Light of the World John 8:12

Sermon on John 8:12 prepared by Jonathan Shradar

John 8:12-32

The Light of the World is God, live accordingly!

We are tremendously blessed by technology, these little devices help in so many ways, especially in the giving of directions. We rarely carry maps with us today. Google or Siri always show us the way. They help us avoid traffic and even tell us the precise time we will arrive at our destination, as Californians, always a little late…

A few years ago though the device was no help. Our family had a moment of ancient dred. At least that’s what I felt for a minute or two.

We had been to the Grand Canyon and were heading East for more vacation, traversing roads unfamiliar. And our phones lost signal. Having not downloaded the regional map, there was a dot among blank digital terrain, and a fork in the road.

Thankfully, we discerned the right path (we had an Atlas) and made our way.

That experience is exactly what all of life is, repeated over and over, different settings, roads, circumstances, still looking for directions when it isn’t always clear. Hoping for the best. Wanting a beacon to be our guide.

It is during a festival marking God’s provision and guidance of Israel in the wilderness that Jesus makes a claim that changes everything. That gives us our true north, our beacon, our pillar of fire, guiding our way.

And it comes with a stark choice for all of humanity; darkness or light, death or belief, slavery or freedom.

The Light of the World is God, live accordingly!

We are studying the “I am” statements of Christ, wanting to be clear on who Jesus is and what that means for those of us that claim to be His followers.

There are myriad opinions about who Jesus is. Many have thought of him as; guru, hippie, Rabbi, teacher, manipulator, zealot, blasphemer, criminal, prophet, a kind and perfect person.

2000 years on from His ministry, history has had a lot to say of Jesus’ identity. And the crowds around Him then had a lot to say as well. In the three other Gospel accounts he asks his disciples…

Matthew 16:13–16 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (ESV)

John’s Gospel is all about the identity of Jesus and here we have our second “I am” statement.

But the setting is important. This rolls together with chapter 7, the feast of booths, or tabernacles where there was water pouring and torch lighting and being the light of the world is not his only claim.

“On the last day of the feast, Jesus identified himself as the source of life-giving water, an emblem of the Spirit who would be given after Jesus was glorified (cf. Ezek 36:26–27). Now, Jesus asserts that he is the light of the world and the source of eternal life for all who follow him. In both cases, these claims continue the themes of light (1:3–5, 9; 3:19–21) and water (4:10–15) found earlier in the Gospel. They also connect with torch-lighting and water-pouring rites commonly practiced as part of Tabernacles observance. The water-pouring ceremony commemorated God’s provision of rain during the exodus, while the torch-lighting rituals commemorated God’s presence with the Israelites in the wilderness in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (cf. Exod 13:21–22).”

Those that would hear this declaration would be surrounded by the sounds of remembrance, the sights of story, and steeped in observance of the redemption of the exodus.

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.” (ESV)

Jesus is God

“I am the light of the world.”

First thing to recognize is that what Jesus is saying is more than metaphor.

We might be prone to strip away the setting in which he is making the statement and be clever thinking of Jesus’ purity, the brilliance of His righteousness, all true. We could even rightly see this as a cool fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s promise.

Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” (ESV)

Or the promise of the Messiah - anointed One to save the people.

Isaiah 42:6 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,” (ESV)

Jesus is the promised light. But He is saying something more, something more significant, deeper, cosmically altering.

Jesus is saying He is the presence of God that guided Israel through the wilderness.

People will say Jesus never claimed to be God.

“The Greek construction lying behind this phrase is very important. To emphasize the “I” in an “I am” statement, writers and speakers would use the construction ego eimi meaning “I, I myself, am.” This is done very rarely in the Bible but ego eimi is the construction we find behind every “I AM” statement in the gospel of John. Significantly, the ego eimi construction is also found in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14 when God declares of Himself: “I AM WHO I AM.” Over and over again when Jesus utters these “I AM” statements, He is making reference to His own deity. No first century Jew who was trained in the Scriptures would have missed this.” Sproul

The Pharisee’s (the religious leaders) immediate response is to shut him down - they say he needs two witnesses - and Jesus says the Father joins as witness. Proving his claim.

