I Am The Light Of The World Series

Good morning everyone! Last week we began a new sermon series called “I Am”. During the course of his ministry, Jesus made 7 statements beginning with the phrase “I Am” that both identify himself as God incarnate, and directly reveal something about his character and mission. We are going to spend the summer studying these “I Am” statements, and hopefully through the course of this series we will learn more about the character and nature of Jesus, and maybe even experience the gospel in a new way.

Last week we studied the first “I Am” statement, I Am the Bread of Life. After feeding 5000 people miraculously, the crowd followed him across the sea of Galilee in the hopes of getting another free meal. But instead, Jesus told them that he was the Bread of Life. And we learned through our study that what he meant by that is that he is the source of perfect spiritual fulfillment. Whoever believes in him and participates in him will never be hungry for fulfillment ever again.

This week, we are going to be in John 8:12-30, where Jesus claims to be the light of the world. In his book “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light.” I think this is a great quote to be thinking about as we begin week two of this series. But before we begin, why don’t we open with prayer?

So as I said last week, we’ve switched to a Narrative literary type, which means that instead of reading a personal letter that was sent to someone, we are reading a story. And since this is a story, it’s really important for us to know where we are IN it. So this part of the story we are going to look at today takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths. This feast is celebrated in the fall each year, and it is meant to commemorate when the Israelites had to live in the wilderness for 40 years, and were led around by a pillar of fire. And it is actually still celebrated today.

So what they do is build a shelter outdoors, and they live in that shelter during the entire festival. They would light candles and have them around the shelter, and back in the first century, but they would make a big deal out of lighting up all these candles in the temple. These candles were meant to remind them of the pillar of fire that led their way through the desert during the 40 years, and eventually that led them to the promised land. Obviously there is no temple now, but this next picture sort of give you an illustration of what this may have looked like.

This was one of the biggest feasts of the year, and in the first century, it was expected that all the men would go to Jerusalem for this feast. Jesus’s brothers had been trying to convince him to come to Jerusalem with them for this feast, but he said no. But then after he had left, he snuck down to Jerusalem for the festival anyways with his disciples. At this point in his ministry, he knew that the religious leaders were looking for an opportunity to arrest and kill him, which is why he was being so secretive.

The irony is that as we will see, he ended up speaking to the crowds at the festival anyways. So at this point in the story, Jesus is in the temple treasury, and he is speaking to the crowd that is there for the festival. And as we go through this story, I sort of want you to keep this picture of the temple in your mind, with all the lights and candles, and imagine it with thousands of people for a festival.

John 8:12–30 (NIV)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.

You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”