Life in the Light

Dark is Dangerous

We all know this, but living and walking the dark is dangerous. Trouble lurks.

For instance, you and your spouse go out on a romantic dinner date. It’s quiet and the lights are low, the waiter gives you your menu, and you can’t read it.

If you can’t read it, you might order the wrong thing. If you have an allergy to shellfish, and you mistakenly order prawns when you think you’re ordering pasta, you might swell up like a puffer fish and your romantic date might end up in the ER.

You need light.

Our phones are wonderful tools. We don’t have to carry a calendar, a calculator, a laptop, or a flashlight. So, when in a situ like a dark restaurant, turn on the flashlight on your phone.

Of course, now, you run the risk of looking like and old person. We spend so much time and money trying to look young, but if you turn that light on trying to read your menu then you will look old. That and your reading glasses and there’s no hiding the truth. We’re old.

But, if we can see trouble, then we can avoid it.

There was a couple here when I got here 9 years ago. They were part time and have since sold and we don’t see them any more. But, I got to know them that first summer. They went to the valley for the winter.

She got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, it was dark, she tripped over her dog and did a header into the wall. She broke her neck. It could have been much worse. But the next summer she was here in a collar.

We have nightlights in our bedroom now. Jack is black and blends in w/ the darkness.

If you can’t see the trouble, then you don’t know to avoid it.

We’ve just come thru another winter season relatively unscathed. We only had one day when a storm knocked out our power. It happened to be Easter Sunday. And it was all day when it was light out. But, when it happens at night, it’s important to have your flashlight handy w/ good batteries.

We talk about that all the time. Chief Tope and others help us prepare for emergencies. Have your “Go-bag” ready, winter or summer.

We are going from ice storm season to fire season. And we have a lot of resources to help you prepare. And they all say have a flashlight nearby, or in your go-bag, w/ good batteries. Obviously, when you’re scrambling around to evacuate when a fire is bearing down on MP, If the power is out, it’s too easy to run into trouble if you can’t see it.

We all know bad guys hate the light, they love the dark. Many of us have outdoor lights on motion censors. There are ppl out there who are looking to do evil things. When the light comes on, it’s more likely to scare them off.

If you’re trying to sleep, darkness is good. But, once you get up to walk around, you need the light to be able to see. In the dark, we don’t know what we don’t know about what’s there that can hurt us.

It is an important safety feature to have light that will help us see what to avoid and where to go to stay safe.

Jesus, and His word, provides the same thing in a spiritual way. What Jesus has said, and what He has directed others to write, will provide us with what we need to know to stay safe and avoid trouble. And some of the trouble we can find in the darkness can be pretty serious.

Often, we don’t know as much as we think we know about staying safe and avoiding trouble.

Our ignorance can lead us places where we can find more trouble that we can handle. And, there are ppl out there looking to do evil things that can hurt us, too.

Therefore, walking in the Light will help us see what we need to see to stay safe and avoid trouble that can hurt us. Jesus is that Light.

We’re in John 8 where Jesus takes advantage of the Festival they just came thru to make this life-giving, life-saving point. Like had previously happened, some of the people who needed to get this, missed it.

This verse seems simple enough on the surface. But let’s get beneath the surface and understand the significance of the context in which Jesus made this statement.

The Light

John 8:12 NIV

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.”

This seems simple, straight forward, but the context gives this statement great depth. There is more than meets the eye in these words spoken at this time.

This came right after, or maybe during, the Festival of Tabernacles.

An aside, the previous passage about adultery, that I taught last week, might be included out of chronological order. Even if these passages are in accurate chronological order, they make sense. B/C, the events of this festival would be fresh on the minds of the ppl who heard Jesus say this.

Jesus is back in the temple, doing what He did all the time. He taught the ppl more about who He is and what He would do for them. Remember, at this time, it’s October. The Passover in April will be His crux. He’s 6 months away from his death and res.

He is shifting into high gear teaching everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, clearly who He is. This is a Jewish setting. And the Festival gives Him a context to teach them more about what He had come to do.

The Festival of Tabernacles celebrated what God did in the past when He provided for Israel and protected them as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. It also looked ahead to what God will do in the future.

