The Verdict Part 2

Introduction

Last week we began a series entitled The Verdict. Meriam-Webster Dictionary defines a verdict as "the finding or decision of a jury on the matter submitted to it in a trial. While in theory, this definition appears to be straight forward. However, unfortunately, the American Justice System's history has proved that getting this process right consistently is extremely difficult.

It bears repeating that we learned from Michele Alexander that "Sociologists have frequently observed that governments use punishment primarily as a tool for social control, and thus the extent or severity of the punishment is often unrelated to actual crime patterns[2]."

I want you to keep this in mind and hold in tension the verdict often given by men reveals in light of the verdict delivered by Jesus reveals about him in the Gospel of John 8. Last week we saw Jesus presiding over a death penalty case in the narrative of the woman caught in adultery by the Scribes and Pharisees.

We gave particular attention to how Jesus stood between the adulterous woman and the law that sought to take her life. We noticed how Jesus countered the Pharisees' attempt at executing retributive justice to make someone pay.

With restorative justice that focuses on relationships, reconciliation, and reparation of harm that was done. It does not counter harm with new harm but with a healing response.[3]

(But we still have unfinished business in this text that God wants us to engage with, therefore, go with me back to John 8:12.)

John 8:12 (NASB95)

12Then 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."

(I want to continue in our series The Verdict, by preaching from the thought "The Light of Life.")

I. The Link:

"Then Jesus again spoke to them." Since verse twelve starts with the word "then," the text is tipping us off that what we are about to read is a subsequent statement, which means that it flows out of what was stated before it in verse eleven.

This makes perfect sense when we consider that chapters 7 & 8 of this Gospel should be approached as one literary unit. In The Verdict, Jesus placed who he is over the actions of the woman caught in the act of adultery. It shows us that not only is Jesus acting on behalf of this woman, he is also using this event as an opportunity to reveal more of himself to us.

I believe this is easy for us to overlook The Verdict as an act of revelation because of western rational perspectives. This is because we have a propositional conception of revelation, meaning that we equate revelation with ideas, dogmas, and principles as what makes up revealed truths[4].

But how can that be the case when Jesus is a person? We cannot contain a person’s personality nor our relationship with a person within propositional statements.

Then how can we ever think that Jesus, who knows, wills, acts, and speaks, can be contained within propositions? How can we ever believe that Jesus who is in a hypostatic union with God, meaning that Jesus was the God-Man and the Man-God…as Man as if He had never been God and as much God as if He had never been Man…one person out of two natures. Could never be contained within propositions.

To drive this point home, I will bring Douglas John Hall into the conversation and insert a quote from his book Thinking The Faith. Hall states, "Therefore, revelation is not then about the communication of ideas about God and the things of God, even though ideas are included in the experience of revelation, as they are included in the experience of meeting another human being. Revelation, however, is the divine-human encounter[5]."

I hinted at this in my introduction last week when I stated that John used encounters with Jesus that demand a response to prove the deity of Jesus. This is because "what is disclosed in the revelatory event is not truth concerning God but the living God Himself[6]." In other words, when Jesus encounters us, it not only demands a response from us, but God is also revealing himself to us.

Herein is the link from this passage to The Verdict, "Neither do I condemn you. Go. From now on, sin no more." The word "then" shows us that not only was he showing himself to be a source of living water to those thirsty. In The Verdict, he was also establishing himself as a source of light for those walking in darkness.

(Let's go a little deeper.)

II. Feast of Tabernacles:

Remember that the Feast of Tabernacles from chapter 7 is still guiding the context of our passage under discussion. During this festival, Israel gathered in lush booths to live for the span of the festival. They did this to remind themselves of the time spent wandering in the desert[7].

Furthermore, The Feast of Tabernacles was also known as the Feast of Lights because of ceremonies that involved lights. The celebration included lights to remind the nation of their experience during the Exodus.

