The Light of Christmas - John 8: 12-20

Opening:

Last week we discussed one of the I am statements of Jesus. Jesus had seven of these in the book of John. We are only going to go through three of them. The ones we are not going over are I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the true vine, and I am the way, the truth and the life. But even though we are not going into these in detail we will touch on everyone of them. I mentioned last week that the reason most people tell you to read the book of John if you are kicking the tires on Christianity, is because you will likely not come away with nothing less that as CS Lewis said so many years ago, “Jesus is either crazy, He’s is a liar, or the son of God.

When Jesus said some of the statements that he says in John, most people were mixed. The pharisees, which were people that knew the law, knew all of the history of the Jews, and did not like Jesus claiming to be the link between God and that history. So as we talked about last week, Jesus said some pretty controversial things, he caused somewhat of an uproar and was seen as a revolutionary, to the pharisees he was a dangerous revolutionary.

So today I want to look at another I AM statement. Today I want to look at what it meant when Jesus said I am the light. Is it light how we define light? Is it light in a deeper sense?

So our question today is going to be

Question:

What did Jesus mean when He said He is the Light, and how should we shine that light to others in the world?

Let’s Pray!

I want to look at the whole of John 8 before we dig into this question so that we know what is going on.

First in John 8, Jesus is dealing with the adulterous woman and her sentence to be stoned in front of a lot of people. Scripture never mentions it, but most scholars believe this is Mary Magdalene. The Pharisees heard what Jesus was saying and decided that they would try and trap him. But this backfired on them as Jesus said, the person who has no sin, throw the first stone.

So when we look at our question, this is important to see how he responds when he says a few days later that he is the light of the world

Point 1 - Jesus meant that he has no darkness in him.

Let’s look at the text

John 8:12-13

(NLT)

12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

13 The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid.”

This meant the Jesus saw himself as full light in a world full of darkness.

That meant that nobody could have light without him, and seeing him as the light that can brighten our darkness. Now he never says that if we accept him that we will be the light, he is always the light. What Jesus says is if you follow me you will always be in light. But we will never be the light on our own.

This is something we mess up, actually all of Jesus, statements they become about us, not about Him and that is wrong. We never become the bread, we never become the light, we never become the resurrection, we never become the door. We are able to be a light, be bread, be resurrected, be taken through the door for one reason only, and that is because we follow Him.

If we are in pitch darkness, we cannot see without light. Now if we have a flashlight, a match, anything, we can bring some light to the darkness where we can see. But when it comes to a spiritual sense, without Jesus, we are in darkness, we have no flashlight, we have no match, we can only get those things if we follow him. We are reflections of the light, we are not the light itself.

We see this is a correct view because in verse 13 the Pharisees are like, hold on, you think you are the what? They do not like what Jesus is saying here.

Point 2

Jesus is not claiming to be a light, he is saying he is the light.

John 8:14–19 NLT

14 Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15 You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. 16 And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” 19 “Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”

Jesus is not just claiming to be one of many, he is not just claiming to be a bright light. He is claiming to be the light.

Genesis 1:1–3 NLT

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Jesus was not the created light, Jesus was the one that said let there be light. So when Jesus says He is the light he is saying he is not just the light, he is the creator of the light. In the first chapter of John, we see this again.

John 1:1–5 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Again, John is very strategic in how he writes his book to the world. He does not start the book with the story of the birth of Jesus, he starts it with the account of Jesus eternal nature. That He was the one that existed before the beginning, the one that originated creation. The one that was not just a light to make something brighter, but a light that would extinguish darkness forever.

Jesus says some pretty bold things throughout this chapter in relation to his eternal nature. Jesus never comes right out and says he is God, but this chapter is about the closest we get to Him making statements in which he equates himself to God.

This angers the pharisees beyond belief. They not only get angry at Jesus but they try to think of ways to kill him. I want to look at the rest of this chapter because it helps us to see how Jesus is seen to the pharisees.

In John 8, Jesus starts to talk about him and Abraham. Abraham was the father of the Jewish religion, so they hold him if very high regard. Jesus though starts to talk about himself as being greater than Abraham himself.

John 8:49–59 NLT

49 “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. 50 And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. 51 I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” 52 The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ 55 but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” 57 The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” 59 At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

So we see that Jesus saying that he is the light, meant that not only is he the light in the darkness, but he is the only definition of light. If you do not have Him you are in darkness.

Point 3

Without Jesus the world will be in complete and total darkness.

Jesus as the light means in not just John, but all the gospels, that jesus is the object of knowledge and the only means to salvation. From his parables when he speaks of the light under the basket, to being the light on the hill.

Jesus also tells us to follow him not just as he is the light, but we are to reflect that light to the rest of the world. We as followers of Christ are to not be the light, but help point to the light.

The thing we get wrong, is we try to get people to us or to our church thinking that is how they will get to the light. We try to attract people with cool lights, great music, great speaking, and entertainment. That is not what it means. It means to point people to Jesus, not our church, not our bible study. Those things are important and it is a path for discipleship, but it is our responsibility as followers to point people to Jesus.

Jesus said it this way

Luke 8:16–18 NLT

16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 17 For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. 18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

As followers of Christ, we are not to hide him away, or give the task to someone else, we are to let that light shine to all who can see it. In the house in biblical times, the best way to let the light in the house was to put it on a stand so that everyone can see it, not just a few. It was not to be concealed, it was to be bright.

Jesus talks about a city on a hill. This city has light so that it can point others to it. If that city was dark, nobody would know it was there. We have to let people know it is there.

The idea of light is wrote about throughout the scriptures. it is very important that we take this and be a light to all those who need to know Jesus this season.

Many of you know I collect funko pops, I have a few of them. But I have a few that glow in the dark. But you cannot just turn the light off and watch them glow. You must charge them. What that means is that you have to put a light on them for a long period of time, and when you take the light off they glow. they reflect the light. Now if you don’t get that light back on it, it eventually dies out and no longer glows. That is what it means to follow Jesus, we must have the light all the time or we will never fully reflect the light.

So here if my challange as we close out: First do you have the light, or are you trying to be the light?

Second if you have the light, how are you reflecting it this holiday season. If you think you can do it without Jesus, you might be able to do good things, but eventually you will burn out. Jesus is the only way to fully reflect the light.

Three Take Aways:

Point 1 - Following Jesus is the only way to have the light.

Point 2- Without Jesus our world is in total darkness.

Point 3- We never become the light, we reflect it.

How are you going to reflect the light this holiday season? How are you going to reflect that light to friends, neighbors, and even enemies.

We are looking for peace as we look to the birth of Christ. Lets reflect that peace that we are looking for to others and do something out of the ordinary for Jesus.

Let’s pray