Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Matthew 5:14
This is understandable when we verify that, indeed, the Light was introduced on the first day of Creation, while the great luminaries, those that feed the firmament with light, were created until the fourth day,
3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light … 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:3-5
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Genesis 1:16-19
So, the Light referred to in the creation story of the first day was not a product of something emanating from it, that is, it was not a light created for the benefit of this material system, but Light entered from the environment of Eternity to delimit by it a space within which the Almighty would establish His field of action and Creation; the above has Truth and meaning from the use of the Word that Jehovah- God uses to ‘open’ that space of Eternity for the entry of Light, He says: יְהִ֣י (yehí: be), and the term used here is the same as Jehovah-God uses to reveal Himself to Moses as I am that I am (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה: eh-yeh); so then, יְהִ֣י (yehí: let there be) and (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה: eh-yeh: I am), from the Hebrew root היה ( ha-ya: to be), is a term that denotes ‘Eternity’ whose true meaning is, in the case of the name of Jehovah-God, I was-I am-I will be.[1] Light is the essence of Eternity where Jehovah- God moves, therefore it is the very manifestation of His Glory.
So, when Jehovah-God said, let there be light (וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר), He was with it, additionally, establishing ‘Eternity’ within Creation, and space also for angelic beings to cohabit within all of creation; Light is the very substance of the essence of spiritual life. Spiritual and angelic beings emanate Light, it is their natural state; the psalmist David recognizes the essence of Light that comes from Jehovah- God,
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Psalm 36:9
In the story of Job we find the testimony that everything that belongs to Eternity, its environment is Light,
2Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. 3Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?
Job 25:2-3
We can now understand what it means that Jehovah-God imprisoned in chains of darkness the angels who had sinned, simply deprived them of the strength of His Presence and exposed them to material creation.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2 Peter 2:4
Light was established on this world as the basis of existence of all forms of life that were created. The natural light of the great luminaries of the fourth day was not introduced as a substitute for the Light of Eternity established on the first day, the natural light of the great luminaries was established only to mark cycles of life,
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Genesis 1:14
So, the Light of the first day is still in force, and remains active, only very few can see it, for the eyes of men are forbidden to see it. The apostle John writes in his gospel and gives testimony of His Presence among us, John defines it as the Principle of restoration and vivification of those who ‘hear’ the Voice of the Lord,
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (has not overcome it: NIV).
John 1:5
The account speaks of the Presence of Jesus on earth, without discussion; however, the account also contains the testimony that in Adam, men despised that environment of Light in which Jehovah-God had placed them, and loved more the proposal of darkness, in deterioration of the Word of the Lord.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
Thus, when Jesus said, “you are the Light of the world”, in principle, His statement was a re-creation of the process of Creation initiated when Light was brought in as the platform of all that was created; now, His statement was to “establish” the doctrinal teaching that in this new age of Revelation, Light would be brought by and through those who walk in the environment of light, i.e., those who walk according to the faith of Jesus,
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
John 12:35
“You are the Light of the world” means to open windows of Revelation within the environments of darkness, and once done, to give life to those who are dead; darkness means death;[2] so then, re-phrasing the Words of Jesus according to their meaning, you are the Light of the world means: ‘you are the givers of life‘. Light is synonymous with Life,
or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
Job 3:16
Giving life is synonymous with ‘putting people free’.[3] Giving life is a consequence of walking by the faith of Jesus, not a commission; this means that no one has to ‘strive’ to do, to say, to carry; there is not even a need to rebuke the spiritual hosts, the very presence of one who walks by the faith of Jesus establishes life and establishes liberation. Were not the sick healed when the shadow of the apostle Peter touched them?[4] Were not the sick and possessed at a distance healed when the apostle Paul prayed for cloths and shrouds that belonged to those in bed?[5]
During the violent incident that formed in Thessalonica because of the teachings of the Apostle Paul, there was a word that the main inhabitants of the city wanted to establish as an argument to attack the Apostle, the word was: These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;[6] however, if the reader reviews carefully the reading of the fact, he will see that it was not a great company, they were scarcely 3 or 4 men; in chapter 16 Timothy,[7] Silas[8] is mentioned, and if Luke accompanied them, they were in total together with Paul four people, however, the inhabitants of Thessalonica expressed themselves as: These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also, as if it were a great company that had come to trouble the city. What do you think? The above only confirms what Moses had established about those who walk in the light of the teachings,
29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
Deuteronomio 32:29-31
To walk according to the faith of Jesus does not consist of ‘adopting’ a lifestyle, but of being a link from Heaven on earth so that through the Revelation we receive as an Inheritance of Glory,[9] we can initiate a generation of the living –God is not God of the dead, but of the living– through our words: the Light was introduced by the Word, the Light responds to the Word.
“you are the light of the world” means to bring forth from the darkness and give life to the dead, and to initiate a new generation, a generation that lives according to the instructions of Jesus in conformity to the prophetic times in which we live; a generation that understands what Jehovah-God is doing, and where He is leading us.
A clear example is this time of pandemic we have lived. God closed churches, however many did not understand it that way, but they moved their services to the social pages and turned them into virtual services, is that what God wanted? Was that what God demanded that they do? No, nothing like that, but not understanding how Jehovah-God is moving in these times prevents us from moving the way He does, is this walking according to the faith of Jesus?
Not understanding the ways of the Lord has led many to engage in even apostasy, and not realize it.
To be the Light of the world is to react and respond immediately to the Word of Jesus given to His Church, the Spirit is moving not through the concepts of tradition according to which we have acted, the Spirit is “speaking” and giving instructions for us to act in unconventional ways, to establish the Kingdom not by preaching but by executions of faith; Jesus presented it in this way: A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, which means a commitment to live by the principles of Jesus’ teachings, even knowing that to live by them it may die. That is the commitment of the life of faith in Jesus.
You are the Light of the world is the greatest teaching that Jesus could have given to His saints; but it is wise that we should understand what it means, for if we do not, ignorance, naivety, and unawareness expose us to being trampled upon and taken hostage by darkness.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden, it discovers a commitment to the Word, to the Gospel, and to Jesus to live by faith in His name, and according to His teachings; but beware, the expression is also a warning that the light on the mountain exposes the city to those who seek to steal and do evil.
Never teach others what you have not established for your own life.
pastor Montoya
All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Pastor Pedro Montoya
Twitter: @pastormontoya
[1] Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
[2] Psalm 23:4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
[3] Isaiah 61; see also Luke 4:16-21
[4] Acts 5:15
[5] Idem 9:12
[6] Idem 17:6
[7] Idem 16:1-3
[8] Idem 16:19
[9] Ephesians 1:18: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
