Light, Knowledge, and Celebrity

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hidden."

This is the first mention in the Gospels of light as a metaphor for knowledge and grace. Knowledge of heaven and God is always portray as light while ignorance if portrayed as darkness. The word translated as "world" here is the Greek kosmos, which is a much bigger word than "world." It means the universe, the order of the universe, the collection of everything in the universe, and human affairs. This phrase might be translated as "cosmic light" rather than "light of the world" to give it the transendental quality of the word kosmos. This is the light by which the universe reveals itself to us. Knowledge as we perceive the pattern of order and science.

Of course, city (polis) also had a different meaning during the time of Christ. There were no nations. The world was ruled by a city, Rome. A city stood for a specific form of society. Each city was seen as a unique society, playing a unique role in the world.

And, not to make a mountain out of a molehill, but the word translated as "hill" here is oros, which is almost always translated as "mountain." Mountain tops were the first place the Jews began offering sacrifice to their God. A city on a mountain is like our thinking about Sangri-La, a holy place set aside from society. High places were places of refuge and defense, not commercial centers.

Of course, here the the meaning is also a place or a people that others look up to. This is consistent with the idea that people who follow God will earn a certain notoriety or celebrity. This idea is continued in the next three verses.