Jesus is the Light of the World

David McKinley

Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

John 8:12–30

Jesus claims to be the light of the world

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INTRODUCTION

Tonight, we focus on the diminishing aspect of light. As each reading is presented, the lights are dimmed until finally, there is little to no light in the sanctuary.

When Jesus gave up His spirit, the light of the world was put out, but only for a short time. His light was and is the most significant source that the world has ever seen.

Light is a mysterious resource, traveling at 300,000 km per second. That is an eight-minute trip from the earth to the sun. Or seven times around the globe in one second. To travel from the U.S. to Great Britain it would take you only one tenth of a second.

What’s more is that we have great personal need for light. How many of us have had to get up in the night, only to stub our toe because the switch was not accessible. Or which of us has scrambled to find the candle and matches when the power goes out?

In the gospel of John, there are many I am sayings of Jesus. It is interesting how Christ describes Himself in these verses. Among them are the following:

· “I am the bread of life.”

· “I am the light of the world”;

· “I am the door”;

· “I am the good shepherd;

· “I am the resurrection and life;

· “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Tonight, we consider a statement he made in John 8 where He said: I am the light of the world. First...

I. JESUS WAS GOD’S LUMINARY VISITING A DARK WORLD.

Jesus said in John 8:12,

I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The first portion of that statement is not to be overlooked. Jesus said, I am…. The phrase, ἐγώ εἰμί is a form of emphasis. It is literally read, “I I am… .” or, “I, myself, am… .” Some 18 times throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the two words, I am. He is not just telling something about Himself, but in being a Jew, He is referring to an Old Testament signpost found in Exodus 3:14 where God revealed His name to Moses. It states, And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" I am simply means, the self-sufficient one. The One of absolute independence. Notice what Christ says in John 8:58, “I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

The items that He equates Himself with are often coupled with a definite article, giving rise to further emphasis. For instance, Jesus is not just a good shepherd; He is the good shepherd, as compared to the Lord in Psalm 23. He is not just a bread of life, but the bread of life as God fed His people manna during their wilderness wanderings. By claiming to be the light of the world, Jesus puts Himself on par with God.

Reading from the previous section, it’s quite evident that the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day were not pleased with His claim as the light of the world. They knew immediately what He was getting at, so they reacted. He was claiming to be God. John 8:13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You are bearing witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." Here, the Pharisees are trying to refute Christ’s testimony due to His supposed single-perspective.

Mosaic Law stated that testimony is established on at least two witnesses. Deuteronomy 17:6 and Deuteronomy 19:15

One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

But who functions as Jesus’ confirming witness? His Father. In verse 18, Christ said, I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." This was nothing secret either. Jesus states that the two witnesses to His ministry are himself and the Father who sent Him.

Of course, we know of at least two occasions that the Father bore witness of Jesus’ ministry. – at His baptism and when He was transfigured. On both occasion, the voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son.” (Matthew 3:17; Luke 9:35) And there is a third- found in John 12:28, when Jesus ask for the Father to glorify His name. And a voice from heaven confirmed: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The Pharisees asked: “Where is your Father?” They were looking for a physical human presence. But Jesus was speaking of the heavenly Father, of course.

If this were not enough, His miracles also testified of Him. After He turned the water into wine, we read in John 2:11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. They did this because He was no ordinary man, but the God-man. By Jesus being God visiting humanity, we also see that…

II. JESUS IS THE LIGHT FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL DARKNESS.

Jesus said, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. From the Biblical standpoint, this world is bound in moral and spiritual darkness. The universe is not a morally neutral place, nor are its inhabitants inherently good or even morally indifferent, rather our environment is plagued with sin. R.C. Sproul said we are not sinful because we sin, we sin because we are sinful. Jesus spoke of our natural spiritual condition as one of depravity in John 3:19

