After speaking the blessings from the Sermon on the Mount, after giving a listing of the types of people coming Christians will be, ( one example, Matt 5: 7 ‘Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.’ ) and then…
… Jesus answers Carroll Shelby’s question ( as posed by the actor Matt Damon in the 2019 movie ‘Ford v Ferrari’ ) ‘The only question that matters. Who are you?’
This is how Jesus answers Carroll:
( from John 1 )2 ‘He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’
The only word, or thing, or image, or trope that matters on Christmas Day ( or all days ) is light. Jesus comes to both teach and to place light in the world. And We are what he places on hills and on houses; on fields and mangers. We are his light …
Our eyes are drawn to light, whether we are a darken word or a walker on a moonless night. We are drawn to this light. And, in time, in comes within us.
And thus this is Jesus’ answer to Carroll Shelby’s question ‘who are you?’—
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’ ( Matthew 5 )
We are to be lights as Jesus gift is his light, the essence of his living, his life- the essence of his character, his community with the Spirit, and with His Father.
And we are not to be just a one time a year light, but lights of the world. All days. All times.
So, Jesus came for the answer to the only question that really matters, ‘ who are you’…’
We are Jesus’…
Lights.
charles osewalt's blog 
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