Jesus, the Light of the World John 8:12, 9:5
The Light of the World is one of the powerful titles that our Lord Jesus assigned to himself twice in the Bible, once in John 8 and once in John 9.
Read Jn 8:12 and Jn 9:5; Pray
Question – How many of you were afraid of the dark when you were a child?
One Dutch study – 74% of children reported being afraid of the dark during their childhood.
Another British study – 64% of adults still report occasional fears of darkness and 17% reported that they slept with some kind of light on at night.
A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mama, I don't want to go out there. It's dark."
The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark," she explained. "Jesus is out there. He'll look after you and protect you."
The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, "Are you sure he's out there?" "Yes, I 'm sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him," she said.
The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, "Jesus? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?
I don’t know if Jesus handed him the broom of not that night, but I do know that Jesus is the Light of the World that casts out the darkness of our souls!
A number of years ago, National Geographic, had an amazing article on the “Power of Light”. The articles introduction caught my attention:
“Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of color. Light feeds us, supplying the energy of plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life- changing tools, from incandescent bulbs to lasers and fiber optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what it can do. They just know that it will illuminate our future.”
A MORE RECENT NATGEO ARTICLE SAID THIS: There has been light from the beginning. There will be light, … at the end. In all its forms—visible and invisible—it saturates the universe. Light is more than a little bit mysterious. Modern physics has sliced the stuff of nature into ever smaller and more exotic constituents, but light won't reduce. Light is light—pure, but not simple. No one is exactly sure how to describe it. A wave? A particle? Yes, the scientists say. Both. It is a measure of light's importance in our daily lives that we hardly pay any attention to it. Light is almost like air. It's a given. A human would no more linger over the concept of light than a fish would ponder the notion of water.”
It went on to say, “The more you look at the topic, the more you realize that our lives are built around light, that our daily existence is continuously shaped—and made vivid—by that ambiguous stuff that dates from the beginning of time. From our technology to our spiritually, we are creatures of light.”
I believe an article like that has spiritual insight for us as Christians, don’t you? As I read further, verses about light in the Bible just raced through my mind. Wow I thought! In the beginning God said, Let there be light, and there was light! God said that on the first day of creation and if you go back and read Genesis you will find that the Sun was not created until the 4th day. There was light available on earth 3 days before the Sun was made. The Bible tells us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all! It is no wonder that Jesus, the Son of God, and God the Son would proclaim himself to be the Light of the World when he was here on this earth! But what did he mean by that declaration or title that he gave Himself? Listen to John 8:12 again:
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The context for this revelation by Jesus is significant. Jesus declared Himself to be the light of the world during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. This great Old Testament observance recalled the wandering of Israel in the desert before their occupation of the land of promise. According to oral tradition, at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles two large menorah were placed in the women’s court of the temple, standing about 73 feet tall and that the glow of this light could be seen throughout Jerusalem. Jesus more than likely pointed to that great light radiating from the temple mount and uttered, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
What did Jesus mean by this Powerful Name that He gave himself?
I want to use an acrostic of the word “Light” to bring out 5 spiritual truths about Jesus as the Light of the World:
I. The Letter L – in Light stands for LIFE
The Gospel of John ties life and Light together in the very first chapter of this God-inspired book – Read John 1:1-5
The idea of Light can be understood in three areas of our existence:
A. Intellectually – Light is symbolic of truth and darkness is ignorance or error
B. Morally – Light is symbolic of Purity, Holiness – Darkness is seen as wickedness, or as a sinful lifestyle
C. Spiritually – Light is LIFE – darkness is death (unbelievers will be cast into outer darkness)
John 12:8 promises that whoever will follow Jesus as the Light of the world will have the light of LIFE! Last week we learned that Jesus is the Bread of Life and he is also the Word of Life and to those who know him and follow him he is the Light of Life! Are you truly following Him today? John 1:9 calls him the TRUE LIGHT which is available for us to follow throughout our lives.
Here's the bottom line – Light is essential to Life! Know Jesus, Know Life, No Jesus, No Life! 1John 5:12 says, He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
II. The letter I stands for Illumination - John 9:5
The second time Jesus made the claim that He is indeed the Light of the World is in John 9:5.
Verse one sets the context – A man blind from his birth. He suffered from NLP – “no light perception.” That phrase is used as a definition for total blindness!
What this man needed was illumination! And that is what the light of the world gave to him. And he did it in an unusual way! Vs 6-7 He came seeing!
And the neighbors noticed!
The fact is, before we came to Christ, we were all spiritually blind!
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Jesus is the great eye opener!
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Simply put, illumination in the spiritual sense is “turning on the light” of understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done for us!
In 1947 country singer Hank Wiliams wrote a song that sums up the meaning of Illumination as it relates to our understanding of Jesus as the Light of the World.
“I wandered so aimless life filled with sin, I wouldn't let my dear Savior in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night, praise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness no more night.
Now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight, praise the Lord, I saw the light”
Hank must have been familiar with this story in John 9 because the second verse of the song says:
“Just like a blind man I wandered along, worries and fears I claimed for my own.
Then like a blind man, God gave back his sight, praise the Lord I saw the light!”
L- Life – I – Illumination
III. G in light speaks of Glory – John 1:14
Jesus was the Word that was with God; the Word that was God of John 1:1 and he is the Word made flesh in John 1:14 which says:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 1:1-3 explains, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
That word brightness means “shining forth, of a light coming from a luminous body”
2Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. … 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
IV. H – Speaks of Heaven – Rev 21:22-24
Revelation 21:22-24 - Speaking of the New Jerusalem and our eternal state the Bible says, “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:…”
Have you noticed that light bulbs have changed a lot in our lifetime? From incandescent, to florescent to LED lights. According to many in the lighting industry, the next big thing is laser diodes. They claim that one laser diode will be able to provide light to an entire house at far less cost that LED bulbs and that entire office buildings of the future will be lit with just a handful of laser diodes!
But that is nothing compared to what awaits the child of God in heaven! No more darkness! There in that heavenly place Jesus will be shining like the Bright and morning star, The Lamb who was slain to save us will also be the light to sustain us and bless us forever and ever!
Oh, what beauty, Oh, what Glory, Oh what brilliance. Jesus is the light of this world and the world to come! I am so glad He is my savior. Do you know Him this morning?
V. L- life – I – illumination, G – Glory, H- heaven, T – Transformation! Acts 26:12 - 23
The great apostle Paul loved to give his testimony of all that Jesus had done for him. His life had truly been transformed. Listen as he tells his story to King Agrippa in Acts 26 - Read
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
A missionary in China once asked a native if he had ever heard the Gospel. “No,” he replied, “but I have seen it. I know a man who was the terror of the whole district. He was at times as fierce as a wild animal, and was also an opium smoker. When he accepted the Jesus’ religion, he became quite changed. Now he is meek, and is no longer wicked, and has given up opium smoking. I can see by that, that the Gospel and the service for Jesus are good.”
Jesus IS the Light of the World and he said this, “he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
This is good news for you and me and the world. We have a choice in whether we want to live a life of darkness or a life of light. Jesus, the light of the world, makes it possible for us to make the right choice!
WE can choose Truth over ignorance and error
WE can choose Purity and Holiness over sin and evil
WE can choose the light of life over the darkness of spiritual death!
Jesus said, in John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Paul wrote in Eph 5:8 - For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Jesus in the sermon on the mount proclaimed:
Mt 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The apostle John tells us: 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Won’t you let the light of the world into your heart this morning? Make the choice of light over darkness right now!