For instance, on the last day, the high priest would walk down to the pool at Siloam and fill a jar with water. He would walk back up to the temple and pour the water out on the altar of sacrifice.

This symbolized several things.

It symbolized God’s provision of enough water in the desert to keep 2 million ppl and their livestock alive and healthy for 40 years. On 2 occasions, water gushed from a rock when there was no spring to provide what they needed.

When they worshiped and made a sacrifice, they would sacrifice a portion of what God provided. Trusting that He would provide enough after their sacrifice to satisfy them.

If you’re in a desert, the last rational thing you would do is pour any water out. But, if God had miraculously provided, and you want to demonstrate in a tangible way that you’re trusting Him to continue to provide, you give some of it back.

Kind of like our offering baskets. God provides. He asks us to give some of it back. We trust that he will continue to provide what we need to satisfy us.

So, pouring out the water symbolized the faith ppl had in God to continue to provide for them.

Lastly, it symbolized what God will do in the end times by pouring out the HS on the ppl.

We get this to a limited degree now. The HS indwells us. But we are limited in our ability to access all that He offers b/c of our sin nature.

In the kingdom, when we all get to Heaven, new bodies and new nature, the HS will have no restrictions on how and how much He helps us.

In the future, God will pour out His spirit, and we will access to resources we don’t currently.

Right after the high priest poured out the water, they lit four huge lamps in the courtyard of women. Four massive menorahs. PPL could see the light for miles around.

Then, they would dance, party, and celebrate all night long. The men would carry torches, it was a memorable, annual, celebration.

The significance of the courtyard of women is this. The temple area included several courtyards and rooms that were limited in their availability to different ppl.

The inner most room, the holy of holies, was limited to God. When He literally had a physical presence in the temple, this was the room He resided in. He long-since had vacated b/c of Israel’s lack of faith and obedience.

Annually, one priest was allowed into this room to make a sac for the ppl.

The next area was limited to priests. If you were not a priest, you could not go in.

The next outer area was limited to Jewish men. Only the men and priests, who were all men, could go into this courtyard.

The next outer area was the courtyard of women. Anyone who was Jewish could go into this area. Men, women, and children were allowed in this area. Every Jew could participate in whatever happened in this courtyard. Non-Jews, Gentiles were not allowed in.

The last outer area was the courtyard of Gentiles. Anyone could go into this area.

Anything and everything that occured in the courtyard of women would be available to every Jewish person who was in Jerusalem at the time. Clearly, the context of what Jesus said here was for all Jews to hear.

The significance of the light of the lamps:

It looks back to when God led Israel thru the wilderness as a pillar of fire. Follow the light to the PL and live free. Symbolic of salvation. Redeemed out of slavery in Egypt. Delivered in their kingdom on earth, the PL.

Being in the light represented living a holy life. Set apart. Different from the neighboring nations. Different set of values, morals, and ethics. They didn’t work 7 days/wk. They took Saturday off.

Their neighbors must have thought they were crazy or lazy. They sac’d part of their revenue, income, crops on the altar of their temple. They worshiped their own God.

But the light led them to a knowledge of the one true God. Not just facts about Him. But intimate relational knowledge of Him.

Anyone w/in miles of Israel wandering thru the wilderness would see the light of the pillar of fire and be welcomed to come and join the ppl and find life and holiness themselves.

When, in c.1, the lamps were lit in the courtyard, ppl in the surrounding areas would see the light for miles and be welcomed to come into Jerusalem, to the temple and find God, get to know God, be saved and encouraged to live a holy life.

The guided all Israel and anyone else who desired to find God and be a follower of God.

The darkness represented evil and ignorance. Evil things lurk in the darkness. They cannot be seen or avoided. They take advantage of their situ to ambush and hurt unsuspecting ppl. They simply cannot know what is hiding in the darkness nor the damage that they can do to themselves by allowing evil to have its way w/ them.

Ignorance, they don’t know. Versus knowledge of God in the Light.

Evil, lurking to do harm, to hurt ppl. Maybe the ppl seek it out. Or, they just don’t know to avoid it. Unsuspecting, unaware of the extent of the harm they are allowing to be done to themselves.