In the wilderness, the presence of the Lord was manifested in the Shekinah cloud—the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night—which saved them from would-be-destroyers and guided them through the wilderness to the promised land. In other words, Jesus is saying; I am the Light that led you through the wilderness. I am the pillar of fire that guided you through the darkness in the wilderness!

Furthermore, Jesus' temple declaration as Israel's Light was thus the equivalent of saying he is the "life of the world," the source of Israel's life and its very substance. This claim that only God could make!

Jesus’ claim is linked with their OT faith in the Lord as the Light of his people, which for the Hebrew people, suggested not so much God's being as his saving activity. "Light is Yahweh in action[8]."

Is that not what we just witnessed in The Verdict was Yahweh in action! The Light of the world bringing the light of salvation into lives the of those walking in darkness!

(Now, the text moves from who Jesus is and begins to look at what this means for us.)

III. "He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness but will have the Light of Life."

Again we have Jesus linking Himself to the children of Israel's journey through the wilderness in his use of the imagery of "following" the Light instead of receiving it or walking in it because this is what Israel did in the wilderness!

Furthermore, "follow me" is another critical phase in the teaching ministry of Jesus. It is his trademark method of inviting people into a discipleship relationship with him. The word "follow" is used 19 times in the Gospel of John.

When looking at darkness in the Bible, we see a representation of a situation or condition that is often related to chaos, evil, mischief, and general negativity. Furthermore, since darkness is the absence of light, it also implies a lack of vision and direction

Proverbs 4:19 (NASB95)

19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.

. But Jesus is a light that shines into darkness; therefore, the darkness is still there, but now we can see despite the darkness that may surround us. Jesus is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. There are times and seasons in life when we need night vision!

The removal of darkness often a process. The light has to first shine into the darkness of our situations, and then we must follow that light to see our way out. We see an example of this in the verdict that Jesus issued in the death penalty case of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus shined a light into her darkness!

Here is where the good news in the text begins to shine because, regardless of the darkness we are in, Jesus still shines light into our darkness. Remember, revelation is first and foremost about a divine-human encounter, which brings me back to The Verdict because here Jesus is reiterating in his declaration what was already revealed in his encounter with the women caught in adultery. Here is where I will lift three truths out of this text to consider what it means to have the light of life.

1. The light of life removes our spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness is an inability or unwillingness to perceive the truth of the gospel. See, it's not that the light had not been shining as, much as it is that we were blind to the light. This is why John says that the light shines into darkness, and the darkness could not comprehend it.

This understanding of John is linked back to the eagle eye prophet Isaiah who described Jesus as being a light of salvation to the nations. But the difficulty that we have in our context is that we have to discern between the true light vs. natural light and artificial light.

When we are spiritually blind, we can find ourselves looking for salvation in the artificial light of academia—prioritizing the theories of scientists and philosophies of men as our source of life.

Some of us find ourselves looking to the natural light of pop-culture and entertainment to define for us what the good life is. We can get lost in seeking salvation in the cares of the world and whatever makes us feel good at the moment.

Our blindness often drives the bad decisions that we make and creates the mess that we can easily find ourselves in. The Scribes, Pharisees, and the women caught in adultery all had spiritual blindness that produced the wrong decision. That led to their encounter with Jesus.

Have you ever been struggling in an area of your life, and you couldn’t seem to understand why? Time and time again, you kept finding yourself in the same difficult situation no matter how hard you tried.

· Like when you keep going broke attempting to look rich, not realizing your blind to the lack of self-esteem that is driving these spending habits.

· Or relationally, you keep finding yourself in relationships with the same kind of toxic man or woman. The package may look different, but after you have been around them for a while, they become just like the last joker you left.

· Or you find yourself jumping from job to job, but they never work out because you are blind to the feelings of insignificance that is driving these decisions, and you’re trying to get something from a job that is was never designed to given you.

But at that moment, when the light bulb comes on, and you begin to recognize the pattern, that is the moment where the light is starting to break-in to the darkness you’ve been walking in. The scales are beginning to fall off your eyes, and the Light of Life penetrates your situation.

(Let’s move on to my second observation.)

2. The light of life enlightens our understanding. This illuminates the mind, especially by God's word, leading to delight and increased pleasure in God.

If we look back to The Verdict seen in the divine-human encounter that produced this revelation, we can Jesus was enlightening the understanding of the women to the grace and truth of the gospel. When Jesus announced The Verdict, Neither do I condemn you. Go. From now on, sin no more. In that phrase, we see the women’s understanding enlightened. Paul told the Ephesians, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know the hope of His calling.

In other words, Jesus was letting the woman know that she was better than the life she had been living. He provided her with hope because he stood in-between her and the law, and he gave her instructions on how to move forward with our life.

When the light of life starts enlightening our understanding, we start seeing ourselves as God sees us. We start realizing that I am who God says I am! We start learning that my past doesn’t define me. We start refusing to let a momentary lapse in judgment determine the rest of our life. We refuse to be a victim of our situations and circumstances.

When the light of life brings enlightenment into our life, we start saying things like:

· I have the mind of Christ.

· I will have success because I meditate on the Word of God day and night.

· I am more than a conquer in Christ Jesus.

· I am the head and not the tail! I will lend and not borrow.

· My sins are forgiven, and I am a new creation in Christ Jesus.

· No weapon formed against me shall prosper!

(Here is my third and final observation)

3. The light of life signifies the dawning of a new day. The dawn signals the end of night and relief from its related concerns and the approach of daylight with the opportunity for renewed daily activity. The light of dawn following darkness is a symbol of hope and vindication, fulfilled primarily in the Messiah's coming

Here is the culmination of what The Verdict means about Jesus at that moment. We want our spiritual blindness removed because we want to see the dawning of a new day! We want our understanding enlightened because we want to see the dawning of a new day! The Verdict was the dawning of a new day in her life. I have had those moments when I’ve struggled and struggled for years, and then, slowly, I could begin to see a shift in my situation.

Proverbs 4:18 (NASB95)

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Just like the women caught in adultery, after Jesus delivered The Verdict, he revealed himself as the Bright and Shining Morning Star that brought a new day into her life! The dawning of a new day is proof that we have access to new mercies. The dawn of a new day is proof that trouble don’t last always!

The songwriter said it best: May not come when you want Him, But He's on time (on time). In times of trouble, I find Him to be A friend of mine (of mine). I’m so glad that trouble don’t last always! A new dawn is coming!

· A new dawn in the life of your children.

· A new dawn in your finances.

· A new dawn in your relationship with Jesus.

· A new dawn in your ministry.

· A new dawn in your marriage.

Here is the message God wanted me to bring in this second installment of The Verdict. God wants someone to know, you may have put yourself in this mess, but if you begin following the light of life, you will start to see a new dawn rising in your life.

Lets Pray.

[1] The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Remarks by President Obama on Trayvon Martin,” July 19, 2013, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin.

[2] Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press New York, NY. pg.7.

[3] Travis, Stephen. Christ and the judgement of God: the limits of divine retribution in New Testament thought. Jointly published by Paternoster and Hendrickson publishing ©2009 pg.8.

[4] Hall, Douglas John. Thinkng the faith: Christian theology in a North American context, Fortress Press Minneapolis, MN pg.404.

[5] Hall, Douglas John. Thinkng the faith: Christian theology in a North American context, Fortress Press Minneapolis, MN pg 407.

[6] Hall, Douglas John. Thinkng the faith: Christian theology in a North American context, Fortress Press Minneapolis, MN pg 407.

[7] The Lexham Bible Dictionary Copyright 2016 Lexham Press Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225[1]

[8] Word Biblical Commentary JOHN Copyright © 1999 by Word, Incorporated Beasley-Murray, G. R. (1999). John (Vol. 36, p. iv). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.