Let’s start tonight’s study off by admitting that man has a great need. He may not always be aware of it, but the need is still there. Man is in darkness.
- He can’t see into the future or into the next world.
- He can’t see God, who He is and what He’s like.
- He can’t see the real meaning, significance, and purpose in life.
- He can’t grasp perfect knowledge not assurance of eternal life.
So man’s great need is to see the Light of the world. Thus, our study for tonight.
READ 12-13. Jesus again makes His claim. He is the Light of the world. Once again we see one of Jesus’ “I AM” statements. This was His claim to deity. His claim was the first thing He stated.
The promise He made was two-fold. He said, “Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness AND will have the light of life. Jesus was trying to get us to realize and admit that we don’t have light in us—not by nature. We are in darkness by nature. But Jesus also is telling us that we can be delivered out of this darkness by following Him. I must note that the Greek word for “follows” is a continuous verb meaning that following Jesus is a continuous action. We must continue to follow Jesus in order to receive light.
What do you suppose Jesus meant by the phrase “light of life?” A man exists in darkness until he follows Christ. And if we were honest with ourselves, the meaning, purpose, and significance of life can’t be seen and known apart from following Christ. It’s Christ who throws light on life, revealing what life really is.
The Pharisees objected to this claim. They knew exactly what He was claiming, that He was the Messiah and He alone could give light to the world. In their minds, only God could give light to the world. Their charge was that Jesus was alone in bearing witness to His claim. He didn’t have other witnesses so His claim was false. You might remember back in chapter 5 that Jesus gave 5 witnesses to His claims.
-the witness of the Spirit, John the Baptist, of miraculous works, of God Himself, and of the Scriptures—all witnesses to the truth of Jesus’ claims. We’ll come back to this when we get to verse 18.
READ v. 14. Slap! The first proof of Jesus’ claim is His great knowledge. He knew His origin and destiny. He was declaring, “I am the Light of the world.” He was saying, it’s not false, it’s not a lie, it’s not an ego trip.
And Jesus’ witness was valid. And His witness was sufficient evidence for a very strong reason. He knew where He came from, He knew His destiny.
Man really couldn’t tell where Jesus had come from or where He was going. Why? Simply put, man cannot penetrate or see the spiritual world. Physical eyes are blind to the world of the Spirit. Let’s get deep. If there is any communication with the spiritual dimension, the spiritual world must come into this world, into the physical dimension.
And this is exactly what has happened. And I’m not talking about John Edward’s crossing over garbage. I’m talking about what Jesus has just said. He had come from heaven, from the spiritual dimension of being. He had been an eyewitness of heaven. He had been in the very presence of God Himself, and God had sent him from heaven into this world to declare the glorious message of salvation.
READ 15-16. Jesus goes on to further prove His claim by showing man’s incompetence. Again, this is because of the difference between the two worlds, the difference between the physical and spiritual dimensions. And here is how he said it.
1. Men judge by human standards, that is, by appearance. Men judge by what they see and know. The only evidence they have is what they see in their world. But if you think about it, if men try to judge Jesus’ claim, they can’t do it on the basis of physical evidence. Why? Because Jesus is not of this world. So what does that mean? Men have to judge Him by faith. They either accept His testimony or reject it. Remember in Jn. 7:24 when Jesus told them, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
2. Then Jesus shows that His judgment is true. He didn’t judge by appearance but by God’s presence. What He was saying was that He wasn’t alone. He didn’t speak or act alone. The Father was with Him and the Father sent Him so what He claimed and did was of the Father.
Again, Jesus called God “the Father” and referred to His mission: “The Father SENT Me.” Since Jesus had come from the presence of God He’s the only One who could know all the facts. He had come to proclaim the message of salvation: “I am the Light of the world: whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
READ 17-18. Jesus gives a third proof of His claim and that was the law’s testimony. Jesus appealed to the law of man. The law required two witnesses to validate a claim. Jesus met the demand of the law. He was one witness and “The Father who sent Him” was the second witness.
Now here are two clear facts that everyone needs to see.
1. We’ve already said that Jesus’ testimony was valid. It’s clear that He spoke and acted only for God. Everything He said and did was to glorify God and to lead men TO God. But it’s also clear that He spoke and acted only for men. Everything He said and did was to save men, to awaken them and to show them compassion and mercy. Very simply, everything Jesus said and did bore witness that His claim was true, that HE was OF GOD and SENT FROM GOD to be “the Light of the world.”
2. God’s testimony was valid. It’s pretty clear that God acted in and through Jesus. The life, the words, and the works of Jesus demonstrated God’s presence and power. There’s really no other sensible explanation of how Jesus did what He did.
READ v. 19. The fourth proof of Jesus’ claim was the Father’s presence WITHIN HIM. The Pharisees mocked Jesus. They told Him to present His Father. “Go get Him and bring Him, so He can testify of your claims.” This actually proved what Jesus had just said; they judged by the human standards, by sight and appearance. They wanted physical evidence. Of course Jesus was that physical evidence but obstinate unbelief blinded them.
Jesus answered three things to their mocking unbelief.
1. The unbeliever does not know Him. He was Man standing before them, and they could see and know Him as Man, but He was also the Son of God. If they rejected His claim and refused to accept Him as Lord, they naturally didn’t know Him. The only way to know Jesus is to follow Him as Lord, as “The Light of the world” and they weren’t about to do that. And if you think about it, no person really knows another person until they spend time with that individual—getting to know him, associating with him, and learning all about him. It’s no different in getting to know Jesus.
2. The unbeliever does not know God. The only conceivable way a man can ever know God is for God to reveal Himself. God must come from the heavenly world, the spiritual dimension of being, and enter this world, revealing the truth about himself to man. So if God does come and a person doesn’t accept and believe Him, then that man will never get to know God.
3. Taking it a step further. God is in Christ. If a man knows Christ, He knows the Father also. Christ tried to tell them that He was the revelation of God. He was God incarnate in human flesh.
Paul tried to tell us in Col. 1:15 that Jesus was the express image of the invisible God. So the only way to know God is to know Christ.
READ v. 20. The great tragedy was that Jesus was rejected in the temple. The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with Him. They rejected and opposed Him and wanted to get rid of Him. And note: it was in the temple where He was rejected, yet they couldn’t destroy Him. Why? Because in God’s plan, Jesus’ time had not yet come. God protected Him.
To close:
Is there a danger of this same scene happening in our churches today?
Are there religionists in our churches today? What do they look like? Who are they?
Yes, how often this scene of unbelief among religionists is repeated in the church. Down through the centuries many religionists have wanted nothing to do with Christ, and in doing so, continue to choose self over Him.
They put more emphasis in the programs than they do in Christ.
Making sure we complete the program becomes more important than listening to what God wants.
I’ve said it years ago when I first came to SEBC and I’ll say it again.
We are not going to program what we do and then say, “Hey God. Why don’t you come over here and help us.”
Instead, we are going to focus upon where God is working, and go there. Doesn’t that sound much better?
