1 John 3:22 - 4:6 / Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25
In the long history of humanity, there are notable human beings who were considered deities by themselves or others.
There are also people who claimed divinity or were worshipped as deities during their lifetimes, and there were also individuals who were deified posthumously.
In her 2000 years of history, the Church has faced this problem even with her own people. Some Christians give in to their ego and become cult personalities and even claiming divinity.
But the biggest challenge in the early Church and also in the modern Church is the debate over the identity and the nature of Jesus Christ.
We profess that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human. Yet the heresies that arose in the Church is leaning towards either one or the other - that Jesus is either fully human or fully divine.
That's why the 1st reading says that there are many false prophets and it is not every spirit that we can trust.
And finally it says that the prophets who claim to come from God will acknowledge that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh and that He is from God, i.e. fully human and yet fully divine.
Yes, Jesus is that great light that dawned in the people that lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, and He came to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is already close at hand.
In fact the kingdom of God is already among us when we let Jesus make His home in our hearts.
And by our lives of holiness, others will know that we are children of God.