At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,as you have promised.I have seen your salvation,which you have prepared for all people.He is a light to reveal God to the nations,and he is the glory of your people Israel!”Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” (Luke 2:25–35 NLT)
Bioluminescence is light created through living things. It is the result of biochemical reactions inside the body of an animal or plant, causing it to glow. One of the most well-known bioluminescent animals is the firefly, but there are countless others, many of which are found in the deep sea, where sunlight cannot penetrate. Among these bioluminescent deep-sea dwellers is the angler fish. With a wide mouth full of long teeth and a protruding appendage sticking out from their forehead, ending in a glowing “lure,” they are not the prettiest fish out there.
Interestingly, the glowing bit, called an esca, doesn’t glow because the angler fish is bioluminescent; it glows because the angler fish has bioluminescent bacteria it hosts inside the esca. So long as these bacteria get enough oxygen, they will continue to glow, which means the angler fish needs a way to turn the bacteria on and off, or at least hide them from view. Some species of angler fish regulate how much oxygen the bacteria receive, effectively turning it on and off at will, while other species use a kind of eyelid or other system to hide the glow. Ultimately, this symbiotic relationship illuminates some of the darkest environments of our world.
In Luke 2:32, Simeon calls eight-day-old Jesus “a light to reveal God to the nations.” More than thirty years later, Jesus himself would proclaim to the crowd on the mountainside, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).
On our own, we have no light. The light that Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount does not come from us. We are like angler fish; the light we make is not our own but comes from another. The source of the light we project into a dark world is found in Jesus himself. We are simply vessels through which he illuminates.
There is another lesson here with the angler fish and its bioluminescent glow: a fish that lives near the surface of the ocean where the sun can more easily illuminate the underwater environment has a very different relationship with light. The glowing esca of the angler fish would be far less impressive, and much less effective, were it in a well-lighted environment. It is in the dark depths of the ocean, where little light is found, where the bioluminescent glow of the angler fish makes any kind of impact.
If we are to be bioluminescent lights glowing for Jesus in our world, we would do best to remember that remaining in our well-lighted enclaves amongst other bioluminescent believers will do little to pierce the dark recesses of our communities. We are certainly not meant to be solitary candles attempting to illuminate the darkness on our own, but “no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket” (Matthew 5:15).
How are you allowing Christ to glow in your life so others can see his light emanating out of you? Are there ways you and your community can better step into the dark corners of your world to bring this illumination of Jesus to where it is most needed?