A Prayer of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.

ON LIGHT


When we find Jesus uttering the word "light" (that by which we see) in the English gospels it is rendered from the Greek (phos)or one of its variants. There are two exceptions, both of which refer to natural light, one the light of a lamp (Luke 11:33) and the other to the light of the moon (Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24). In the case of both exceptions, the alternative word is pheggos.
 
From the Synoptic Gospels 
(Matthew, Mark, and Luke)
Matthew 5

14   You are the light (phos) of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
15   Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it shines for all in the house.
16   Let your light (phos) so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is
in heaven.

Luke 11

33   No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel, but on a stand, that those who enter may see the 
light (pheggos).

Luke 8

16   No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light (phos).
Matthew 6

22   The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light (phos);
23   but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light (phos) in you is darkness, how
great is the darkness!

Luke 11

34   Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light (phos); but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness.
35   Therefore be careful lest the 
light (phos) in you be darkness.
36   If then your whole body is full of 
light, (phos) having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light (phos).

Matthew 10

26   So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
27   What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light (phos); and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops.
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28   And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.
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29   Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will.
30   But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
31   Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32   So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven;

Luke 12

2   Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known..
3   Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light (phos), and what you have whispered in
private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4   "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5   But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you,
fear him!
6   Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.
7   Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
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8   "And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;
9   but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Luke 16

1   He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
2   And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
3   And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
4   I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'
5   So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6   He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
7   Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to
him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
8   The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of 
light (phos).
  And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.

Matthew 24

29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light (pheggos), and the stars will fall from heaven, .
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and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
30   then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;
31   and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other.

Mark 13

24   But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its 
light (pheggos),
25   and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the .
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powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26   And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

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27   And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Luke

25   "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at
the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26   men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27   And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
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28   Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

From the Fourth Gospel
John 3

16   For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17   For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
18   He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19   And this is the judgment, that the light (phos) has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light (phos), because their deeds were evil.
20   For every one who does evil hates the light (phos), and does not come to the 
light(phos),lest his deeds should be exposed.
21   But he who does what is true comes to the light (phos), that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

John 5

33   You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
34   Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.
35   He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light (phos).
36   But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.

John 8

12   Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light (phos) of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light (phos) of life."
13   The Pharisees then said to him, "You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true."
14   Jesus answered, Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I come or whither I am going.

John 9

4   We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work.
5   As long as I am in the world, I am the light (phos) of the world.

John 11

7   Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."
8   The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"
9   Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light (phos) of this world.
10   But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light (phos) is not in him."

John 12

34   The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?"
35   Jesus said to them, "The light (phos) is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light (phos), lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
36   While you have the light (phos), believe in the light (phos), that you may become sons of light (phos)." When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them.
37   Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him;
38   it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
39   Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,
40   "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and turn for me to heal them."
41   Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
42   Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
43   for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44   And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
45   And he who sees me sees him who sent me.
46   I have come as light (phos) into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
47   If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48   He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
49   For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak.
50   And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me."

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