So, the bright light looked back at the pillar of Light that led Israel thru the wilderness. And, it looked ahead to a time when God had promised to send His Light into the world to lead all ppl to Himself and find salvation.

That had just occured during the festival of tabernacles and was fresh on the minds of the ppl in the temple area listening to Jesus speak that day.

And He stood up and said, “I Am that Light. I am the Light of the world.”

We’ll get to this verse soon:

John 8:58 NIV

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Jesus has always been. There is no past nor future tense when describing Jesus. He is, I Am. Always is. Never wasn’t. Alpha and Omega. He existed before creation. He participated in Creation. He keeps His creation together and moving forward.

He said, I am that Light. The One that God promised to send that would attract and lead ppl to Him t/b saved.

“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

To be a follower of Jesus means to believe in, have faith in to be saved. And make every effort to behave as He has commanded us to live.

Never walk in darkness. Never walk in evil nor ignorance again.

Do you know what the word for never means in the Greek? Never.

Once you come to faith in Jesus, you are in the Light.

It doesn’t mean you never find trouble.

With the light on, you are much less likely to kick the bedpost. You know what your little toe is the best at? Finding furniture.

Even with the light on, it does not prevent you from walking up to your bed and kicking the bed post. Why? How foolish when you know how much it’s going to hurt.

Let’s take a minute and go back to last week and the woman caught in adultery. She came to faith. She was saved. The last things Jesus said to her were, “I don’t condemn you. Now leave your life of sin.”

Technically, she didn’t have to. Her behavior did not get her into, nor force her out of heaven. But if she continued in the lifestyle she was knowingly, in the Light, kicking her bedpost.

We may not even be aware of the harm we are doing to ourselves when we live a promiscuous lifestyle. Or, any other sinful lifestyle. If we’re stealing stuff. If we’re holding grudges, feeling hate toward ppl who have hurt us, being unforgiving. If we have placed anything else on the throne of our life or made it a higher priority that God, then we may not realize the harm we are allowing into our life.

We are effected emotionally, physically, and spiritually when we live this way.

Those who do may think they are living their best life. But totally unaware of the harm that is occuring them.

Be a follower of Jesus. Believe in and behave like He is your Master and Savior.

Not only will the Light lead us to eternal life, it will lead us to bring life back into our marriage, family, finances, and health. Jesus will lead you out of trouble, out of ignorance, and into goodness and a greater knowledge of God. He will lead you thru the valley of the shadow of death to the other side.

Psalm 119:105 NIV

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Follow Jesus and do as He says. And your life will never go better.

That’s one verse. Who is Jesus to claim this? And what about the rest of this passage. Well, those who did not follow challenged His authority to make this claim.

Walking in the darkness, they thought they were living their best life, unaware of the harm they were doing to themselves.

They didn’t want to believe this b/c they didn’t want to change their ways. So, they questioned Jesus’ authority to make this claim.

By What Authority?

John 8:13–20 NIV

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

According to the law of Moses, a person on trial could not be convicted nor acquitted w/out the testimony of 2 witnesses.

They did not accept the testimony of the one in question. Their assumption always was he would be lying. So, the Pharisees pushed back against Jesus’ claim saying his testimony was not valid.

Jesus’ reply was 1 God is greater than 2 humans. Besides, no one here was around to testify where I came from. He was the only one who knew the facts about Himself.

Their standards for evaluation were different, too. The Pharisees judged by human standards. This was not just by appearances. But by subjectivity, too.

Think about how Jesus appeared to them. He was way average in appearance. There was nothing spectacular about Him. Average height, weight. He had one set of clothes. The clothes of a commoner, even.

No appearance of wealth nor material success. There was no obvious reason to take what He said at face values.

Well, unless you consider the appearances of all the powerful miracles and messages He gave. By this time it was highly unlikely that anyone in the crowd had not seen or heard something powerful from Jesus. They had all at least heard the stories.

But, beyond the obvious. How often do you make decisions based on gut feelings. We sense things. They cannot be assumed t/b completely accurate. But, beyond the facts, our feelings guide our decisions, too.

The Pharisees were no different. They knew the facts, though in many cases they denied them. That’s b/c their feelings were hurt and they didn’t want the facts t/b true. And, of course, they didn’t even have the HS to help counsel them at the time.

