee into your home or adopting a child. These aren’t things which can really be done in secret. That’s why it’s essential to always be aware of how you present to others. If someone were to ask you why you were doing something like this, or praise you for doing it, how would you respond? Would you accept the praise or would you instead ascribe it to God? Would you explain that you were motivated to show love to others because of the love God has shown to you?
Leon Morris in the Pillar NT Commentary puts it this way:
This light will issue in good works that are seen by people, a provision that must be understood carefully, for there were people like the Pharisees who made sure that their good deeds were seen by others and it is not this Pharisaic attitude that Jesus is commending. The good works are to be seen, not in order that the doers may be congratulated as fine, upstanding servants of God, but in such a way that the observers will give glory to your Father. There is to be no parade of virtue, no attempt to win praise for oneself. It is the light that is to shine, not those privileged to be the bearers of the light. People will always see the deeds that disciples do, and disciples are to make sure that when that takes place it is the light that they will see. And that they will see it in such a way that they will praise God.
Changed lives
Our second important point is that this isn’t simply a matter of performing acts of kindness or charity for others. That’s a huge part of it, but not the whole story.
Michael J Wilkins in the NIV Application Commentary explains:
Jesus’ disciples possess kingdom life, which produces good deeds from a changed life. Bearing the light of the gospel in both message and life will bring people to know that the kingdom of heaven truly is in the world, and they will glorify their heavenly Father. The Beatitudes hinted at this direction, but the metaphors of salt and light are the first explicit indication that the presence of the kingdom produces changed lives.
If you are a Christian, people around you should be able to see not just the acts of kindness and compassion that you perform, but the reason why you perform them: you have given your life to Jesus and everything about you has changed as a result.
John Stott in the Message of the Sermon on the Mount suggests that “good deeds” in this context can include the teaching of Biblical truth, but should certainly not be limited to that:
It is healthy to be reminded that believing, confessing and teaching the truth are also ‘good works’ which give evidence of our regeneration …. We must not limit them to these, however. ‘Good works’ are works of love as well as of faith. They express not only our loyalty to God, but our care for our fellows as well. Indeed, the primary meaning of ‘works’ must be practical, visible deeds of compassion. It is when people see these, Jesus said, that they will glorify God, for they embody the good news of his love which we proclaim. Without them our gospel loses its credibility and our God his honour.
Reactions may vary
Of course, not everybody will react positively to the light of Jesus being shone into their lives. This much should be obvious to anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time. Some people will react angrily or even violently, demanding that we stop.
This type of reaction, it’s fair to say, may sometimes be a result of you or I not doing as good as job of shining the light as we would like. Nevertheless we must be aware that not everybody wants to have light shone into their lives. Sometimes people are not ready to be told the truth about themselves or to face up to how disgusting they look compared to Jesus. Sometimes they are more comfortable remaining in the darkness.
While light can give guidance to those seeking hope or bring attention to the victims of oppression or abuse, it can also expose those who don’t want to stop indulging themselves. That’s why Jesus warned of persecution for those who faithfully reflect his teachings and his behaviour into this world. People who are happier in the darkness will hate anyone who shines a light as pure as that of Jesus.
Can’t hide
We should not be surprised when this happens. Jesus warned us it would. The temptation will always be to hide when hostility and persecution arise, yet Jesus taught that this is not an option. Just as the salt cannot lose its saltiness and still be salt, the light cannot be hidden and still be light.
He gave two examples to show that hiding the light is not so much forbidden as impossible.
First, lighting a lamp and placing a bowl over it would make no sense in the culture in which Jesus lived. It’s likely that this wouldn’t merely have hidden the light, but would have extinguished the lamp entirely.
Second, a town that’s built on a hill can’t be hidden and is always visible. If an enemy army or a band of raiders approach, it isn’t possible to hide or camouflage the town and hope that they ride past without seeing it. The only way to do that would be to tear down all of the buildings and walls, in which case you wouldn’t have a town any more.
It’s not possible to hide the light or hide the town temporarily and then reveal them again when the danger of persecution has passed, and go on as before. The light would no longer be there.
Persecution will come to all Christians who truly shine Jesus’ light into the world. It may come in different forms and with far greater severity in some contexts than others, but it is something every true Christian must face.
D A Carson in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary sums it up thus:
Jesus drives the metaphor home. What his disciples must show is their “good works,” i.e., all righteousness, everything they are and do that reflects the mind and will of God. And men must see this light. It may provoke persecution (vv. 10–12), but that is no reason for hiding the light others may see and by which they may come to glorify the Father—the disciples’ only motive.
Our shining the light of Jesus into the world is the ONLY way other people can learn about him and be saved. Whatever difficulty or persecution that may bring is precisely what you and I signed up for when we committed our lives to Jesus.
In these last two weeks we’ve looked at the metaphors of salt and light, and considered what they suggest about how we ought to live as Christians in this world. These metaphors function only in general terms and as we continue to go through Matthew 5, 6 and 7 Jesus will bring out more specific examples.
Next week we’ll consider what he said in Matthew 5:17-20 and why it would have been truly shocking to those who heard it firsthand.
Nihilist to Christian 