The Light of the World

Light, Darkness, and Everlasting Life

Bible Passage: John 8:12–30

Good morning, Church. How yall doing?

You look great. Grab your Bibles, and make your way to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. I will be there in just a moment.

We are in week 2 of diving deeper into the 7 I Am statements of Jesus found in the Book of John.

This in John chapter 8 is going to tell the people that I am the light of the World.

In ancient Rome, a city often shrouded in chaos and darkness, Christians would light torches during their gatherings. This wasn’t just a practical solution but a powerful declaration: 'We are not afraid of the dark; we carry the light of Christ!' They would proclaim their faith, illuminating the way for others lost in despair. Just as they did, we too can be beacons of hope and love in a world that desperately needs it.

We are to reflect the light of the World. We don’t hype up how great a Christian we are, we show How great God is.

It is such a profound and deep statement. He is telling them that the Messiah has come. That God has come to take away the sins of the world. The long awaited messiah is here.

AW Tozer once said-

“I confess that I am struck with the wonder and the significance of the limitless meaning of these two words, He came. Within them the whole scope of divine mercy and redeeming love is outlined. All of the mercy God is capable of showing, all of the redeeming grace that He could pour from His heart, all of the love and pity that God is capable of feeling—all of these are at least suggested here in the message that He came!

Beyond that, all of the hopes and longings and aspirations, all of the dreams of immortality that lie in the human breast, all had their fulfillment in the coming to earth of Jesus, the Christ and Redeemer.…

All of our hopes and dreams of immortality, our fond visions of a life to come, are summed up in these simple words in the Bible record: He came!…

There are times when the use of the superlative is absolutely necessary and you cannot escape it. The coming of Jesus Christ into this world represents a truth more profound than all of philosophy, for all of the great thinkers of the world together could never produce anything that could even remotely approach the wonder and the profundity disclosed in the message of these words, He came!

These words are wiser than all learning. Understood in their high spiritual context, they are more beautiful than all art, more eloquent than all oratory, more lyric and moving than all music—because they tell us that all of mankind, sitting in darkness, has been visited by the Light of the world!”

One of John’s favorite descriptions of Jesus in his Gospel is that he is the light.

John describes Jesus this way 22 times in the book.

When Jesus says I am the “light of the world”, he is giving him a crystal clear messianic title.

When the people heard Jesus make this statement, they should have remembered that Isaiah describes the Messiah as “a light for the nations” who would bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isa 49:6).

Salvation is no longer just for the Jews but for all who put there faith in Jesus.

John 8:12–30 (ESV)

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.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 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. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 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. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 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.” 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.

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Lets pray.

1. Declaration of Light

Jesus stands up and calls out to the crowd, “I am the light of the world,” he’s identifying himself as the Christ, the Messiah, the only way to the Father, that He is the Son of God, the one who fulfills God’s promise to make the world right again.

John mentions the world an awful lot, way more than the other gospels.

The “world” occurs only fifteen times in the first three Gospels added together; whereas in John it is found seventy-seven times!

Perhaps it may be well to ask here, Why is it that “the world” is mentioned so frequently in this gospel? Why is this?

In John’s Gospel we have a clear picture of what Christ is essentially in His own person, and not what He was in special relation to the Jews, as in the other Gospels.

The book of Matthew was written to show that Jesus is the greater Moses, the greater David, the New Adam. To show the Jewish readers that He is the Messiah to come.

John, through the Holy Spirit, is writing to showcase the Deity of Christ, and as God He is the Creator of all (John 1:3). and therefore, the life and light of His creatures (John 1:4).

So, if he is the light of the world, then all roads do lead to God? he illuminated it all?

He is the only light of the world. This isn’t a declaration of universalism. This is a declaration that He is the only source of true light. And people who do not declare Jesus as Lord and savior are living in darkness and sin.

The Greek word for light is phos. Its used 71 times in the new testament. 70 times it is translated as light. it is translated as fire once.

It is the same “phos” that John used in the beginning of John. Turn to John 1 with me.

John 1:1–10

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

I am the light of the world.” We may notice, in the second place, that “light” is one of the three things which God is said to be. In John 4:24 we are told, “God is spirit.” In 1 John 1:5, “God is light”; and in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.

God is light.

keep your spot in John 1 but now turn to Genesis 1:1–5

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God 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.”

So is Jesus a created being then?

Because God said let there be light and there was light. He saw that the light was good.

We can find that answer in John 1. Jesus is light but He is not only light.

John 1:11–14

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The logos became flesh and dwelt (skenoo) among us.

Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the logos.

He is the means through which the Father brought all physical reality into existence.

When God said, Jesus did. Jesus is the light and creator of the world and all of existence.

The word dwelt in the Greek is Skenoo.

Revelation 7:13–15

“Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.”

God is going to dwell with those coming out of the great tribulation.

When there is a new heaven and new earth, it never says anything about a new sun and a new moon. I believe that is intentional because we are going to be in perfect relationship with God.

Dwelt also means tabernacled. God was with the Israelites in Solomon’s temple and in the Tabernacle. He dwelt among them.

Also in the Garden of Eden. He dwelt among them in the cool of the day. He tabernacled there.

But it was man, it was us, who turned from God into darkness and to sin.

But God made a way for us to have the light of life and it was through Jesus.

God made a way through God so God could save God’s people for God’s glory.

That is why Jesus is saying “I am the Light of the World.”

He is the light in the darkness.

By Jesus saying he is the light of the world, Christ is also revealing who He is to the Pharisees.

Jesus is drawing the Jews back to the Exodus. Specifically when the Jews were leaving Egypt after the tenth plague.

After the tenth plague and the death of the first born sons, they left Egypt. They took their unleavened bread and left town. We talked about how God is the bread of life last week but I didn’t get to talk about the Passover meal and the significance of Jesus breaking the bread and His body and we do that in remembrance to our bread of life.

and God guided the Israelites by a pillar of Cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Exodus 13:21–22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

In the original Exodus story God’s presence lived with Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire. This time it was to be similar but different. God’s Spirit would live with people, in people, becoming the air they breathe, the fire in their hearts. This is the promise they had lived on.

N. T. Wright

Christ is telling them He is the pillar of fire. He is the light you follow. If you follow Jesus, He is the promise we live on.

And we reflect that light, through our daily lives and sometimes that is not always easy. Sometimes the day can get the best of out. But we live in a country where we can freely worship Jesus, some people don’t have that luxury and they reflect a life radically changed by Jesus way better than we do.

The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer during World War II is a profound example of living out one’s faith under extreme pressure. He lived in Nazi Germany. A German theologian and pastor, Bonhoeffer openly opposed the Nazi regime and ultimately paid the ultimate price for his beliefs.

While other pastors were saying I’m not going to speak out, i’m just going to preach Jesus and stay out of politics. He was vocally pointing out what the Nazi’s were doing and how it was against the goodness of the gospel. He believed that costly grace was a genuine response to Christ's call.

When we see things not in line with Scripture going on in our country, we call that out. We don’t sit idly by talking about i’m just going to preach Jesus.

My faith, your faith, should be a part of everything we do and that includes the ballot box. That’s why I am urging ya’ll to get out and vote. Vote against Amendment 4. The first person to rejoice at the news of Jesus was John the Baptist in his mother’s womb.

Christians are for life because all life reflects the image of God. Every person is imago dei.

That’s what drove William Wilberforce to dedicate his life to abolishing the slave trade in England.

His passion for justice was deeply rooted in his Christian faith, and he faced fierce opposition from many who benefited from slavery. Yet, his relentless pursuit of righteousness and speaking up for those that did not have a voice demonstrated what it truly means to follow Christ—being willing to sacrifice for the sake of others.

And it was Jesus who willingly endured pain and suffering for each and every person who has put there faith in Him.

And its Jesus who illuminates our paths with His teachings, just as a lighthouse guides ships to safety.

Which brings up the second point.

2. Denial and Darkness

C. S. Lewis wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else” (“Is Theology Poetry?,” 141)

By claiming to be the light of the world, Jesus is saying, “Only by me can you see and understand everything else. Only by me can you see and understand this world.”

Apart from Jesus, this world is simply unknowable. The parts only make sense because of Jesus. Your life will only make sense as you submit to Jesus. Until the light of the world illuminates your world, you’ll never make sense of the world.

The imagery here is pretty simple—if our world didn’t have the sun, not only would we not know the sun, but we wouldn’t see to understand our world. Jesus is like the sun.

We can’t make sense of a world that has so much evil and so much good without Jesus. Jesus helps us see it. He helps us understand it.

In Jesus’s light we can embrace the reality that this world is broken because of sin, but we can do so with hope, for Jesus has promised to fix it. Our hope isn’t a fool’s dream.

It’s rooted in the reality of the resurrection. Jesus already defeated death, so we have confidence he will one day banish death forever. Jesus is the light of the world, and only by following him can we see.

Everyone else lives in complete and utter darkness. Which brings us to our second truth.

