John 8:1-12 I Am, am I going to follow him or shall I remain in the darkness?
Talk about being put on the spot, a life and death decision “….Jesus had gone up to the Mount of Olives 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
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.”
A wee bit of background to this story.
Biblical scholars tell us that these things occurred at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles or another name for it is the Festival of Booths; which is a time when the Jewish people celebrate when their ancestors under the leadership of Moses left Egypt and travelled for forty years across the desert, lead by a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. At this time they lived in little huts called booths.
The Jewish people celebrate by making little huts and having a fine old time of celebration.
On the day that John is talking about in his gospel, Jesus appears in the Court of the Women, which is a place for Jewish women to be at the Temple, where they can worship God.
This is a busy place, this is also the area where offerings are collected in trumpet shaped cones that feed into the Temple Treasury, and at this time, in the temple court on the first day of the Festival of Booths a ceremony took place called, “The Illumination of the Temple.”
But wait there’s more, the lamps used in this ceremony and if you remember nothing else for this sermon, are made of a material that would illuminate the whole of the court and be seen throughout Jerusalem. This material was the priests old garments; when the clothing wore out or became too dirty to wear, it was never thrown away. The regular priest’s garments were cut up and made into wicks for the holy lamps, of the temple.
Imagine the scene, Jesus had spent the night on the Mount of Olives alone with God the Father, John’s gospel tells us he appeared in the Temple Courts, something to wonder and ponder over, I don’t know? A miracle or did he just walk there?
The sun is rising, colours are starting to appear among the forms of the country side, in the temple lamps are blazing as the wicks from the priestly garments burn with fury, the temple court is aglow with light. People gather around Jesus this rabbi as he prepares to teach. He sits, then a woman is dragged in by the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, most likely with adrenaline pumping and their pulses racing, perhaps carrying stones for the task they believe will soon be at hand.
The woman they hold capture, knowing the penalty for her act, how does she feel, is she cold one minute, hot the next, sweating under the strain of the likely consequence of the question that is about to be asked? No doubt she feels sick, likely she wants to vomit under the pressure, I know I would. Maybe her lover has already been stoned…for some reason she has so far been spared… maybe it’s to test the knowledge of this Rabbi Jesus? What does she see ahead; death, darkness and damnation?
They ask him something; it’s a fuzzy blur in her ear, ‘to stone or not, what do we do with this woman; the law says this, what do you say?’ Among the tension and brooding violence is a moment of claim as they await his reply.
The Rabbi Jesus bents over and writes something in the ground, is he gathering his thoughts, or is it that he is reminding himself and those around him of something, could it be the way that the law was written by the very finger of God?
He stands and gives his verdict: “If any of you here is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stoops and quietly writes in the ground with his finger… they start to leave.
She finds herself alone with this rabbi. The concern is still there, what will become of her?
He speaks “Woman where are they?” has no one condemned you?”
“No one sir.”
His judgment brings clarity and a conclusion “Then neither do I condemn you.”
Jesus final words to her are clear and direct, two instructions she must obey for once again there is a future, once again there is life.
He issues a command “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Once again she sees colours, that black veil of darkness, death and damnation has been lifted from her mind. Released, she walks in the light of the new day…and the light of a new way of living.
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.”
1) If we look at the original language behind this statement, the Greek, we can see that Jesus is pointing out some fairly in depth stuff by saying “I am the light of the world” he is saying that ‘he is the light of this world and that this world is opposed to God or that all except Jesus is in darkness. ‘
That while it appears that the sun is coming up, the colours are appearing and lamps are burning bright illuminating all around them, the world is still surrounded with a spiritual darkness. That he Jesus is the only light that shines among it.
2) When he says “whoever follows me will never walk in darkness” he is saying that this is categorical or clear-cut. The word ‘never’ here is like a double never that is accentuated to the max, it’s like saying ‘whoever follows me will absolutely not, in no way walk in darkness.’
For those of you Irish music fans it’s a little like the line from the Wild Rover where he turns his back on his past behavior and says; “And it's no, nay, never! No, nay, never, no more, will I play the wild rover. No (nay) never no more!”
It’s the biggest never you can think of. Will never walk in darkness.
3) Jesus then goes onto say, “but will have the light of life” which means what it says with the addition of that life being “spiritual life delivered from the proper penalty of sin.”
So it is like he is saying that “I am the only light in this dark opposed to God world, but whoever follows me will absolutely not, in no way walk in darkness, but will have the light of the source of spiritual life and be delivered from the proper penalty of sin.”
Jesus is the light in this dark world, the source of spiritual freedom and life.(SBI)
We are assured that when we follow him we are not bound to the darkness. The one requirement is that we follow, Jesus said “whoever follows me”…the Greek word for follow translates too follow. Repeating that the Greek translation for follow means too follow; not ignore, walk beside, walk ahead, have a couple of hours, weeks, months or years off while I satisfy a few desires or try out something a bit naughty that Jesus wouldn’t approve of, to play our own tune, follow the teachings of someone else, think he is a nice bloke, light incense to Buddha for good luck as well as come to church, avoid stepping on cracks or walking under ladders…follow in this instance means to follow him. No matter what the cost is, no matter how far it takes you out of your comfort zoneyou’re your own personal direction…it means follow.
It is only in following that we see things clearly, only by following ‘The Light of the world’, do we truly see the real spiritual colours instead of just forms; for Jesus is the light in this dark world, the source of spiritual freedom and life.
It is only in him that we are truly free, free from the deserved penalty for our sin.
The choice is ours, always ours, do we walk in the light of the Christ or not? This is not forced, do we remain in that place of wondering what the depth of true commitment to following him will bring, living in a place where we think we might just make it, that we’ve might have been just good enough for that ticket to Glory or do we go the whole hog and decide that with God’s help we will live a life of new awareness, as we see the colours that ‘The Light of the World’ makes clear for us, as we live in the knowledge that Jesus is the light in this dark world, the source of spiritual freedom and life.
What ever it is that holds us back what ever the sin, be it lying, cheating, a spirit that is out of kilter with the will of God, stealing, adultery, …what ever it is: Jesus speaks to us all; he gives us away to avoid that penalty that we all deserve, what was it that he said to the woman in the temple? “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus said “I am the light of the world” ask yourself am I going to follow him or shall I remain in the darkness?
