Matthew 5:14 Commentary and Bible Study

Not only may believers be tempted to become like the world in order to reduce their distinctiveness, but there is another way of avoiding persecution which is to hide the fact that we have come to Christ altogether. The first illustration here is about sunlight. Christ said of himself also, ‘I am the light of the world’, and told them, ‘I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ (John 9:4-5). He said this just before healing the man born blind, and afterwards he told the Pharisees, ‘For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth’ (John 9:39-41). The sun in the sky is created to be an illustration of God’s truth as it shines down on us from above and illuminates our world. Of the new Jerusalem it is prophesied ‘the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof’ (Revelation 21:23). The sun will no longer be needed when the Sun of Righteousness shines on us directly. But Christ’s disciples are also here called the light of the world, because Christ manifests himself to the world through them. They and they alone are the light of the world, for there are no other people in the world who belong to God. The world sees light in the message of the gospel which the church brings to it. It also sees light in the conduct of every believer, who walks in the light, and reflects the light of Christ. The light shines, but the world walks in darkness. It sees the sun above its head, but it does not comprehend the truth of God’s word or the witness of his people. The idea that the sun should hide itself it ridiculous. God has given it to illuminate the world and there is no land which is not illuminated by the sun. The sun does not ask permission to shine or explain the value of its shining; it gives no apology for shining. It just rises. In the same way, to some measure, people will understand your testimony, if only you make it known who you are and what you stand for. We are truth bearers to a world without God. God has given that testimony to the world to leave it without excuse. Just as the sun in the sky cannot be hidden, neither can a city which is located on top of a hill. In Galilee such hilltop cities were sometimes built of white limestone, and could be seen from all directions. The illustration is preposterous; it would be absurd to try to hide such a city. In the same way there is no such thing as a secret disciple. A Christian living in this fallen world is so different to those around him that he cannot be hidden, neither should he want to be hidden. Even though both unbeliever and believer live side by side and carry out many of the same activities, and in many respects look similar to each other, the differences are enormous. The believer has a different character, a different motive for life, a different destiny at the end of life; he has resources and power to live life that the unbeliever does not know anything about, and he belongs to a different country, a spiritual country. The believer witnesses to things which are not of this world. How can such differences not be noticed? Would anyone go to the trouble of building a city on a hill evidently wishing it to be prominent as a place of beauty, as somewhere attractive for people to come from near and far to trade their goods; would they do this and then make efforts to disguise that city and hide it from view, perhaps planting trees all around it? Christ has called us to be witnesses to the truth, and his truth though hidden in our hearts must soon come out into the open. Even now we are to live for that coming visible kingdom and not be ashamed of it. Every disciple will be conspicuous.