Sharing JesusExemplo

Arise, now is the time for each one of us to let our light shine. For far too long some of us have hidden our light. Our reasons for hiding the light might very well be valid. The fear of claiming possession of such a light might welcome hostility rather than enthusiasm. 

Plato, the ancient philosopher, wrote an interesting story called the allegory of the cave. 

A group of men were restricted to a cave since birth, and the only interaction with the world was the reflection of figures from the outside cast on the sides of the wall of their cave. Curiously, these men assumed that these figures were actually real people. 

One man managed to escape and for the first time stepped out of the cave. To his utter shock, he realized that the figures who appeared on the walls of his cave were merely shadows of the real people he came across outside of the cave. Excited, he ran back in to share this knowledge with his friends. 

We would imagine that his friends might share in the enthusiasm and welcome this revelation. Instead, they mock him and kill him. 

Here, Plato tells a different tale from what Isaiah is suggesting will happen. Isaiah’s alternate ending is “nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

Plato was actually quite prophetic—all of Jesus’ disciples, except for one, were killed for shining Christ’s light, just as Christ was himself killed. That being said, Plato was uninitiated to the possibility of the glory of the resurrection. 

The resurrection changes the outcome of death. Rather than our light being snuffed out, it continues to shine. It is hard to imagine our world without the effect Christianity has had on people, kings, cultures and countries. 

So, ‘Arise, shine your light, although darkness shall cover the earth yet the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you.’