Message
John 8:12
I Am The Light of the World
When Jesus describes Himself as The Light we can quickly understand the significance of the metaphor.
Light gives direction.
Light pierces the darkness.
Light takes away fear, uncertainty, and hesitancy.
Light reveals truth.
We get the metaphor. Those who heard Jesus speak the words get it even more. Let’s read John 8:12-20
Did you see the push-back?
Jesus calls Himself the Light of the world and immediately He is challenged by the Pharisees. It is a challenge which arises because, even more than us, the Pharisees and the crowds get what is going on.
They get it because they really know their Scriptures.
By calling Himself the Light Jesus is making a veiled claim to being divine – being God’s presence on earth. The connection here being to Exodus 13:21
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
By calling Himself the Light Jesus is identifying Himself as the promised suffering servant who will bring restoration, renewal and repentance.
We are reading Isaiah 49:6
It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you (the suffering servant) a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
By calling Himself the Light Jesus is establishing His credentials as one with Scripture-level authority.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105
I am the Light.
I am the divine servant with God’s ultimate authority to bring restoration.
The Pharisees fully understand what Jesus is saying. And they push back – hard.
You can’t just make a claim like this without proof and witnesses. You can’t be your own witness. We want proof. We want facts. We want examples.
Lot’s of people want such proof.
What is the biggest push-back today to belief in a divine power?
How can I believe in something I cannot see?
You can’t prove God’s existence!
No you can’t. Yet even as the Pharisees are pushing back, and arguing and questioning, and disputing, and causing doubts. Even as they are doing that – look what is happening in John 8:30, “Even as (Jesus) spoke, many believed in him.”
Despite the pushback there were many who believed that Jesus was who He said He was. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Jesus steps into our world … our darkness … to bring light. What does that means for us?
We will start by thinking about eyes.
The way your eye works
… and I know this because I asked my sister who is an optometrist who lectures at UQ.
The way your eye works …
There is an image in front of you, which comes through the front of your eye and is projected onto receptors in your retina. That image is then transferred to your brain through your optic nerve.
That is how you see.
But here is the very interesting part. Our eyes cannot see dark. There are no receptors in a retina that see, or pick-up, or identify, dark. Our eyes can only see when there is light. More specifically when light is reflected off an object.
In my whole life I have only ever experienced complete darkness once. Many years ago we visited a cave, which we went quite deep into and we were all being guided by torches which we all carried.
At one point we turned off all the torches.
Complete – can’t see your hand 1 cm in front of your face – dark.
There was no light.
Now I am going to say something that may not seem right at first – but stick with me. Just as your eyes don’t see darkness … your spiritual eyes also don’t see darkness. What we need to understand is that living in worldliness and darkness is not an issue of a lack of light.
19 This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:19-21
What is the verdict?
There is plenty of light. The love of God in Christ is very visible. Even if people are completely unaware of the story of Jesus … unaware of the Gospel … you just need to pick up the Scripture and read it. Especially in this modern time when the light of Scripture is revealed in so many languages.
Yes there are still people groups without Scripture in their own language.
But 81% of the world’s population has a full Bible in their own mother tongue.
Another 10% have at least the whole New Testament in their mother tongue.
Of the 9% left many can read the Bible in a second or third language.
There is plenty of light!
Add to that light the witness of disciples.
14 ‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
One in every three people in the world today are Christians. In some countries that number is much less, and in some places much more.
But it isn’t necessarily a matter of numbers is it. If you go out in the country at night time – you can even be quite isolated and a long way from anything. Yet, way off in the distance there is a house with a light on. Such a small light. Yet it can be seen from so far away. If you can see the light, you can get to it – can’t you.
Even at one in three … in Australia maybe one in ten … if we stand up and be faithful witnesses there is still plenty of light.
It is not an issue of lack of Light. Something else is going on.
Here is a great verse of Scripture.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1
If you drive out to Mutawintji National Park
Is past Broken Hill and the down a long rough dirt road.
Drive out to Mutawintji National Park and look up at night time – and you see the glory of God.
The stars – you don’t need a torch at night. The stars are just so bright and so many. They give all the light you need.
The picture on the screen shows the strength of night-time artificial light in Europe.
In the blue and green areas, stars start fading from the horizon and zenith.
In the yellow areas the natural sky is being drowned out by street lamps and lit-up buildings.
In the red and white areas there are fewer than 100 stars visible in the sky.
The artificial light is making it almost impossible to see the night-time heavens Glory of God. Not because it is getting darker, but because there is a different light source.
Look at these verses again.
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12
19 This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
Darkness.
Worldliness.
When we hear these words we very quickly jump to concepts like moral corruption, depravity, evil, sin in all it’s forms.
The dark and worldly heart which is plotting against God and against Christians. Darkness and worldliness can be like that – but it is mostly not like that. Darkness and worldliness is kind of ordinary life.
Paul says to the Corinthians
3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?
1 Corinthians 3:3-4
Jealousy, quarrelling, spiritual infighting. That is worldliness.
23 If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matthew 6:23-24
Darkness is trying to serve both God and money.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:21
Our nicest neighbours fit this description don’t they.
Your eyes don’t see darkness. Your spiritual eyes also don’t see darkness. Darkness and worldliness is not about being the worst that we can be. The most corrupt, the most sinful, the excess, the extreme. Darkness and worldliness come from look at the wrong light. You see, Satan doesn’t come as the propagator of darkness.
14 For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14
Satan is like the artificial light in the cities that stop us from seeing the glory of the Lord.
It is a distraction – the glitz and glamour of the city where there are promises of life and enjoyment and hope and security.
It’s a distortion – it looks like light but all it does is keep us in the world and make us actually forget that darkness has taken hold.
And it is very effective. When we are faced with absolute darkness, a total lack of light, what happens.
We become fearful because we can’t see anything.
There is a sense of panic because we can’t see any way forward.
Hesitancy. Caution. Searching.
That is what real darkness does.
Satan knows how it works; so masquerades as an angel of light.
So many people … even those who have once followed Jesus … so many people get caught. They get caught because they love darkness instead of loving Jesus. They don’t want to see the truth about Jesus
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12
Is Jesus who He says He is … for each one of us? Or are we pushing back?
Are we following Him? Or is there worldliness and darkness because we have been taken in by the masquerade.
It is easy to say, “No that isn’t me” but, as we have seen, the Scripture warns about darkness and worldliness even for believers.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8
Keep following the Light.
Prayer