“Ponder the profundity of what Jesus has just asserted: God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and God the eternal Son, through whom the world was made and redeemed and will be renewed, join together to bear witness to creatures they made. And the testimony of the Father and the Son is rejected by the people they made and endowed with the power to think and decide for themselves.”

He is not of this world - he warned them that they would die in their sins and he makes it clear again.

John 8:24 “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (ESV)

There it is again, unless you believe “I am,” that Jesus is Yahweh… It’s that important, vital, central.

Can’t Jesus just be a good example of a nice guy who liked poor people? Even an example of sacrificial living, or righteousness we should aspire to? But only human.

Jesus is certainly an example, modeling a life we want to imitate. But if he is only a man he is a liar, so these words would be untrue. And the work he did would not have been accomplished.

It’s vital that we understand not only that Jesus was truly God and fully man, but also why it is important.

Catechisms - questions and answers for the church.

Here is how the Heidelberg Catechism faces the issue. On question 16 we read,

Q: Why must he be a true and righteous man?

A: He must be a true man because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should pay for sin. He must be a righteous man because one who himself is a sinner he cannot pay for others.

“Jesus had to be a man so that he could identify with us, suffering in our place and sympathizing with us in our weakness.” Erik Raymond

On question 17 we read,

Q: Why must he also be true God?

A: So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear the weight of God’s anger in his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

“Only Christ as God could bring a sacrifice of infinite and eternal value to God that he would satisfy heaven’s wrath. By virtue of his divine nature, he is able to earn for us eternal life and favor with God… the divinity of Christ means that he is able to be raised from the dead (after conquering it) and therefore apply the benefits he has earned for us. Jesus had to be truly God so that he could satisfy God’s wrath and secure for us true righteousness and life.” Erik Raymond

They want to kill Him for the claim that He is the very presence of God. And he says it will be proven on the cross, through his sacrifice, his atoning work for us.

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.” (ESV)

This declaration sets up our reality. Jesus is God, live accordingly. Live surrendered to him and his way, or… two paths one light, one dark.

Born Rejectors Can Remain in Disbelief

This really is a warning for all of us.

Jesus points out the difference between the Pharisees and himself.

John 8:23 “He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (ESV)

Like the Pharisees we all arrive “of this world.” Inherited from humanity’s first parents we have a God-rejecting nature. We want to be god ourselves. So we refuse the light. Darkness becomes normal, comfortable.

Even when we hear Jesus’ claims of himself we can choose to refuse, to stay in disbelief and as he says, die in your sins.

Sin is that which separates us from our creator, from what we exist for. Even when we claim Jesus but don’t give him his rightful place over our lives, we miss what he offers. We see some of that here.

John 8:31–37 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, [32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [33] They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

[34] Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. [35] The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. [37] I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” (ESV)

Will the word of Christ find a place in you?

It might sound too cut and dry, too binary, too rigid. He is the only way.

At this feast Jesus tells the Jews they will seek him but not find him, that they can not go where he is going. Because they are of the world, he is of another realm. He is from above, they below. Because they refuse to believe in Him.

Even when reality is right before them, staring them in the face! They don’t realize their slavery.

C.S. Lewis made a similar point in his book The Great Divorce. It’s the story of a busload of people brought from Hell to Heaven so they can choose the latter but being from the underworld they are not at all comfortable in Heaven. It’s so bad, their ghost-like feet have trouble even walking on the grass because it pierces through them. The tension of the choice is shown dramatically in a dialogue between a bus passenger who was a theologian on earth and an old acquaintance, Dick, who is a resident of Heaven.