John 8:19-24

Just look at the Pharisees here and how they completely refuse to accept Jesus for who He is.

These men knew the Mosaic Law better than anyone else. These men knew the Torah better than anyone else. These men knew the Tanakh better than anyone else.

And yet they are standing in front of the living Word of God and they miss it.

How can they possibly miss it?

Have you ever been on a treasure hunt and missed the treasure because you were looking in the wrong place? The Pharisees were the ultimate treasure hunters, but they were digging in all the wrong areas. They were so focused on their own rules that they missed the treasure of grace standing right in front of them—Jesus.

Jesus actually says its because they love the darkness.

John 3:19 (ESV)

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.

And darkness doesn’t just mean dark.

its like the plague of darkness that God sent to Egypt during the 10 plagues in Exodus 10.

Exodus 10:22–23

“So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.

During the plague of darkness the Egyptians were too afraid to move. Couldn’t see right in front of there face. They stayed completely still for 3 straight days.

That’s the kind of darkness people without Christ are living in.

That’s why the scriptures say no one searches for God.

Psalm 53:1–3

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Understand that darkness is our point of view before we know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Light is God’s point of view because God is light.

Darkness is my point of view, my right to myself; light is God’s point of view.

Oswald Chambers (Lecturer and Missionary)

So the pharisees had the opportunity to know God. The light had come to them but they loved the darkness.

why?

Because there works were evil.

That’s why the Pharisees asked where is your Father?

John 8:19

“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.”

If they actually knew the father they would have recognized Jesus but they didn’t.

Because there father is the Devil. And there deeds are evil.

And they don’t see it because they think they’re are good. They think they love God because they know the law and the next the talmud for all the extra laws.

The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.

A. W. Tozer

We can know all about God’s Word. We can come to church every time the doors are open. We can know when to sit down, when to stand up. When to say Amen, when the offering plate comes around, we can help with all the things around the church.

We can have the entire book of Leviticus memorized but if it doesn’t come out of a heart for Jesus then its all for nothing.

How can I say that?

Because the Pharisees knew all about God but did not have a relationship with God.

Imagine a fan who collects memorabilia about their musician- for some of ya’ll it might be Elvis or – posters, albums, and even rare collectibles. They might know every detail about their life but have never met them. Just as sharing a love for someone doesn't substitute for a relationship, knowing everything about God doesn’t equate to experiencing His love and grace in our lives. It's time to move beyond fandom to relationship with the light of the world.

That is what Jesus is trying to drive home to the Pharisees. You can have the light of life. You can have a personal relationship with God from this moment and all the way to ever.

Consider the story of the prodigal son, who, despite squandering his inheritance, found his way back home. But not him.

Think of the son who stayed. The son who worked for his father. The son who got angry at the news that the younger brother was back home.

He is a picture of religious people. First and foremost he is a picture of the pharisees, who think people can’t have a relationship with God because of the things they did.

They don’t see all the things they do wrong on a daily basis, they think they follow God perfectly every single day of there lives.

They are more worried about other people’s sins and not there own sin.

It’s also a picture of church going people.

It’s crazy. the longer we are in church the more we can look like a Pharisee.

“Can you believe they wore that to church?”

or even better- picture a church potluck where one member, lets call him brother Larry, and he brings a really extravagant dish showcasing his amazing culinary skills, but instead of sharing it, he just sits back and judges others' simpler offerings. They exclaim, 'Do you even know how to cook?!' All the while, missing out on the joy of community. Sometimes, being a Pharisee is just pretentious showmanship!

His father eagerly awaited his son’s return, representing God’s unwavering hope and love.

But the Older Son, the one who was supposed to be about his father’s business did not want his own flesh and blood to come back.

He didn’t want him to be redeemed from a life that only led to death.

That cannot be any of us.

Because we are called to go and spread the gospel. We aren’t told to spread the gospel to only people we think deserve to hear it. We weren’t told by God to tell it to others with similar backgrounds, similar economic status. He said therefore go and make disciples of all nations.

No matter how lost we think they are or how far we think they’ve gone, Jesus’ message of hope is always there, ready to embrace anyone and everyone with open arms.

And when lost people hear that, we are planting seeds into their lives so they can know Jesus as Lord and Savior and the light of the World.

Its through that they can believe, which brings us to the 3rd and final point.

3. Discovery through Belief

John 8:25-30

The Pharisees ask Jesus, Who are you?

That is the most important question anyone will ever have to answer when it comes to Jesus.

Who is Jesus?

