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The Teachings of Jesus - Part 2 of The Great "I Am" statements in the book of John, Jesus Said:"I am the Light of the World." John 8:12 The rest of verse 12 says: "He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life." In a world that so often is so dark; what a great promise to grab hold of! Let's look at what was going on when he said it. 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." 12 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." John 8:1-12 It was an ethical Catch 22. The situation was a lose - lose situation for Jesus. Either way the Pharisees would win, at least that's what they thought. Jesus' reply was incredibly profound in its simplicity: "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first" (John 8:7). The Pharisees stared at each other and began to squirm. This was supposed to be their victory, not Jesus'!! Soon they just disappeared back into their spiritual darkness.The Amplified bible describes it this way: Jesus told the woman to go her way and sin no more, and then said to those who were still hanging around, "I am the light of the world He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life." William Barclay said in his commentary: "When Jesus made his claim to be the Light of the World the Scribes and Pharisees reacted with hostility. That claim would sound even more astonishing to them than to us. To them it sound like a claim - as indeed it was - to be the Messiah, and even more, to do the work that only God could do. The word light was specially associated in Jewish thought and language with God.
"The Lord is my light." (Psalm 27:1) Today, we don't need more Law, more "religion", more rules and regulations; we need more light. We need Jesus - the Light of the World. Light cuts through darkness it takes away fear. When I was really young I was afraid of the dark & one little light - a night light on the wall - took away my fear. It's the same with Jesus. Psalm 27 says "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid." The presence of light takes away the darkness and when the darkness is gone, fear is gone. When we have Jesus as our light; we have no reason to fear. Allow Jesus, the Light of the World to be the Lord of your life (He's in charge, not you) and He'll send away the darkness. "This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." I John 1: 5-7 Jesus doesn't stop with the Pharisees and the woman though - he sees the crowd gathered around him, having witnessed this event and he speaks to their darkness as well. This whole event has taken place in the Treasury during a time called the Feast of Lights. In the Treasury, probably very close to where everything took place, were great golden lamps used to provide light. There was also a large candelabra that was lit to symbolize the pillar of fire which was God's presence that led the people of Israel through the desert by night during the time of Moses.Jesus looks around at the people who have come to celebrate this feast and he makes his second "I Am" statement - "I am the Light of the World." He is saying:
"I represent God's presence here on Earth" Jesus replied, "My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light." John 12:35-36 One Last Thought - If you have already been touched by the light of the World, reflect it. Show his light to your family and friends. You may be the only light your neighbours will ever have to help light their way to God. You don't have to make a lot of noise to shine for Jesus. D.L. Moody once said, "We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine." Wouldn't it be too bad if your light was dimmed by sin? You can make a difference in a world darkened by sin. You don't need to light a candle; just let your light shine. Next Sunday - "I Am The Door" |
