I am the Light

Merry Christmas everyone! We are really glad that you chose to come and worship with us on this very special night. It is always a joy to take a step back and reflect on the gift that we received. As Kristy was reading to the kids, I couldn’t help but think of God’s goodness. That ages ago, back in the time of Abraham, God made a promise. With that promise came blessing upon blessing.

God brought blessing through a growing people that became a thriving nation. Near the end of David’s life and all through Solomon’s, we see that God so richly blessed His people. Having developed from a small family of three to one of the most prominent countries in the world. The people of Isreal experienced God’s hand of favor and found themselves thriving. Yet, they were still waiting. They didn’t live in some sort of utopia. They still knew the vile depths of sin in the world..... The found themselves continuing to look forward to a time when God would fulfil the next step of His promise.

God was faithful to Isreal… Even in their disobedience. When the people turned to other gods, and the darkness seemed to have its way with them, God sent them into captivity to remind them of their need for Him. Through His discipline, He grew a deep seeded understanding of need. The people of Isreal came to know what it means to need God in a new way. As people came back to God, He continued to pour out His blessing in new ways. Yet, they were still waiting. Waiting for that promised king who would not only come as a light, but in time eradicate the darkness.

That is why we celebrate Christmas. It is why we are intent on worshiping God. Because God is faithful! He is so good!.... And that promise to Abraham, that was given 4,000 years ago… was realized in full through Jesus. As we study light in the darkness, we have been focusing on Jesus in the gospel of John. Because 2,000 years ago, Jesus, the son of God, came to earth in the form of a human. He lived the perfect life, teaching about the kingdom, and demonstrating His divinity. It is that same Jesus, who made a public proclamation of His true identity and that is what we are going to take a look at tonight.

Tonight we are studying from John 8, if you have your Bible’s, please turn there.

Before we dive in lets consider the context of this passage.

Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of Booths)

Significance implied because it is referenced often

1 kings 8:2 - Solomon Dedicated the temple

Nehemiah 8 - Coming out of exile, when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, gathered together to listen to Ezra proclaim the word of God to them. Which resulted in a great revival.

The feast occurs on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. For us, that would mean it typically lands late in September or as late as mid-October. The feast starts just 5 days after the day of atonement which is a day when there is fasting, cleansing the sanctuary of impurity, and people dealt with their sin before God. Making the feast a time of joyful celebration as Israel intentionally stops to celebrate God’s continued provisions. Provisions in the harvest, forgiveness of sin, God’s deliverance, and an intentional time of remembering God’s faithful provisions during Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness after rescuing them from slavery in Egypt. This is a time when thousands of people would have come to Jerusalem from all over Israel to celebrate all that the Lord has provided.

The significant symbol for the Feast was light. In fact, the at its climax, the people would take four large bowls filled with oil and elevate them. They would set the oil in the bowls on fire and have several men dancing around them as they hold their own torches. It was likely a beautiful demonstration to witness. A demonstration that was looking forward, with great hope, great anticipation to the coming Messiah. The light represented what was to come. The fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, a savior.

Now, here is where all of this context to Jesus’ teaching is so important. Lets start by looking at John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them saying “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

It’s the perfect time, the perfect place for Jesus to reveal Himself as the messiah! He does so by claiming to be the light in the darkness. That people who follow Him will not walk in darkness because they will come to Him - the light. As they come to the light they will come to know a new reality where they will leave, carrying the light of life with them wherever they go.

As I began to imagine what this moment could have looked like, I thought about thousands of Israelites gathering all around to watch this climatic, symbolic practice, proclaiming the hope of God’s promise to Israel. As they watch with some eager anticipation and simultaneously a deep reverence for God, they look forward, hoping and trusting that there will be a day when the light of life brings freedom? Brings clarity? Brings forgiveness? When God would finally come to be here with His people. And with the warmth of the fire still on their face, with their hope and reverence peaked, Jesus begins teaching and says to them “I am here, I am the Light of the world.”

Lets pray before we dig into the Word.

John 8:12–20 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

Jesus makes this great claim and people become hesitant. First of all, there was a law, to ensure that people would not claim to be the Christ in order to leverage others, the law stated that you had to have witnesses. Jesus says, I have the greatest witness - The Father Himself. Now the people were a little unsure about these claims.

But, Jesus had made a call to anyone who would follow Him. That they can choose to follow Him and for the first time walk in the light. Which means to walk in the glory and the holiness of Christ.

But of course there would be those who would not follow. Jesus addresses this right after our passage from last week in John 3:18–21

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””

Notice how in chapter three, Jesus is very aware that some will choose the light and that others will not. In some senses, we have to wonder, how could someone hear, interact, and know Jesus but choose to live in the darkness. If you have the opportunity to interact with the light of men, the light of life: how is it that you choose to live in the darkness?

Jesus tells us in John 3:20 “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

There is an unsettling reality that we can choose the darkness because we love it. That in the presence of the person of Jesus, we can choose the darkness over the light.

But those who choose to walk in the light. Those who choose Jesus, having come to the truth by allowing the light to expose all darkness and carrying out their works in God.

This person gets to have a relationship with the all-powerful, creating God.

This person, gets to receive the hope of glory. They get to live on mission for Jesus. They get to receive forgiveness of sins, they get to be molded, shaped, purified by the very Spirit of God in their life. This person not only gets to receive, accept, and know the light of life - but is also given the light.

Lets go back to John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

When Jesus says they will have the light of life, there is a sense in which He is referencing the coming of the Holy Spirit who comes to live in believers. Which means that Jesus came as the light and continues today, to radiate in glory. But for those who choose to follow Him, because they have received the Spirit, they have the light. Everywhere they go, they take the light of life with them into the darkness.

The invitation of Jesus is so profound. We have come together tonight to worship Jesus. To celebrate His divine love toward us. Though we cannot accomplish anything for Him, though He has no need for us, we had a great need for Him. When we stop to consider everything that is given, everything that is done by Jesus on the behalf of the believer.... there are no words.

- Even this week, as I prayed, I found myself asking the Lord to give me more language, new language to better express my praise to Him. Because my words are limited, they are not sufficient of His worthiness.

We have also come to receive from His word. His word teaches us this beautiful story of a promise. A promise given to Abaraham long ago. That the light of the world would come through Abrahams vast offspring. That promise has not only come in the Christmas story, but the promise is still being realized today. Its being realized in this sense, that as believers in Jesus we have been called to reveal the light of Christ that lives in us and as the Lord moves, as more people come to Christ, the light of life spreads.

We know, is that darkness is simply the absence of light. What does it mean for you? How does it effect the way you worship? This fact that in Jesus, we can receive and walk in the light?