What does it mean that a city on a hill cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14)?

Answer

Jesus Christ began His great Sermon on the Mount by teaching the Beatitudes, a list of blessings that define the inner character of a genuine servant of God (Matthew 5:1-12). These verses also illustrate God’s kingdom principles, which are directly opposite of the world’s value system. To the casual listener, this countercultural teaching could suggest that Christ expects His disciples to withdraw from the world. But in Matthew 5:13–16, Jesus follows up immediately with an illuminating segment, leaving His true followers with no doubt as to His intended meaning: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (verse 14, NASB95).

Jesus compared Christians to a city on a hill that cannot be hidden because kingdom people are meant to be a beacon in the night, providing spiritual light to a lost and dying world. Jesus said in John 9:5, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” To His disciples, He explained, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” «Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. », (John 8:12). Jesus is the light that illuminates our lives. Everyone who puts their faith and trust in Him “will no longer remain in the dark” «I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. », (John 12:46).

As long as we live on this earth, we are meant to have an influence on the people around us. The apostle Paul taught, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live asAs children of light” «For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: », (Ephesians 5:8).

The purpose of light is to provide direction by enabling visibility. During the night, a city on a hill radiates its light in all directions from an elevated position. The light is visible far and wide, guiding many travelers and indicating the path to take. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” «Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. », (John 14:6). Walking towards Jesus, and ultimately towards a relationship with God the Father, is the direction in which people should walk.

The apostle John described Jesus as “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). As Christians, we are to make the light of truth evident—by spreading the gospel of salvation in Jesus, and through the way we conduct our lives—thus offering direction and guidance to those who are lost and living in darkness.

Isaiah prophesied the arrival of Jesus Christ as the rising of a great light seen by “people walking in darkness . . . those living in the land of deep darkness” (Isaiah 9:2;cf: Matthew 4:16). Saul of Tarsus had been immersed in profound spiritual darkness, persecuting Christians. When Jesus Christ appeared to him, Saul witnessed “a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me” «at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them.»which journeyed with me.” , (Acts 26:13).

The Lord allowed Saul to remain temporarily blinded by the light as a symbol of his sightless spiritual state. On that day, God told Saul, “I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:16-18). From the moment God removed the blinders from his eyes, Saul began to preach the truth that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 9:17-31).

Saul, who later went by the name of Paul, went on to become one of Christianity’s most zealous messengers. Everywhere he went, Paul taught Christians to “live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” «that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; », (Philippians 2:15, NLT).

The Christian life is meant to have a visible impact and not to be lived in secret, hidden from the world. Jesus said, “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:15-16;NLT). There is no such thing asCovert Christianity or clandestine discipleship.

Paul advised Timothy, “Never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord” «Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; », (2 Timothy 1:8, NLT). We must not conceal our devotion to Christ. Instead, we are to remain humble while doing everything we can to attract, influence, and guide others toward the truth: “For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth’” «For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. », (Acts 13:47, NLT).

When we live as true disciples of Jesus Christ, obeying the principles of God’s kingdom, we become like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. In fact, as new creatures in Christ «Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. », (2 Corinthians 5:17), it is now part of our nature as kingdom servants to be the light in the world. The light we shine does not come from us but instead is a reflected light coming from our source—“the Lord, who is the Spirit” «But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.», (2 Corinthians 3:18).