Revealed Light

LUKE 11:29-32
“And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.”

As Christians, we are an enlightened people, which makes us a responsible people before God. In this passage, the Lord is emphasizing the seriousness of walking in the light He reveals. It is a human tendency to plead ignorance of spiritual things when we could have known them, we may have had the opportunity to learn them, but were not interested enough to take them in. The Lord is warning of the fact that He will judge by what we could know, not merely by what we actually do know. We are responsible for the light He reveals to us.
He gives illustrations to those listening to Him of those in the past, who had less light and were less responsible. Those who had less light would rise up and testify against those who have greater light from God, on that Day of Judgment.
If the Lord meant it literally, the people of Nineveh would rise up and testify of their repentance when Jonah, the Prophet, came to their city with a message of repentance, and condemn them who had more light, because a greater than Jonah was among them. The people of Nineveh repented the first time they heard the message of Jonah, the Prophet, though reluctant he was to deliver it. Those to whom He spoke had a greater One, the Eternal Son of the Living God in human flesh, walking among them and they were rejecting His gracious invitations and going on in their sins. They had more light and would be judged more severely than those who had less light. It is a dangerous thing to sin against light. Let us walk in all of the light we have, and we do have a great deal of it in this generation.
In His Marvelous Grace,
Pastor Ed Bowen