Luke 11:33-36 Light in a Dark Place
Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 11:33-36, page 870 in the pew Bibles.
It’s been said before that the Scriptures are like a pool that is shallow enough for a baby to wade in and deep enough for a scholar to drown in. I admit in my study this week that I tried very hard to drown myself in shallow water. What I mean to say is that I have tried very hard to make concepts complicated that are really very simple. It’s just too easy if the truth can be found in the plain reading of the text…
Welp… too bad for me. Let’s look at Luke 11:33-36.
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Let’s pray.
The Bible often uses metaphors, figures of speech that are symbolic of other principles and concepts. One of the most used metaphors in the Bible is the idea of light representing truth.
For example, Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:130, “The unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple.”
But we’re not dealing with some vague philosophical concept of truth, we’re dealing with the concrete and well defined truth of the gospel, that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to live and die and rise again to pay the penalty for the sin of mankind and that all who trust in Him will not die as their sin deserves but will be forgiven by God’s grace and live forever with Him in His eternal kingdom.
This is the truth of the gospel and this is the light that Jesus is talking about.
But Jesus makes this metaphor even more personal because He Himself is the Light of the World, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
So when he says in verse 33, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light,” He is saying, “Here I am, I’m right in front of you telling you the truth and shining the light of the gospel for everybody to see. I’m not hiding out in some cave, or perched on some mountaintop somewhere, I’m right here in front of you.”
And though now He is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, the truth, the gospel is still right out in front for all to see shining its light through His church, through us, and through His Word, the bestselling book in the history of the world.
In verse 34 Jesus says, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad [unhealthy], your whole body is full of darkness.”
Healthy eyes see clearly and unhealthy eyes don’t. It’s as simple as that.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 says,
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But not everyone wants their life to be lit… John 3:19-21 says,
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The work of the truth is to shine light into the darkness. Alistair Begg asked the question, “Why would anyone want their life to be lit? Only because they realize that their life is darkness.”
When our eyes are healthy and our whole body is full of light, when our lens is the truth of the gospel, we see life and light and beauty in a whole different way. We will see that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. As Psalm 19:1 says.
John 1:1-13 says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus didn’t just give sight to the physically blind but to the spiritually blind because that is the work of the truth, to shine light in the darkness.
But Jesus gives a stern warning in verse 35.
Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
How is that even possible? Can the light within us truly be darkness?
Well, Jesus said so, so yeah. But what does that look like?
If light is the truth of the gospel and darkness is deception, the only way for the light within us to be darkness if we think we have light is because we have fooled ourselves into thinking that we have the light when we don’t.
But how can a person do this? When they count on their religion to save them. When they count on their good deeds, when they count on their superstition, when they merely agree with facts instead of trusting in Jesus.
Anytime repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ is replaced by something else people can be easily fooled into thinking that they are headed for heaven when they are not.
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
These are those whose light in them is actually darkness, without a relationship with Jesus, without repentance of sin. They did lots of good things, church attendance, religious observances, good deeds, but they never knew Jesus and he never knew them.
They were self-deceived. Don’t be like them, don’t let the light in you be darkness, repent of your sins and trust in Jesus personally, walk with Him personally. See to it that the light in you is not darkness.
Finally verse 36.
36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.
The work of the truth is to shine light in the darkness, and that is our work given to us by Jesus, to shine the light of the truth of the gospel into this dark world.
And this was not the only time that Jesus used this metaphor, he said 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.
Alistair Begg said, “We can’t be light unless we are set ablaze by Jesus.”
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
And so, we are left to ask ourselves the question, “Am I living in the light, or am I dwelling in darkness?”
If you are living in the light, then by all means shine! Shine the light of the truth of the gospel on those around you.
And if you are dwelling in the darkness, then by all means repent and turn to Jesus. Renounce your sinful ways and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin and His light will fill you.
Amen.
