The Last Supper on the MoonSample

If Not Me, Another

You can’t stare at the sun without damaging your eyes, but you can stare at the moon for hours. When you do, the moon is actually allowing you to enjoy the sun’s light that’s not safe to look at directly. In fact, all the moon’s light is borrowed.

In John 1, we read about the men who came to Jesus’ cousin John asking him who he was. They wanted to know, “Are you the sun?”

“No,” he said. “I am the moon. The sun is coming.”

And the Son did come.

And John the Baptist rejoiced.

Remember, the moon gives off no light of its own. Its glow belongs to another. We see it shine in the night sky, but it reflects the star that is the light at the center of our solar system.

It is impossible to overstate how important light was in Jesus’ day. There were no streetlights, no flashlights, and no iPhone lights you could turn on. When the sun went down, you couldn’t flip a switch and bathe your home with light.

The world has changed much since the invention of the incandescent light bulb. For one thing, we sleep less. Ten hours of sleep used to be normal. Today, the average American adult gets 6.7 hours of sleep.

If the sun went down and you didn’t have a light with you, well, you were in very real danger. A lit lamp gave you safety and the ability to travel, read, talk with a friend, and cook food. Light turns off the dark because darkness is the absence of light.

When a child has a bad dream, besides wanting their parents and a glass of water, nothing will comfort them more than having a light turned on.

Jesus is God’s light come into our world to show us the way, comfort us, and illuminate our hearts and lives with His glory. When we have his light, we can see God clearly. We can see ourselves clearly, and we can see each other clearly. When the light dims, and we begin to stray from him, everything gets dim. We start to think we look better than we do.

I always think I look pretty good in airplane bathrooms. It’s the dim light. Unhealthy things grow in our hearts when we are in the dark. That is why we need constant exposure to his light, which sanitizes, purifies, and disinfects.

One of the reasons we read, memorize, meditate on, and apply God’s Word is because it gives us access to the light we need. Psalm 119:105 reminds us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (NKJV).

The light you find in God’s Word will reset the things that are out of whack in your heart and mind.

I am a performance-obsessed human being. Productivity is my heroin. When I am not in a healthy place, I can only feel good when I am being successful and efficient and getting things done. But that is to put me at the center of the universe. It places me in a seat I am unable to occupy, and so I start to fall apart.

Idolatry leads to anxiety. When I am having my mind transformed, my motives inspected, and my values constantly recalibrated by God’s light, I remember I am a son—and that is my identity. My value doesn’t come from what I do but from who I am.

It’s true for you too. You are a human being, not a human doing.

God is the sun; we are the moon. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night (Gen. 1:16). We don’t produce any light, but we get to glow as we follow his orbit round and round.

Jesus didn’t stop with his assertion that he was the light of the world. He said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14–16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (NKJV).

What’s beautiful about this arrangement is that it takes all the pressure off. You don’t have to conjure up the light; that’s the sun’s job. The moon doesn’t have to strain; it just needs to reflect.

I like the analogy of us being the moon because sometimes the moon is a tiny sliver, and other times it is a supermoon. God has declared war on darkness not by his church shouting at the darkness but by shining our light into the night. When you are a sliver of a moon instead of the supermoon you are meant to be, you limit the hope he can give through you. Not because the sun isn’t bright but because there is less of you that you are willing to allow him to use.

At the moment of our salvation, Jesus puts his life and light inside us. Our job is to keep from obscuring and hiding the light.

When the sun rises in the morning, don’t miss it. But also take heart knowing that you are not the sun; the responsibility to shine is not yours. It is God’s, and he loves you. Think of it: the most important person in the universe loves you!

So rest well.

Good night, moon.

Respond

Share a time when the light of Jesus impacted you.

List people you know who need the light of the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, allow me to reflect your light today in everything I say and do.