Christ the Everlasting Light
… but we await new heavens and a new earth, and his promises, as it is written (2 Peter 3:13). The Savior himself said something of the same kind: “In those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light” (Mark 13:24; compare Matthew 24:29). For the glory of the Savior itself will be enough to give the saints their light.
But so that the present words may seem in some way to follow the sense of the verses before them, we approve this interpretation and say that the present lines also signify something else. The light of the sun, and that of the moon as well, is useful and necessary to the eyes of the body. Yet at night the sun’s light is withdrawn, and by day the moon’s, for they take turns yielding the work of shining to each other.
But the divine and spiritual light, he says, which the Savior of all puts into the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit and through those who know well how to lead others into the mysteries, will be unquenchable, unceasing, and always shining. So the mind of each person stands in need neither of sun nor of moon to be enlightened or to see. For the mind is not lit by light that the senses perceive. It is content instead with the guiding light that comes through the Holy Spirit, and with a brightness that lets it behold the glory of Christ and how great a likeness he bears to the One who begot him, a likeness of essence, of course, and also lets it know without straying the way of the best life.
The Savior, then, has become everlasting light for us, and he makes this plain to us when he says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and again, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5), and, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
“And the days of your mourning will be fulfilled, and your people will all be righteous, and they will inherit the land forever, guarding the planting, the works of his hands, for glory. The fewest will become thousands, and the least a great nation. I, the Lord, will gather them in due season” (Isaiah 60:20–22).
Those who say that the time of the consummation is indicated by the light of the sun or the moon no longer working, but rather being withdrawn so that our Lord may become everlasting light, say that for those who mourn now, whom the Savior also says will be comforted (Matthew 5:4), there will be an end of mourning …
Greek
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