During the Festival of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, there used to be a ceremony of illumination when candle-lamps were lit at dusk which brightened up the whole city. It was against this splendid background that Jesus proclaimed that He was "the light of the world." To the Jewish mind the word "light" was associated with the Messiah and they therefore dismissed Jesus' claim as being not valid as He had no witnesses to support His claim. But Jesus was so close to God that He was conscious of His own authority and knew that God was His witness. The tragedy of the Jews was that they were so involved with the laws of their religion that they failed to see the Son of God in their midst. If their eyes had been opened, they would have realized that His words of wisdom and His deeds were such that only God could have empowered Him with such authority and power.

Similarly, are we walking through life in darkness or in the light of Christ? The path through life is full of burdens and unless we have Christ in our hearts, we will find life's problems unsolvable. We need heavenly wisdom to walk the earthly way, confident that with Christ behind us, life's problems are easily surmountable.