I AM series #2
I AM the Light of the World
John 8:12; 9:5
INTRODUCTION:
This summer we’re looking at the I AM statements of Jesus. All 8 of these statements are recorded in the Gospel of John. Last week we saw that right after feeding the 5,000 Jesus told the crowds I AM the Bread of Life. Jesus tended to use current events as a way of revealing the truth about who He is.
Today we’re looking at John chapters 8 and 9. These events probably took place in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication. This feast was sometimes called The Feast of Lights. During the feast, a candle stand --- called a Menorah ---was lit in the temple. During the Feast of Lights, Jesus came to the temple courts to teach the people. The lights of the great Menorah may have been His backdrop when he made this announcement: "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
Recently we had a Precept class on Covenants. One of the things we learned was that the furniture in the Tabernacle symbolized the coming Messiah. For example, the holy place of the tabernacle contained a table of showbread. Jesus declared himself to be the bread of life. Right across from that table was the Golden Candle Stand. This impressive candle stand provided the only light in the Holy Place. In our text today, Jesus declared that he is the light of the world. It is fascinating that the more we study the items in the tabernacle, the more we see how they foreshadow the coming of God’s anointed One. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the Tabernacle and the Temple stood for.
1. The Light shines in Moral Darkness John 8:1-11
It was near dawn when Jesus announced, I am the light of the world. The sun was rising and the darkness was lifting. But some of the religious leaders had been searching in the darkness for a way to set a trap for Jesus.
Picture the scene: A group of people have gathered around Jesus, eager to hear his teaching. Jesus sits down and begins to teach them. Suddenly they are rudely interrupted by a group of religious leaders who break into the circle, dragging a disheveled and terrified woman behind them. “Teacher,” they say, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" John 8:4-5
They thought they had Jesus there. If he imposed the law, he would lose his popularity. After all, stoning was an ugly business. But if he showed mercy, he would be breaking Jewish law. They could use that as an excuse to arrest him.
Well, Jesus did not excuse the woman. But he did not accuse the woman either. In fact, for several moments he said nothing. He simply bent down and wrote in the sand. I think it must have been absolutely quiet when he finally stood up, looked straight at the woman’s accusers, and said, “Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Now we don’t know what Jesus had written in the sand. People have theories about it, but we weren’t there to see it. What we can see is that at that moment, Jesus was the light of the world for the accused woman. His light illuminated the deep Moral Darkness of the woman caught in adultery. The way it reads, it sounds like this accused woman may have been cowering with her eyes closed. She must have been braced for the blow of the first rock. Then Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
When the woman looked up, she saw that all of her accusers were gone. One by one they had turned away and left the scene. You see, the light of Jesus did not just shine on the accused woman. His light had also illuminated the Moral Darkness of her accusers. These Religious Leaders could not condemn the woman because they had come face to face with their own guilt.
That’s the way it is when the Light of Jesus shines in the Moral Darkness. All of our sins are illuminated. Whether you are an obvious sinner like the woman in this account --- or even if you are a supposedly “upstanding citizen” like the Religious Leaders who accused her --- the Light of Jesus will expose the stark ugliness of every sin.
The sad truth is that many people avoid the light of Jesus. They avoid Him because it is painful to face the light. The Light of Jesus will force you to face your own guilt. But the amazing thing is that Jesus does not want to condemn you. Look at the words Jesus spoke to the woman caught in adultery.
She must have looked around in wonder before she told him, No one is here to condemn me. Listen to what Jesus told the woman. It is the same thing Jesus says to any of us who choose to Live in His Light. He told her, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
ILLUSTRATION: Most of you know that our daughter, Kaysha, has been living in Leuven, BELGIUM for the past few months. Just before she and Chris flew back to the USA, Kaysha met a Muslim girl named Miriam. While at a Laundromat, Kaysha noticed this beautiful young girl watching her play with David. The girl asked David’s age and they started talking. The girl explained that her Muslim family ran a restaurant in another city. She was staying with a friend in Leuven.
As they continued talking, she told Kaysha that she had recently found out she was expecting a baby. She was not married. When she told her family they were furious. She said her family now hated her. Her mother would not look at her or talk to her. They demanded she get an abortion. She wanted to keep the baby, but she didn’t know what to do.
Before they left Leuven, Kaysha gave the girl information about a group of Christians who had converted from the Muslim religion. She also told her about a Pregnancy Resource Ministry that would help her.
