A light bulb moment. Inspiration, clarity, insight, understanding. Suddenly, you get it; it’s like the light bulb came on.
The metaphor of the light bulb is so appropriate in part because it works on so many levels. Historically, Thomas Edison worked long and hard to develop a functional, practical and safe light bulb. It did not come easily or quickly, but when it happened, it significantly changed so much of life. Wisdom and understanding are often like that—the product of a lot of work. The light bulb also has the appearance of something instantaneous, something that comes upon you in a flash. One second all is dark, the next is sudden clarity. Finally, the light bulb brings illumination, insight, radiance and brightness. Where it was once dark and unknown, now suddenly one can see!
Inspiration, creativity, insight and wisdom are all well pictured by “the light bulb came on!”
Spiritually, too, there are these “light bulb moments”: a sudden awareness of wrong, an abrupt conviction of sin, a burst of insight into God’s holiness or an overwhelming gust of divine love. Often these moments are experiences which are long in coming—where God has been at work in your life and the “suddenness” of it all is more an issue of our awareness of the consistency of God’s presence: He is always here and at work, we just don’t always recognize it. There are moments as well when God Himself brings sudden clarity to a situation, where the light bulb flicks on and we see as we have not seen before.
Theologically, this is called the doctrine of illumination. Illumination is the work of the Holy Spirit in our minds and understandings where what has been hidden is suddenly made clear by God Himself. Illumination is the companion to the doctrine of inspiration. Inspiration teaches us that God is the Author of the Scripture, that the Holy Spirit breathed out the Bible in the words of man. Having done so, however, does not guarantee that the reader will understand what is written. That reality should not be so hard for us to grasp—the Words of God are beyond our ability to understand. And for two reasons: one, the infinite God, His thoughts and words, are so far beyond and above our little finite minds, that we are incapable of grasping them; second, even if we were able to understand, our sinfulness orientates us away from God as to make Him beyond us. But, then, what good are they to us? If we can’t understand God’s Word, why did He give it to us?
Enter the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. He now reveals the meaning of the words He inscripted. This is why we pray before reading the Bible, and why we pray after talking about it. We are asking a very necessary request: Lord, as you have given to us your Word, now we pray that you would explain your Word so as to make it understood, grasped and effective in our lives.
May the Spirit illuminate His Word in your lives this day and as you prepare for worship this week. Read Luke 24:36-49.
- Notice how these verses seem to summarize what we have read elsewhere in Luke and the other gospels about Jesus’ appearances. Why do you think it is included again? What particular emphasis does Luke have in mind here?
- In verse 38, Jesus asks why the disciples are “troubled” and why “doubts arise in your hearts.” Is it really so hard to imagine why? Why might Jesus be asking this?
- Jesus asks for and eats fish in verses 41-43. What is His purpose in doing so? What would be a modern-day parallel today? Why would this “prove” His resurrection?
- Jesus “opened their minds” so they might understand the Bible. Is this necessary, or were the disciples just exceptionally slow? How does God continue to “open minds” today? How might He open your mind?
- Jesus summarizes the Gospel well in verses 46-49. Assuming He knows the Gospel better than any other, what stands out as important to Jesus? Are all these points equally important to God’s people today?
By Henry Knapp