JESUS: The Light of the World                                                  11-13-05

John 8:12-20 (8:12b)     Audio

As the sun neared the western horizon in Jerusalem that night, the spectacle was again about to begin – the lighting of the 4 great candelabra in the Temple courtyard.  Some scholars say it only happened once during the Feast of Tabernacles; others say it happened each night during the feast.

Young priests climbed their ladders to light the great oil-fed wicks, 7 of them on each of the 4 huge menorahs.  It was said that they sent such a blaze of light throughout Jerusalem that the darkness was penetrated and every courtyard in the city was lit up with their brilliance.  And all night long, religious leaders in Israel danced before the Lord and sang psalms of joy and praise to God while the people watched.

It was a reminder each year that during the wilderness wandering of their ancestors, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night accompanied them from the time they left Egypt until they crossed over Jordan and entered into the Promised Land.

Either in the light of those great candelabra, or with their image still fresh in their minds, Jesus spoke these words, beginning in John 8:12.

(12-20).

I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

“You have seen the blaze of the Temple lamps piercing the darkness of this city.  I am the light of the world, not just of a single city.  And My light is not just for a single night, not just for a single festival; My light is for a lifetime to all who will follow Me.”

These religious leaders knew what Jesus was saying, what He was claiming.  They knew the Scriptures.  They knew…

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

Isaiah 60:19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Micah 7:8 Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

They knew that all these passages about light referred to the Lord Jehovah; that He was their light.

They knew that when the cloud and the fire led their ancestors through the wilderness, it was the Shekinah glory of God that led them.  And now Jesus is claiming that He is the light of the world.  Not just A light in the world, but THE light.  No wonder they reacted as they did.  He was again claiming to be God.

“I am the light of the world” Jesus said. Consider these 3 characteristics of light.

Light Illuminates.

In the story of Creation, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.  Genesis 1:3

God saw that the light was good.  Isn’t it interesting that He doesn’t say that darkness is good?  Light illuminates what cannot be seen in the darkness.  I have heard people say when wrestling with a complex problem in their life: “It was like a light suddenly came on and I could see it all clearly.”  There was illumination.

Job says in 29:3 “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!  He no longer sensed God’s light in his life.  He longs again for the light of God to shine on Him.

Luke 1:78-79 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  Without His light, we cannot see where that path lies, we can’t see where He would have us to walk.  Light illuminates life.

Light Exposes.

Don’t you wish you knew what Jesus wrote in the dust of the Temple Courtyard in the verses that just precede His claim to be the Light of the World here in John 8? 

A woman had been brought to Him who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They had set her up so that they might use her to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against Him.

“Here she is, Jesus.  The Law says we should stone her; what do you say?”  He doesn’t say anything; He simply stoops down and begins to write in the dust.  Then He stands up and says “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  And He stoops and begins to write again.

Had He written their a list of her accusers’ names in the dust the first time He wrote, and did He begin to list sins each of them recognized as He wrote the second time?  Whatever He wrote, the woman’s accusers began to retreat in haste, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest.  Something had been exposed in their hearts, if not in the dust.  The Light of the World exposes what is in our hearts.

John 3:19-24 says This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  Light exposes.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Light Gives Hope.

Isa 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Psa. 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

In one of our Wednesday night classes, we talked about what it means to be spiritually lost.  We talked first about being physically lost, and asked if anyone had ever been lost, and what it had been like.  One man told of being lost in the woods when he was younger, of wandering around in the darkness and of finally seeing a light.  That light gave him hope as he walked toward it & finally found his way out of the darkness.

Walking in darkness, seeing a light, walking toward that light as it guided him to safety; what a picture of our coming to Jesus.  Light gives hope.  Let’s move now to some practical application of this truth.

SINCE JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…

I am to walk in the light.

Christianity is not a philosophy, or a religion, or label we wear. Christianity is a way of life.  It is following Jesus, walking in His light. Look again at John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

Following Jesus means walking – no longer in darkness but walking in the light.  It is a way of life that we are to live 24/7.  It is a way of life that is to affect every thought, every word, every attitude, every motive, every activity, every relationship, every step we take on this road of life.

Christianity is a way of life; it is following Jesus, walking in His light.  And if you are not doing that, you are not a Christian.  You may wear the label, but you are mis-labeled.  And despite the fact that we have talked about this before, I think some of you still don’t grasp this.  It’s your way of life that tells what you are, not your label.  Listen to what the Bible says:

1 John 1:5-7 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Psa 89:15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,

who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.

Here are two passages talk about what walking in the light looks like.

Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

1 Thes. 5:5-8 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Live as children of light (for the fruit of righteousness consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth).  Goodness, righteousness, truth – those are evidences of one who is a child of light, who is walking in the light.  Alert, self-controlled, faith, love, hope (the joyful and confident expectation of future good – both in this life and in the life to come).

What is your life like after you leave this place?  Again this week someone talked with me about inconsistencies they have seen between what some people in our church have professed on Sunday, and how they live their life on their job M-F.  Others have talked with me about how people are at church, and how they are once they get home. 

Titus 1:6 says: They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.

Jesus desire for you is that you would walk in the light, not in darkness, and that you would walk that way with consistency – not one way on Sunday and another way on Monday, or one way here and another way once you leave here.  The command is “Live as children of light”, and if we translated it literally it would read “Live and keep on living as children of light” – not periodically, but continually: in your home, on your job, in your entertainment, in your recreation, in all you do.

I am to reflect the light.

Many months from now we will be going through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, & 7.  In those messages we will look at Jesus’ words about a great variety of topics.  And in one of the passages we will look at, He says “You are the light of the world” (5:14).  But if He is the light of the world, how can I be the light of the world?  Does that mean I am God just as He is God?  Not at all!

2 Corin. 3:18 gives us the answer: And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  That’s one of the verses that I want us to have written on a wall in the lobby.  It tells us what the Christian life is all about: we reflect the Lord’s glory to others, and in the process we are transformed into His likeness.

In the verses that follow that one, it says (2 Corin 4:6-7) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Those are some of the most powerful words you will find anywhere in the Bible.  His light shining in our hearts.

You and I are just jars of clay.  The greatest of all treasures, the knowledge of the glory of God, is contained in a clay pot so that we would know that the glory is not of us.  It comes from outside of us; it comes from God.  It’s His glory, not ours.

Am I reflecting God’s glory, His presence, His character to those around me, or am I just an empty clay pot?  One clay pot is no better than another, but if your clay pot is filled with God’s glory, His presence, His love and joy and peace, His holiness, His mercy and grace, then you will count for something in this world.  You will fulfill the purpose for which God created you.

I cannot reflect His glory without facing Him. If I have my back turned to Him, if I am walking away from Him rather than toward Him, I will never reflect Him to others.  I will be like the dark side of the moon.

Walking in the light, and by so doing, reflecting His glory to others.

Is Jesus your light, and are you walking in His light – consistently throughout the week?

Are you reflecting Him to others, and in the process becoming more like Him?

That’s God’s challenge to us today.