“Harsh light” is a figure of speech used by painters and photographers when it exposes and draws attention to unpleasant features of a subject. God’s light, however, does not work that way. The Light of the world is not known to be harsh.

God has no intentions of shaming us. We on the other hand have earned a Master’s degree in blaming ourselves and others. We need to get away from the harsh light of human discernment and leave the judgment up to God. In His light we do not look so bad after all.

Who would bandage a bruised reed? Jesus would. Prophet Isaiah describes the gentleness of Jesus who does not crush a broken blade of grass but instead repairs it (Isaiah 42:3):

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;”

We are familiar with despots who are full of themselves and walk all over people. Jesus is not full of Himself. He is full of mercy. He is gentle with the brokenhearted, but firm with the hypocrites.

What is the antidote to power abuse? Do we overcome power abuse by using force? Not according to Jesus. He did not draw a sword to defend Himself. He could have gone down that route and He would have won the battle, but lost the war. Crushing all of His opponents, His rule would have been based on dominance, and the world does not need that. This world has seen enough empires come and go.

Jesus has His way with broken people. He makes them shine. Aligned to a shining star, planets are lit up in dark space; and so are God’s children following Jesus. They shine in a crooked generation, as the Apostle Paul puts it. And I believe this is the only hope left to reach even the most hardened heart: not by force – but by light.