While I was studying for this sermon, I read about a pastor who recalled a conversation he had with an elderly woman who had spent her life in church, yet she went to him and said she felt lost.

One day, she asked, 'Pastor, who is Jesus really?' He said it was a heart-wrenching moment that echoed the vital question Jesus posed.

The pastor realized many, like her, attend church but never grasp the profound implications of Christ's identity.

He passionately shared that Jesus is not just a figure in history; He is alive, desiring a personal relationship with each of us.

The question that the Pharisees are asking must be answered and answered correctly for saving faith.

Thats why Jesus said in

John 8:28

“So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

When Christ is lifted up- meaning when ya’ll put me on the cross, then you will realize I am the Son of God. And that He was doing the work and will of His Father.

Because he is the Word- the means through which the Father brought all physical reality into existence. He is the means in which the Father brought salvation to all who would believe in Him.

Think about the thief on the cross, He didn’t know any of the theological terms, he never attended a Christian worship service but He believed (pistuo) that Jesus is the Son of God and came to saving faith.

Jesus is going to go on to preach a very similar message, not to Pharisees, but this time to Greeks who his disciples brought to him in John 12.

John 12:30–37 (ESV)

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,

Notice the parallels.

He is telling them He is going to be lifted up form the earth, so all people can come to know him.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary V. The Resurrection of Lazarus and the Approaching Death of Jesus (11:1–12:50)

The cross drew all judgment for all people to Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world (1 John 2:2). The death of Christ saved all humankind from the consequences of original sin (Rom 5:18) and made all people savable for their personal sin when they place personal faith in him. This is why we are to share the gospel with everyone in the world.

This is the only message to a lost and dying world that lives in complete darkness that will give them the light of life.

The good news is not God is good, we are bad, try harder.

We receive. Receive salvation that Christ offers. Receive Him as the light of the world.

Jesus was high and lifted up so the world may know that whoevers believes in him can have eternal life.

He is telling this to Greeks. These are not Jewish men he is speaking with.

They ask the same question.

Who is the Son of Man?

And He tells them He is the light and they are walking in darkness but they don’t have to walk in darkness.

They only have to believe the light and they may become sons of light.

When we come to Jesus our identity changes.

We aren’t in the dark but in the light. We are in Christ.

We are no longer children of wrath, we are no longer dead in our sin.

We become children of God. Sons of light. Jesus is light. God is light.

We become heirs to the kingdom of God.

Jesus said the same thing to the Pharisees in John 8:12

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The light of life. They will receive eternal life. They just need to believe, they need to cry out that Jesus is Lord.

Its everlasting life only found in Jesus.

Then a few verses later Jesus is still speaking with them men and says

In John 12:44–46

“And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

If you believe in the Son, you believe in the Father and you are no longer in darkness.

then

John 12:47

“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”

see, see, see, Jesus didn’t come to judge the world. You shouldn’t judge either. he came to save the world. Jesus loves everyone, Jesus is for everyone. He loves me just like I am. I don’t need to change a thing about me. All Christians do is judge. Stop judging me. How dare you try to tell me how to live.

When people say that, there is a 100% chance the reason they say that is because they are doing things that go against God’s Word.

And the reason said this has nothing to do with that type of thinking. and it has everything to do with the very next verse.

John 12:48

“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

It has to do with condemnation. The World is already condemned. Thats why Christ came.

John 3:17

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

He doesn’t have to judge us because we are already found guilty. He isn’t offering a sentence, he is offering a pardon.

As I’m wrapping up this sermon, I want to point out a very peculiar case the Supreme Court had to make a decision on.

In about 1830, a man named George Wilson killed a government employee when he was caught robbing the mail.

Wilson was tried and sentenced to be hanged.

However, the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, sent Wilson a pardon.

Then George Wilson did a strange thing: he refused to accept the pardon. No one seemed to know what to do, so Wilson's case was sent to the U.

S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marshall wrote his opinion: “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.” And he was.

All he had to do was receive the pardon and he would have escaped death but he refused. Not everyone is going to accept God’s grace.

Some people love the darkness, some people hate the light.

The way John 8:30 ends is a great reminder why we want to tell people about who God is.

“As he was saying these things, many believed in him.”

Not everyone is going to accept the message of the good news of the gospel but we need to tell as many people as we possibly can because we live in a world full of darkness.

So, as we go to the Lord in prayer I would encourage each and every one of us to pray for opportunities to share the gospel this week.

Because we know the light, we are in the light, and we are called to be the light.

May we be the light that points others to the true light in this dark and dying world.