“Light vs. Darkness”

People rarely panic when they are out in the open and it is daylight.  However, plunge them into darkness without any light and fear usually happens.  Even at night, my toes have trained me to make sure the hallways and walking areas are all clear throughout the house while it is still light.  For if the walking areas are not clear, my toes and shins will have unpleasant and painful experiences.

If someone were drowning, one would think that they would rejoice at the site of a life preserver. If someone is bleeding profusely, one would think there would be a thrill when they see an EMT. If someone were falling out of a plane, plummeting to a certain death, one would assume they would be grateful upon discovering they had a parachute. 

It would seem ludicrous to most of us to think someone would reject the life preserver, while trying to swim for miles on their own, even though they are drowning. It would seem absurd for someone to reject the help of the paramedic and think that eventually their spurting blood would begin to clot. We would think it ridiculous for someone to refuse to pull the ripcord on their parachute while thinking that if they simply tuck and roll they will survive.

That seems to be what we often see in our world when people tend to love darkness and refuse to be in the light. This is the battle which we have seen in our world throughout time. For some strange reason, humanity seems to love darkness rather than light.  As believers, what should we do?

Keep shining the light of Jesus into the darkness.

And if you wish, you could think about imitating Dori, from the movie, "Finding Nemo." Just replace what she said, keep on swimming, with the words, "keep on shining; keep on shining; keep on shining.”

Today, as we look at these verses, I need to be remind us that this section falls on the heels of the passage in chapter 7 where Jesus was correcting the religious leaders in regard to the Sabbath, which we covered a couple of sermons ago in this series.

Presentation of the Light - 8.12-13, 20

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”

These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

I want to take some time to give us a bit of context. Jesus is speaking in the area of the treasury in the temple. This is as far as the women would be allowed to go. The Court of Women is on the right half of this slide. It is also in this place where there are a variety of boxes in which people put in their different tithes and offerings. This treasury area was located in the area called the court of the women, which is in the upper left corner of the right half. This area probably was one of the busiest areas of activity.

Again, we are reminded that Jesus did not do anything accidentally. It is perfectly practical and logical that he would be teaching in a place where the most people would be able to hear him. According to diagrams of the temple, it appears that the Sanhedrin met right next door in the temple area. Thus, they certainly could have heard all that Jesus was saying. Yet, we notice in verse 20, that he was perfectly safe because his hour had not yet come. 

Now let's look and see what Jesus was teaching. Obviously, Jesus seems to continually be teaching, as we observe from John’s use of the word "again." Specifically, Jesus is claiming to be the light of the world. This is the second "I am" statement which he makes.  I am the Light of the world.

Jesus is not merely reflecting the Light.  He is not simply illumined by the Holy Spirit in such a way as to have incredible insight.  He is the Light; He is the source; It comes from His very being.  Once again, he is stating to the people that he is God. By saying that he is the light of the world, he is contrasting himself with everything which is in opposition to God. Anything which is in opposition to God is not light, but rather darkness. Whatever is in opposition to God cannot provide anything of eternal value. In other words, Jesus is saying that He is the answer to everything which brings humanity down.

You will recall, Jesus’ first “I Am," was in reference to being the living water. Again, here at the feast of Tabernacles, His claim to be the light of the world had a very deep meaning as seen from inside the temple. In fact, in the court of the women, where Jesus was as he was talking, there were four huge candelabra. They were lit and produced an incredibly bright light. Some early writings talk about how they lit the sky up like a torch.

For those of you wondering why this is in the tabernacle and what the significance is, let me explain to you. This was a reminder to the Jewish people of God's presence with them then, just as he was in their wilderness wanderings. During that time, he was as a pillar of fire. In a book I have, dealing with the manners and customs of Bible times, it is stated that the participants who were there at this festival would hold torches and dance around the candelabra throughout the evening. It was a great time of celebration of gratitude for God's presence.

Now, this should make a little bit more sense to us, as to why Jesus would make this statement at this time. The Jewish people previously were to follow the pillar of fire by night as God led them into freedom out of captivity. Doesn't it make sense that Jesus is telling the people that if they want to be set free from the captivity to their sin, they simply need to follow him as the Light?

In addition, when you and I hold a candle, it will eventually burn down or be snuffed out. If we have a flashlight, eventually the battery dies. However, the pillar of fire was never put out. Neither can the light of Jesus be put out. He states, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." And just like Moses who reflected the glory of the Lord, we, as the true followers of Jesus Christ, should reflect the light of Jesus Christ to a dark and dying world.

We also see the wording that Jesus uses when he states about those who “follows me." As we look at this use of the word by Jesus in a variety of times, it seems that he is calling for a complete, total, submissive following of him. There were various times when there seemed to be people who were eager to follow him, yet Jesus turned them away. But we also see each time, the reason being was that they were not willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. I believe the Bible teaches that we come to Jesus on His terms and not our own.

Of course, we are not surprised to see the Pharisees enter into the conversation and dispute Jesus’ claim. And the manner in which they did it was another form of legalism. They went back to the law and argued with Him because they felt He was testifying about himself and there were not enough witnesses to testify for him. Of course, they could not see the forest because of all the trees. The reality was that there were many witnesses that had seen all that Jesus had done and could validate his claim. But the Pharisees refused to acknowledge the facts. Many of us find this type of thinking and behavior absolutely frustrating. All of the information could be right before them, but because they loved darkness, as well as themselves, they refused to come to the light. Once again, I remind us that as Christians, we must continue to shine the light of Jesus into the darkness.

We have just studied about the Presentation of the Light; now we will learn more as we look at the Explanation about the Light.

Explanation about the Light - 8.14-19, 21

Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify 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 am not judging anyone.  But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.  Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true.  I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”  So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also. 

Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”

Jesus responds by basically stating that just because he said it on his own, without any additional witnesses, that does not make what he said any less true. Then, he goes ahead and responds to what they were saying by providing further evidence. Yet, what he said was probably not evidence which they appreciated, since it was relating to the fact that he is God.

One almost smiles as Jesus states that he knows where he came from and where he is going. You recall that the religious leaders thought they knew, yet they were very mistaken. They did not even recognize his birthplace nor his family lineage. Obviously, if they did not know this, they certainly did not know about his heavenly father and the fact that he came from heaven.

He goes on by reprimanding them for their judgments and observations that they made according to their flesh. They did not look deeper than what they could personally accept and believe. This is the way it is with people who are not born again. They cannot judge things spiritually because they do not have the Spirit of God in them. Plus, since they refuse to accept and believe in Jesus Christ, they will present their own so-called facts.

Jesus goes on in verse 16 to state that if he does judge, his judgment is true. And the reason for it is because his Heavenly Father sent him. Again, this is an obvious reference to the fact that he is God. He also is showing that he's judging alongside with the Father. Thus, because his Father is God, and he is God, his judgment is correct and true.

Finally, in verse 17, he denounces the Pharisees’ statement about his self-promotion. He reminds them about the law of which they were supposed to be so knowledgeable. He reminds them that two people having the same testimony validates the truth. Then in verse 18 he tells of the two who are testifying as to what he says; himself and his Heavenly Father. Leon Morris describes the section like this:  “if Jesus really stands in the relationship to God in which He says He does, then no mere man is in a position to bear witness. No human witness can authenticate a divine relationship.”   

Sadly, the Pharisees go back to their earthbound thinking. We see in verse 19 the question being asked as to where Jesus' Father would be. Sadly, Jesus has to respond by being very blunt. He let them know that they do not know his Father in any way, shape, or form. And since they do not know his Father, they cannot know Him. And if they truly understood who he was, then they would know his Father and recognize everything that Jesus was saying and doing was prescribed by his Heavenly Father.

What a sad commentary on a group of people that acted as if they knew God better than anyone else. How sad that these religious leaders, who were supposed to be pointing people towards God, we're actually pointing accusing fingers against God and rejecting him for themselves.

Then we slip down to verse 21 to see the reality of this conversation regarding light and darkness. However, now Jesus is quite earnest in stating that those who have rejected him will die in their sin. As a result, it is impossible for them to experience heaven and eternal life because of the rejection of Jesus as the light of the world.

Reflections

When the light comes, the darkness cannot stand in its presence. —R.C. Sproul

These Pharisees are not any different than people in this world in which we find ourselves today, except for the fact that they truly did have great Bible knowledge. We will find people that think they know much more than they actually do about God. We will also know people who may not have much knowledge about God, but they have chosen instead to listen to the wisdom of this world. 

So how do we relate to either of these groups or any other kind of group who rejects Jesus? We simply must keep living and speaking in such a way that we shine the light of Jesus into this dark and dying world. Yes, there will be many who will try to snuff out the light by eliminating our testimony. However, they will never be able to extinguish the light of the world. For those people whom we know, who are walking in darkness, our minds need to remember, with sadness, what Jesus stated to this group; you will die in your sin. That alone, should motivate us to keep on shining the light of Jesus.