John 8:12
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’”

It is thought that Jesus spoke these words during the Festival of Tabernacles. During this harvest festival, God’s people made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and there remembered God’s provision during their 40 years in the wilderness, by living in tents. Each night, they would light menorahs. Over the 8 days of the festival, more and more lights would be lit, until on the last night a river of light spread through the autumnal darkness, from the temple – where God met with His people – throughout the entire city of Jerusalem. 

Jesus uses this moment to point to Himself as the source of light and life, from whom light and life will flow, not just to Jerusalem, but to the whole world. 

John, who uses the word light more than any other Biblical writer, has no nativity story in his gospel. Instead, his opening chapter deliberately echoes the creation: Jesus is the Word through whom all things were made, and the light which brings life. John’s great declaration is that this Word, this light came into the world (John 1:9). John speaks of the impact of the incarnation, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).  

For the Christian, the presence of God in our lives is a light in the darkness. Following Jesus, we are never alone in the dark. No matter how deep the darkness we face today, we know with certainty that, in the end, it is light and not darkness that will triumph.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight

Phillips Brooks

Adrian A