All purely, entirely human in their origin.

Jesus was not bound by any human limitations. His standard for evaluation was godly, no human. When Jesus judges us, He knows much more about us. He knows our heart. No human can know what’s on anyone else’s heart. We can only observe behavior that may give us indication what we believe.

Jesus knows our secrets. He regularly read the minds of the ppl who were confronting. There is nothing in us our about us that Jesus doesn’t know.

It’s not a fair comparison. They judge by human standards that are severely biased and limited.

Jesus judges by godly standards, He is never wrong about His decisions b/c He has all the info necessary to lead to the right decision. Not only that, He makes no decisions apart from the approval of His father. So God Himself provides Jesus w/ assistance when evaluating someone or their situ.

So, technically, the law was fulfilled. There were 2 witnesses to Jesus’ claim. Jesus Himself and His Father both agree that Jesus is the Light of the World, sent by God to lead ppl to God to be saved.

Once again, they missed the truth of what He said. Where is your Father? They were still thinking in human terms, expecting a human to be described and identified. Joseph was not the one in question.

Jesus was like, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. In fact, He had told them. Many times. And they still didn’t believe Him.

Their inability to recognize who Jesus is, the Light sent by God, shows they don’t really know God, either. They know about Him. But they don’t know Him.

Do you know the difference? Do you know God? Or, just know about Him b/c you hang w/ us from time to time?

They were mad. Jesus was right there. But they were all 6 months from the right time for Jesus to die.

Jesus has the authority, not only to be the Light of the World, but to also tell us that He is and expect us to believe Him. He is right to tell us to not only believe, but behave as if we do. That’s how you act when you love someone. You behave like you do.

We don’t have to walk like we’re in the dark. We are not in the dark. We are not weighed down by evil. Those who are walk in their lives like they are slogging thru a quagmire. We stand tall. We are free from the weight of the world that can hold us down.

But just b/c we don’t have doesn’t mean we don’t. But take advantage of the Light that’s on around you. Jesus may not help you read a menu in a dark restaurant, He may not help you see in the dark when your power goes out.

But, His power never goes out and He will help you make sure you always have your batteries charged so you’re ready for whatever comes.

We never have to walk in the darkness again. Never in evil. Never in ignorance. We can now know what we need to know to experience life as Jesus intended.

Applications

Memorize

Memorize Psalm 119:105

Psalm 119:105 NIV

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

It’s a short verse. But it will always remind you what’s possible as you live your life.

Then, ramp up you study of God’s word.

Your lamps only light up if there’s a good bulb in it and it’s plugged in.

Make sure you are plugged into God and your bulb hasn’t burned out so you can study His word.

Don’t Kick the Bedpost

If the Light is on and you can see it clearly, don’t kick the bedpost. It hurts.

Don’t poke the hornet’s nest. Don’t play w/ fire. And, whatever cliche’ comes to mind. The bible is clear about the few things that we should not do b/c they will hurt us. Don’t do them.

There is plenty we can do that won’t hurt that will fulfill us and satisfy us.

Avoid the trouble. Do what won’t hurt you.

Follow

Follow Jesus.

Believe in, don’t just believe that.

The demons believe THAT He is the Savior, Son of God, who leads ppl to God to be saved.

But, they are not following.

Believe in Jesus. That makes you a follower. The Light comes on to help you w/ your behavior after that.

Followers believe in Jesus and behave like that.

Be a follower of Jesus.

If you’re trying to sleep, darkness is good. But, once you get up to walk around, you need the light to be able to see. In the dark, we don’t know what we don’t know about what’s there that can hurt us.

It is an important safety feature to have light that will help us see what to avoid and where to go to stay safe.

Jesus, and His word, provides the same thing in a spiritual way. What Jesus has said, and what He has directed others to write, will provide us with what we need to know to stay safe and avoid trouble. And some of the trouble we can find in the darkness can be pretty serious.

Often, we don’t know as much as we think we know about staying safe and avoiding trouble.

Our ignorance can lead us places where we can find more trouble that we can handle. And, there are ppl out there looking to do evil things that can hurt us, too.

Therefore, walking in the Light will help us see what we need to see to stay safe and avoid trouble that can hurt us. Jesus is that Light.