She didn’t hear from Miriam again until she received an e-mail here in San Antonio. Miriam told what had happened in the days since Kaysha saw her. I don’t want to have to tell you what she wrote. It is too horrible to bear, and it shows the evil darkness of our world. Miriam said that her brothers came to Leuven and beat her until she miscarried the baby. They broke several of her ribs. More than that, the tone of the e-mail showed they had broken her spirit. She wrote to Kaysha, “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”
Is there any doubt in your mind as to the darkness that covers most of this planet? Do you see why we need to shine the light of Jesus in dark places? What was done to this young woman was done in the name of Religion. And this kind of atrocity is more common than any of us want to believe. We need to realize that Religion can be full of Darkness. Religion that teaches fear and hate --- Religion that is full of condemnation and legalism is Religion of Darkness. Jesus came to shine His light on a world full of Religious Darkness.
2. The Light shines in Religious Darkness John 8:1-12-58
The scripture says that the next time Jesus spoke 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." John 8:12 The Religion Leaders immediately challenged him. The Pharisees basically demanded, “Who says so? Why should we take your word for anything?”
Jesus replied, “In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” John 8:17-18 Throughout the rest of the chapter, Jesus explained His relationship to God, his Father. He told them, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also. … 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.” John 8:20,28-29
Today, on Father’s Day, is a good time to notice how Jesus emphasized the close, loving relationship between God the Father and God the Son. When a father and son have a close relationship, it is true that to know the father is to know the son.
· If you can trust the father, you will tend to trust the son.
· If the father has shown himself to be a hard-worker, you’re more likely to want to hire the son.
· If a young man wants to marry your daughter, you’re going to be interested in what kind of father he has.
We all know that the relationship between father and son is one of the most significant relationships on earth. That is the way Jesus described his connection to God the Father.
Obviously Jesus loved his Father dearly, followed his father’s lead obediently, and was proud that his father had sent him into the world to do the work he was doing. The close, loving connection between father and son was demonstrated so eloquently in this passage. They are one in character, personality, and purpose.
It always astounds me when liberal scholars state that Jesus never claimed to be divine. Obviously they had to bypass the gospel of John to say such a thing. Either that or they purposefully misunderstand it. And that is exactly what the Religious scholars of Jesus’ day did. They purposefully misconstrued everything Jesus said. Instead of recognizing the truth of his relationship with God the Father, they twisted everything he said. At one point Jesus bluntly asked them, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:46-47
The arguments and accusations intensified until, finally, Jesus made this bold statement: “I tell you the truth. Before Abraham was born, I AM!” ( John 8:58). When He made that claim, Jesus used the very name God used for himself in the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, Moses asked God his name. God answered: I AM what I AM.
The religious leaders felt the full impact of what Jesus was claiming. The same men who had walked away from stoning the woman caught in adultery now picked up rocks to stone Jesus. But the scripture says Jesus hid himself and slipped away from the temple grounds.
These men continued in their Religious Darkness. They showed the truth of John 1:4-5 where John introduced Jesus this way: In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
It reminds me of an old saying which proves true: There is none so blind as he who will not see. The Religious Leaders were blinded by their pride and self-righteousness. They were quick to condemn others but blind to their own need for the LIGHT.
Soon after these events, Jesus met a man who was well aware of his need for light. This man was literally, physically blind. In healing him, Jesus had the opportunity to show once again that he is the Light of the World.
3. The Light shines in Physical Darkness John 9:1-12
Just before Jesus healed the blind man, he told his disciples, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9:4-5
Jesus then proved that He is the Light of the World by giving this man his sight. The account says he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put in on the man’s eyes. He then told the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:7
This is a beautiful picture of what Jesus, the light of the world, can do for every one of us --- IF we are willing to admit we are blind. Because the man born blind was willing to do as Jesus instructed, he was healed of his blindness. He didn’t argue with Jesus as the Pharisees had done, and he didn’t attempt to place blame on anyone else like those same leaders tried to do with the woman caught in adultery. Instead, the blind man accepted Jesus healing and gave credit where credit was due.
Later on, those same religious leaders argued with the blind man. They tried to tell him that Jesus was a notorious sinner. He responded to them by saying, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” John 9:25 The healed man knew that his light came from Jesus.
Later on, when the man spoke again with Jesus, he worshiped Jesus as God’s Son. His physical eyes AND his spiritual eyes were opened! The religious leaders remained in the Darkness, but this man recognized that Jesus is indeed the light of the world. Jesus became the light in his personal world.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus is able to banish darkness from the lives of those who believe in Him. His I AM statements show that he is God who has come to earth. He came to earth for our benefit: to give us what we need.
· He is the Bread of Life.
· He is the Light of the World.
He existed before Abraham, and those who believe in Him will never taste death.
Because of those claims Jesus made that day, some people walked away. Others wanted to stone him. But those who believed stepped from Darkness into Light.
There is no other light. Those who claim to have light from any other source are blind and are living in darkness. Today, will you see Jesus, not only as the light of the world, but as the light of your world?