“Ah, Dick, I shall never forget some of our talks. I expect you’ve changed your views a bit since then. You became rather narrow minded towards the end of your life: but no doubt you’ve broadened out again.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that you weren’t quite right. Why, my dear boy, you were coming to believe in literal Heaven and Hell.”

“But wasn’t I right?”

“Oh, in a spiritual sense, to be sure. I still believe in them in that way. I am still, my dear boy, looking for a kingdom. But nothing superstitious or mythological…”

“Excuse me. Where do you imagine you’ve been?”

“Ah, I see. You mean the gray town with its continual hope of morning (we must all live by hope, must we not?), with its fields of indefinite progress, is, in a sense Heaven, if only we have eyes to see it? That is a beautiful idea.”

“I didn’t mean that at all. Is it possible you don’t know where you’ve been?”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think we ever do give it a name. What do you call it?”

“We call it Hell.”

“There is no need to be profane, my dear boy. I may not be very orthodox, in your sense of that word, but I do feel these matters ought to be discussed simply, and seriously, and reverently.”

“Discuss Hell reverently? I meant what I said. You have been in Hell.”

“Go on, my dear boy, go on. That is so like you. No doubt you’ll tell me why, on your view, I was sent there. I'm not angry.”

“But you don’t know? You went there because you are an apostate.”

“Are you serious, Dick?”

“Perfectly!”

“This is worse than I expected. Do you really think people are penalised for their honest opinions? Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that those opinions were mistaken.”

The theologian from below cannot understand what is above. He remains in disbelief. The Pharisees remain in disbelief.

There is hope… Born rejectors can also believe.

Followers of Christ Have the Light of Life

The only way to escape death in sin, Jesus claims, is to believe that he is God, the God who appeared to Moses, the God who made the world, the God whose mighty deeds were celebrated at the Feast of Tabernacles.

If you believe Jesus is He (that he is God the Son), that he was lifted up on a cross for you, to extinguish the penalty of your sin, and to give you His righteousness, you have eternal life. You will not die in your sins.

The truth will and has set you free.

He is the light for the whole world, for any who will come and believe.

John 1:9–12 “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [12] But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (ESV)

Ephesians 5:8 “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (ESV)

Follow him, in freedom from sin, from darkness, from hopelessness.

“The Light of the World will never lead us wrong. If we follow Jesus, we are following the one who is “I Am.” He is equal with the Father (5:18). He is one with the Father (10:30). He does what pleases the Father. He teaches what the Father taught him. He judges according to the Father’s will. This is the one who offers himself as the Light of the World, promising to lead those who follow him, to provide them the light of life.”

Light that others see that they would be drawn to Jesus.

Philippians 2:14–15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, [15] that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” (ESV)

Our situation has changed in Christ - he said so! Believers are now not of this world!

John 17:16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (ESV)

As followers, filled with His Spirit we determine to not walk in darkness but look to our light, look to Jesus.

Abiding in his word as his disciples. The cross as our compass.

In London, in Westminster there is an intersection of six major routes called Charing Cross, which since the early 19th century has been the geographical center of the city. There is an old story of a little boy losing his way on the streets of London long ago and a Bobby (police) asking if he might take the boy home. But his response was “no sir, just get me to the cross!”

The cross is effective, frees us, gives us grace and righteousness - all that we need to be from above and light, because Jesus is God.

Jesus is the incarnation of the “true light” (1:9), alone sufficient to rescue any man, any time, from the darkness of sin and death. He who is affirmed as the Creator of light (1:3) came as the light of redemption.

The Light of the World is God, live accordingly!

Don’t Delay. Believe. Jesus is for you. He came, lived a life of obedience for you and gave himself as a sacrifice that you could have eternal life in Him. Come into the light.

Follow the Light together. Seek Jesus. As a lamp unto your feet. In his word. In his church. In the least.

Jesus is the rock that gives us water on the way. He is the fire that guides our steps.

Questions of direction, of path and purpose, of identity and worth all find their answer in Him. Whoever follows Jesus will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

May it be so in us.