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.”
He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come. Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
So this week, we immediately get our second I AM Statement as soon as the passage begins. Last week, he fed everyone bread and fish, and then called himself the bread of life. In this story, He is at a festival celebrating when God lead the Israelites out of the wilderness in the form of a pillar of fire. While at this festival, and while surrounded by all these candles that are lit all around the the temple, Jesus says this in verse 12:
John 8:12 (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.”
So Jesus is using the festival as an object lesson to explain his teaching. But it’s important to realize that this isn’t just a clever illustration or object lesson. In the festival, the lights represented God, leading the Israelites out of the wilderness. Jesus is saying, just as God led the Israelites out of the wilderness and into the promised, I am here as a light to lead you out of darkness and into a new life. He is also, by saying this, telling them that he is God. And like I said before, if you think that Jesus never claimed to be God, this sermon series will definitely change your mind.
So obviously this was not something that made the Pharisee’s happy to hear! He went past the usual claim of enlightenment, and claimed to be the light itself. And not just any light, but the light of the world, which was a role reserved for God. He was connecting himself and identifying himself with the God who gave them the Feast of Tabernacles. Their response to this is found in these following verses.
John 8:13–18 (NIV)
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.”
In Jewish law, it was required for there to be at LEAST two witnesses to anything in order to be considered credible. So they immediately try to discredit him, saying, well anyone can say that they are the light of the world! Where is your proof?
Jesus responds by saying, first of all, as he has come from heaven, he is not subject to the rabbinic rules of testimony. But then he says that even if he WAS subject to those rules, he would still be credible, because God the father has testified on his behalf. And actually, if we read through the Gospel of John, we find that Jesus has four witnesses to who he truly is:
Himself
God the Father
John the Baptist
Scripture.
However, the Pharisees earlier in the story refused to accept any of these witnesses regarding Jesus.
John 8:19–20 (NIV)
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.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
So when he says that his Father is his witness, they either completely misunderstand him, or they are mocking him. I prefer to think that they misunderstood him, as it is still early in his ministry and he hadn’t really spent much time in Judea yet, so it isn’t unreasonable to think that they honestly did not know he was talking about God here. It appears that they were asking where his human father was, and if he was able to testify on Jesus’ behalf, where was he?
Similar to when asked when he had crossed the lake in last weeks story, Jesus ignores their question and gives his own answer: You know neither Me nor my Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also. It is probably good that they did not know he was talking about God here, because if they did, they likely would have been foaming at the teeth that he would dare suggest that they, the religious leaders, do not know God.
John 8:21–24 (NIV)
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
It’s quite clear from the harshness of his words that if they continue to oppose him and his ministry, there is no hope for their salvation. And this is important to note, because there is a belief in our society that “all roads lead to heaven”. You can believe whatever you want, have your truth, worship whomever you wish, and you will be saved regardless. But Jesus leaves no room for universalism, and neither does the gospel of John. Universalism is the idea that everyone will be saved, or that all truths are true, that we all worship the same God with different names, that sort of thing.
This is a statement for all of us. We will see this more as we go through this series, but faith in Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved from our sin, and it is the ONLY way to receive eternal life.
John 8:25–26 (NIV)
“Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
He told them that he is not of this world, and that he is from above. So they are confused. When we look back, with the big picture that they don’t have, it can be easy for us to think that they were the stupidest people on the planet. How could they not understand by now who he is? Even in this one CONVERSATION, he has told them multiple times who he is. And you can sort of feel Jesus’ frustration with them here as well. What did they think he has been telling them repeatedly?
Instead of answering, again, he moves on and says that he has much more to say in judgment of them, but he is there to proclaim the message and will of God the Father. Jewish law dictated that an agent must accurately represent the person who sent him, and to the extent that he did that was back by the senders authorization. What that means here is that Jesus has been sent by God - To expose sin, yet. But also to offer salvation and eternal life. It is this message that Jesus is there to proclaim. The extend to which he had exposed their sin up to now in this conversation was God’s will, and now he moves on to the rest of the message in the following verses.
John 8:27–30 (NIV)
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
I think that it is clear that they understood that HE thought he was sent by God. But they were personally unwilling to accept that for themselves, that he ACTUALLY came from God.
So now he prophesies his own execution: He says, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he. In this statement, Jesus is also identifying himself as the servant in Isaiah 52:13, “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.” And of course the context around that verse is a prophecy about the crucifixion.
Then Jesus concludes by saying this: The one who sent me is with me, he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. Jesus did and said all of this at a time when the religious leaders were out for his blood. He taught this at one of the biggest festivals on the year, without fear. Jesus always did what pleased God the Father, and God the Father never abandoned him. He protected him throughout his ministry, and no attempts to bring it to a PREMATURE end succeeded.
Alright, so there is definitely a theme that is building as we work through these I Am statements, but as we move to the application piece, I don’t want you to become distracted by all the white noise in these stories, all the fighting and arguing between Jesus and his opponents. I want us to focus on what Jesus is revealing to the audience about himself THROUGH the fighting and arguing, because these statements are all about who Jesus is, and what he does. So last week we focused on the fact that Jesus is the bread of life, and that as the bread of life, he is the perfect source of spiritual fulfillment. That is what that piece of his character and divinity means for us.
So this week, I want to do the same. As the Light of the World, who is Jesus, and what does he do? What does it mean for US that Jesus is the Light of the World?
1. The Light of Jesus gives us freedom from darkness
So first of all, the Light of Jesus gives us freedom from darkness. Darkness is of course sin and death in this picture. What we saw in the verses today was that the religious leaders did not understand, because they were in darkness. Jesus says “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness”. As the light of the world, He gives us freedom from sin, he leads us out of the wilderness, and into new life.
1 John 1:5–10 (NASB95)
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
If we follow Jesus, he leads us out of the darkness, and into the light. Out of the wilderness, and into the promised land. Out of a world of death and sin, and into eternal life.
2. The Light of Jesus enables us to see and know the truth
Second, the light of Jesus enables us to see and know the truth. As you saw in this story today, the religious leaders just didn’t get it, and neither did most of the crowd. Jesus is the light of the world, and it is only through him that the truth is illuminated to us. We can’t understand truth without him.
1 Corinthians 2:14–16 (NIV)
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
And then
John 8:31–32 (NASB95)
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus is the light that illuminates the truth for us. If you follow him, he will enable you to see and know the truth.
3. The Light of Jesus gives us a light of our own
Just as Jesus reflects the light of God the Father, we reflect the light of Jesus. But with that light comes responsibility.
Matthew 5:14–16 (NASB95)
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
You see, Jesus is the Light of the World. And while he was on the earth in body, his light shone to all those around him. But now that he has gone back to heaven, we are the light. Jesus was sent into this world to be a Light to all. But Jesus says this about us:
John 17:18 (NIV)
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
We have a responsibility and a calling to be light to the world around us. Just as Jesus is the Light of the World, the church is supposed to be light to the world as well.
So as we conclude, let’s remember what it means for us that Jesus is the Light of the World. After Jesus had said everything, the crowd asked, Who are you? But they didn’t realize that he just told them exactly who he was, and what he was here to do.
He came to give us freedom from the darkness of sin, so that we could live in the light of freedom FROM it. He came to illuminate God’s truth for us, so that we would be able to shape our lives after it. And he came to make us light as well, so that we can then share that light with the world around us.
Jesus said, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So lets Walk in the Light. Let’s experience that freedom from darkness, let’s live the truth of God, and lets share the light of Jesus with the world.
