God’s True Light Series

I wonder if you have the same problem that I have. I'm not talking about falling asleep when

you're supposed to take out the trash, but rather not being able to find a working flashlight when

you need one. This is a common problem, you know. I have a tote in the garage, so right when I

need a flashlight I can go right to it. The last time that I needed one, there was a power outage, I

grabbed the first flashlight. Didn’t work. Grabbed the next flashlight…didn't work. I opened it

up, there was no batteries. Grabbed the third one, opened it up, there was batteries, but it still

didn't work. So did that battery thing, you know, where you flip the batteries around a little bit so

you can squeeze the last bit of juice out of them. It only lit up to about here. So this past year for

Christmas, I got a flashlight that is so bright you could see it from Mars. And it's so bright. If you

look into it, it's like looking in a flashbulb. And for those of you that are under forty, that's like

looking into the light on the back of your iPhone.

But seriously, we need a bright light to really, I think, help us out when we can't see in the

darkness. So if you're going outside at night, maybe taking the dog for a walk or taking the trash

out, how many of us have tripped over something, tripped up a curb, tripped over your kid's toys,

or something? A flashlight really, really helps out. And good light helps keep us safe in the

darkness.

But more than needing a light to see in the physical darkness, we need a light in the spiritual

darkness. Right? We need someone to save us from the darkness of our sin and to be a light in

the sinful world to help us see right from wrong. So today, we're going to look at the true light of

the world. We're going to be discussing Jesus as the one who lightens our lives and rescues us

from the darkness.

Today we continue in our study from John 8. We're picking up from last week's lesson of the

woman caught in adultery. So here I think in these two chapters here, in chapter 7-8, I think we

have teaching a bit similar to the Sermon on the Mount in that it is rich with truth and with the

awesomeness of Christ. See, the Sermon on the Mount reveals Jesus’ wisdom and provides a

deeper meaning to some of the basic commandments. For instance, when Jesus talks about

murder, it's not just about the act of murder, it's about the emotion behind it. If you hate your

brother and your sister, you're guilty of murder. When He talks about prayer, He said it's not just

about the act of prayer, it's about personal devotion time and prayer with The Lord. But in John

7-8 at the Feast of Booths, we see Jesus reveal not so much about what we should do, but about

who He is.

Jesus understood that many that were following Him were following Him because of what they

felt He could do for them physically. But Jesus was here, obviously, for what He could do for us

spiritually. We learned that all the way back in John 3. This was His mission from God. Now

here and during the feast, Jesus boldly enters the enemy's turf, not just on some random Sabbath

but in a time that He knew the temple would be filled with worshipers. That would be like Jesus

coming here on Christmas or Easter. That's how special this holiday was for them. Jesus’

teaching is so rich during this feast, that we get three of His most referenced quotes in all of

scripture, both sacred and secular. Because some of these quotes are used in the secular world as

well. We studied one last week, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. And this week we

have the other two.

So let's begin our study in John 8 starting in verse 12. So before we begin, Jesus opens this

passage with again. So here, Jesus has an audience and He begins teaching again. So let us read

what He has to say as He begins to teach. I'm just going to read from here. So we're going to start

with John 8:12-20.

It has here – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me

will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are

bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear