Jesus, the Light of the World
John 8:12-20
The text that we have to consider today falls in the midst of a group of seven. There are seven witnesses. They are active. They are describing not only the person of Jesus, but also the Father who sent him.
One, of the seven, centers in the eighth chapter of the book of John. As it is designed to tell us and explain more completely how Jesus is indeed the light of the world.
The whole subject of lights does not come to me easily … Lights are not an easy subject to talk about because they illumine so much in our lives. The darkness is much easier to consider because it is quite frequently there that we find ourselves at home.
But even in Jerusalem, there came an occasion where there was a great lighting of the city. During the Feast of Tabernacles, the feast was begun by the lighting of four candelabras, in the Court of Women. One the top of the four candelabras were four bowls. And there were four ladders that led to the top of them. And at the beginning of the feast, they would light those four candelabras.
The testimony of the Mishnah is that all of the backyards and gardens of Jerusalem were lit. And through the next 24-hour period, through the night, they were able to sing and make melody in their hearts … to dance and to bring joyous melody into the city of Jerusalem.
It is in the midst of this feast that we come to read about Jesus’ claim that he is the light of the world. Vs. 20 of chapter 8 says that these words were spoken in the treasury of the temple. The reference that John gives us is a specific reference to establish the setting for us. It is not in the treasury proper that he gives reference to here. Rather, it is the entrance to the treasury, an entrance off of the Court of Women. There in that colonnade, a porch like setting, were those trumpet-like structures were for people to give their offerings for the temple treasury. It was there that those four candelabras could be found. It was there that the light illuminated all of Jerusalem.
During this great Feast of Tabernacles, on this last day, the lights have dimmed, and they are no more. But at the very feet of these candelabras, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." Not only would he illumine Jerusalem, but he would illumine the world.
It seems to me that we must take this in the context of the Gospel of John. For to preach any message from the gospel of John without taking into consideration the aim of the gospel is, perhaps, to become lost in the history of the text itself. May I suggest today that in looking at this text that our aim is the same as that of John, when he wrote this gospel: "That all would believe, and have life in Jesus Christ."
And so he says, "I am the light of the world." And it seems to me in this context of discussion from chapter 7 to 9, what we see is that Jesus is talking about at least three truths concerning the light of the world. Though there are many more, it is those three that will help us to capture the focus of Jesus’ attention in the midst of the context of chapter 8, vs. 12-20.
1. The first truth is this: The light of the world brings revelation. And first of all, what we need to understand is that revelation came in Jesus’ light. He tells the Pharisees on this occasion that he came to reveal the Father. They thought they knew the Father well. But, it was, in this dialogue, on this occasion, that he begins to explain to them that he came to reveal the Father, the one that they though they knew, but, in fact, did not know. He says, in vs. 19, "If you knew me, you would know my Father." And, of course, as has already been established, in the prologue of this gospel, "No one has ever seen God, but the only Son who is in the bosom of the Father. He has made Him known."
If we are to know Him, we must identify the Him. May I suggest that Jesus has so intertwined himself with the Father that here when Jesus speaks, God speaks. When people see Jesus, they see the Father. And it is not an attempt to distinguish them totally, but here to realize the need to come to relationship with Jesus, and thus to the Father, and to know Him. And Jesus says he came to reveal that Father.
But, of course, part of that revelation that Jesus established is that God witnesses to Jesus himself. Vs. 18 says, "The Father who sent me bears witness to me." And all of this of course is in the context of controversy over who can be a witness.
The law had already prescribed that someone must have at least two witnesses. And Jesus, on previous occasion, has already indicated that he could not be a witness to himself. But here he comes back and says, "I am a witness to myself. Not only am I a witness, but my Father, as well."
And in the context of the controversy he says," I know I am a witness. Why? Because I know where I came from, and where I am going." His witness can stand when no other can stand because he is fully aware, not only of his origin, in being in the presence of the Father, but also of where his is going.
We could pray, "Oh, God give us light, so we could understand our origins." So we could live in peace with the homes from which we come.
The Jews here, and the Pharisees in particular, were attacking Jesus because he was from Galilee. The context of discussion in chapter 7, vs. 40, and following is really so painful. When there are those who come and they see that Jesus really is a prophet. Others are even willing to say, "I think he is the Christ." But the Pharisees look at him and say, "No he can’t be the Christ. He’s from Galilee. Why, everyone knows that the Christ is descended from David, and David comes from Bethlehem." And that point there is division among those who surround him. There are those who want to believe him. And there are those who say he can not be the Messiah.
The Pharisees continue to attack him. There are those who want to defend Jesus, such as Nicodemus. And the Pharisees come back to him and say, "Are you from Galilee too. Search and see that no prophet is to come from Galilee." And so they began to attack his place of origin. And they began to suggest that nothing good could come from Galilee.
Origins are important to all of us. Those who, of course, have been adopted into the families that they know best know the issue of origins.
Some of you know the pain of talking about your origins. There are some of you who come from homes that have not been adoptive, but you are not satisfied with that experience. You do not like your parents. In fact, there have been those occasions when you wished that someone would adopt you.
It is amazing, how much origins play a role in how we view ourselves, and the kind of testimony we give about ourselves.
What is so powerful in the testimony of Jesus on this occasion is that he knows from whence he comes. And he is totally confident where it is that he happens to be going.
Let me suggest to you today that if you are not satisfied about your origins, you can be confident about where you are going. The hope that has been established in the Lord Jesus Christ, the light that he sheds down upon us, is such that we can be hopeful, and thus beat the testimony that the light is real.
Much like He is, we are a witness, and we bear testimony of Him who in fact needed no witness, such agonizing discussion.
The Pharisees did not stop there because later on in chapter 8 they begin to needle Jesus again about this whole issue of origins. "Our father is Abraham." In fact, they were so bold to say, "God is our father."
They are becoming angry about this whole discussion of light for they remember what the Psalmist said, "The Lord is my light." And for Jesus to proclaim that he was light was considered blasphemy for he equated himself with God.
But Jesus came right back in the midst of this discussion, and said very boldly to them their father was the Devil, and his Father was God.
We have no need to worry about our origin because of the very confidence that we are in the light. If the testimony that we bear about Jesus, and the lives that we live for Him indicate that in fact we are the light.
Jesus did not attach on an additional statement when, on another occasion, he approached those around him and told them, "You are the light of the world."
Don’t worry about the past. Forget about it and look to the one who will guide you to where you are going. Be confident, and testify of the one who returns, and the place that he prepares for us to go.
The light of the world reveals to us all that we know of the Father, what Jesus himself is to be. The light of the world brings revelation.
2 But let me suggest to you, also, this morning that the light of the world brings redemption.
Again in the prologue, the gospel writer says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
Here was one who came to prepare those who thought that they were living, for the only life that would be everlasting. Of course in the midst of that was the understanding that there were those who were separated from God.
That is why John the Baptist, who was preaching in the wilderness, had to remind this same group that they could no longer depend upon their relationship to Abraham. For he said, "From these very stones [of the wilderness] God can raise up children of Abraham." Your life does not depend upon that heritage that you claim so boldly runs through your bloodline. No longer can you rely upon the faith of your fathers, or the heritage of faith of your families. It is time now, he says to come to the light, and that light we see brings life.
Jesus says to the Pharisees, here in chapter 8, "See I told you that you would die in your sins. For you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am."
We can talk about the facts that people know. We can talk about the religious exercises that each of us have. We can enter into discussion about the spirituality of all of our weekly events. But I guess the bottom line comes down to this for each one of us, and the question is, "Do you believe?"
It may be that it is time for use more boldly to state, "I believe Jesus is the Christ." It may be that we forget. In the midst of everything else that we teach, and that we learn, it could be helpful if we stopped in the midst of our worship services, or in the confines of our daily life and simply say to one another, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ."
For you see the light has brought redemption. And that redemption is redemption from our sins, that which has separated us from the Father, that which had described our lives in the context of darkness. And so it is that we can go and look at the continuous list of vices in the Pauline Epistles, to hear him talk about fornication, to hear him concerned about those in adultery, to know very much his concern for those who are stealing, and in that same list he would talk about those who would lie, those that know no truth.
Maybe we could sum it all up by saying, "God is opposed to the darkness" because in fact the light of the world has come to redeem us from that very thing.
3 Yes the light has brought revelation, has brought redemption. But let me suggest the text here shows us the light of the world also brings rejection.
I am intrigued by a number of evangelistic methods that are used today. For it seems to me that we continuously invite people to good times and to fellowship, to all of the joyous occasions that might take place at what we describe as the church.
But in the context of understanding that the light of the world brings revelation and redemption, we will, also, be aware that the light brings rejection.
Jesus himself was rejected. The prologue, again, sets the stage of Jesus’ ministry here, when it says, "The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world. And though the world was made through him, the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not."
Oh, I would suggest that if there was anyone in the world who would have known Jesus it would have been those who studied the Torah for so long, those who had all of the Biblical facts in hand, those who had the people, and places, and genealogies, and records. But they could not understand here was the real light. For you see they knew the light would be the Messiah, but in their eyes Jesus could not be. And so they spurned him. They rejected him.
And this morning, may I suggest to you, that if we are walking in the light, if we have indeed heard Jesus when he said, "You are the light of the world, let your light so shine." That we too will receive rejection.
I am saddened when I see … But I guess that is much like Paul, who says, these things must happen for the true light to be seen.
Conclusion We have an opportunity to live in the light, to offer the revelation and redemption. We have an opportunity to live in the light, if we do not fall to the darkness.
When you walk in the light the world will reject you. When you walk in the light your friends will reject you. But there is one who won’t, the one who says, "I love you."
The words of a song we sing say it best, "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way."