"And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

D. L Moody said, the best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it.[1]

Just to give some historical context to our passage: verse 20 tells us that Jesus spoke these words “in the treasury,” which was a part of the temple (verse 20). The context of our passage is during the Feast of Tabernacles. The Mishnah, an authoritative collection of exegetical material embodying the oral tradition of Jewish law,”[2]describes what the scene was like during the feast: “’Men of piety and good words’ danced through the night, holding burning torches in their hands and singing songs and praises. The Levitical orchestras cut loose, and some sources attest that this went on every night of the Feast of Tabernacles, with the light from the temple area shedding its glow all over Jerusalem. D.A. Carson points out that it is in this context that Jesus declares: “I am the light of the world.”[3]

Identifying oneself as the source of spiritual and moral light is not a trivial thing. What adds to the intrigue of the passage is that it took place during the feast of Tabernacles, in which large torches were lit throughout the city. Such lanterns illuminated the place to where Jerusalem was seen for miles around.

This festival commemorated God’s leading of the Israelites through the desert by a pillar of fire by night. Through that time, He provided them with all they needed: manna from heaven, quail from the environment and water from a rock. If this were not enough to convince us that Jesus statement is more that it at first may seem, the term light is unique to the gospel of John. For instance, in John 1:4 we read of Christ that In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The gospel of John depicts this more than any other gospel. It is a major theme herein.

Christianity Today reports that when the Nazi Adolf Eichmann was put on trial, CBS’s Mike Wallace interviewed a Holocaust survivor who testified at Nuremburg. He collapsed on the floor in tears when he saw this one who was responsible for the death of so many. Wallace asked, was this because he saw the evil in the eyes of the monster? The survivor said, “No, it was because I saw the capacity in myself to do the same thing.”

It is into this realm of darkness that Jesus comes as moral and spiritual light. Our world, because of its disobedience is enveloped in spiritual darkness. Jesus came as the light of the world, to set us aright on moral and spiritual matters. Moreover, He perfectly fulfilled God’s moral standards and died as our sinless sacrifice. It is through His light, that we can find our way to the Father.

Jesus is the moral and spiritual light of the world. He is not just a good teacher. Rather, He Himself is the light. And whoever follows Him will no longer walk in moral and spiritual darkness. And obedience to His word influences the amount of walking “in the light,” that you do over a lifetime. Jesus said: “If you love Me, you will obey my commandments.” James 1:22: “ But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

So how does one follow Jesus? How does one follow the light? Well, the repercussions are that you will not walk in darkness but have the light of life..

God calls each of us to obedience. James 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Jesus said in John 12:46:

I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.

That is good news to you and me. Jesus, in being the light of the world, addresses our dilemma of spiritual darkness. He came to turn the light on in my life. Being from above, He came to minister to me (John 8:23). If Christ is not your light, what is? Some of you sitting here today have not responded to Jesus statement, I am the Light of the world. You are gaining your insight from some other source. What are your needs today? Regardless of how big they are, Christ can help you. He came to provide everything you need, providing that you follow Him. He who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. It is interesting how Christ characterizes His disciples here: not by merely belief, but pursuit. He did not come as just one of us, but came to us as God as a missionary. Jesus is the solution to our spiritual darkness.

CONCLUSION

The late radio personality and cultural critic Paul Harvey told the following story:

One raw winter night a man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.

Touched, the farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights, tossed some hay in a corner, and sprinkled a trail of saltine crackers to direct them to the barn. But the sparrows, which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, still hid in the darkness, afraid of him.

He tried various tactics: circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn, tossing cracker crumbs in the air toward them, retreating to his house to see if they’d flutter into the barn on their own. Nothing worked. He, a huge alien creature, had terrified them; the birds could not understand that he actually desired to help.

He withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky: If only I could become a bird—one of them—just for a moment. Then I wouldn’t frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety. At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the whole principle of the Incarnation. A man’s becoming a bird is nothing compared to God’s becoming a man. The concept of a sovereign being as big as the universe He created, confining Himself to a human body was—and is—too much for some people to believe.[5]

But it remains the hope of those who call themselves Christian. Jesus beckons you to follow Him.

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1,501 Other Stories, (Nashville: Word Publishing) 2000, c1998. [2]Oxford Dictionary. “Mishnah,” online version. [3]D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 337. [4]Carson, 338. [5] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1,501 Other Stories, (Nashville: Word Publishing) 2000, c1998.

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