Jesus Is The Light!!!

Text:

John 8:12 AV

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Two levels of light:

Level 1: Jesus is the light that illuminates darkness (dark times, dark situations, uncertain times)

Level 2: Jesus is the light who gives us direction, purpose, who leads us out of darkness (sin).

Text:

Verses 1-8

Dealing with the text:

While Jesus was teaching at the Temple, some teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. They did this because they wanted to test Jesus to see what his reaction would be.

They told Jesus “this woman was caught in the act of adultery and the law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” But Jesus, didn’t say anything, he did not say that she should be stoned, did not condemn her for her actions. This woman was evidently a religious woman who made a a critical mistake that according to the law of Moses should have cost her the woman her life. Jesus doesn’t say anything, he just stoops down and began to write in the dust with his finger.

The accusers of this woman kept prodding Jesus demanding for an answer and Jesus finally answers “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Then he stooped back down and began to write in the dust again. The scriptures says “being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst.” When Jesus finally got up, he looked around and no one was left but him and the woman caught in adultery.

Jesus asks this woman “where are your accusers? Did not one of them condemn you?” The woman replied “No, Lord”. Jesus said “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Let’s evaluate this situation:

This woman committed adultery, something drove her to have a sexual encounter outside of her marriage. She was empty, she was in darkness, she sinned against God, she sinned against her husband. She was in dark times, she was in danger of being put to death.....dark times. Her accusers brought her to Jesus....but what they didn’t know was that they brought this adulterer to the light!

II. Jesus the Light of the World.

After all of the the accusers left, there was still a crowd there witnessing what had just transpired. Jesus then speaks to them and declares these words (verse 12) “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Jesus in a sense is giving an explanation as to why he said and did what he did. Jesus literally saved this woman’s life. She was on the brink of destruction and damnation. She was in darkness, but Jesus saved her life and pulled her out of darkness. How did Jesus save this woman? By being merciful to her.....she deserved to die....but the Lord saw something within her that caused him to show compassion towards her. He saw that she needed help, he saw that she couldn’t save herself, he saw that everyone else thought the worst of her, that they wrote her off, that they wanted to kill her.....but he desired to save her!

I want to stop there to declare to someone, you’ve been wrote off by people, you’ve been judged by church members, family members, friends, but the LORD Jesus Christ has the power to pull you out of darkness.....Jesus Christ has the power to turn your life around! Jesus has the power to remove the hatred from your heart, Jesus Christ has the power to deliver you from the substance abuse, Jesus has the power to deliver you from the suicidal thoughts, Jesus has the power to deliver you from the addiction! He has the power to deliver you from the dark times! Because Jesus is the Light of the World.......he shines into the darkness! He shines and give you hope, he shines and gives you direction, he shines and gives you purpose!

When Jesus addressed the crowd, he was letting the crowd know.....hey.....you too might be living in sin. Let me stop there to let you know that if you are living life outside the purpose and will of God you are living in darkness. If you are living in sin, you are living in darkness.....but Jesus said “I Am the Light of the World”........I am the way out!

Jesus said “If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness.” You don’t have to walk in darkness....you don’t have to live in dark times.....if you follow Jesus! We’ve got to follow Jesus, we’ve got to follow his example, we’ve got to follow his instructions, we’ve got to follow his Word! In the time that we live in on social media, their are media influencers that have followers. These media influencers post videos and when they post it notifies their followers. These followers know everything there is to know about the person that they are following. We need to follow Jesus......we need to know everything there is to know about the LORD. We spend hours in a week watching Youtube, surfing Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, following reading posts on Instagram, but won’t pickup our Bibles. Won’t take the time to follow Jesus and know what the Will of God is for our lives!

Then when dark-times hit us.....we fold like a metal church chair because we don’t know how to navigate through the dark times.

III. The Light in Dark Times.

Jesus is the Light of the World:

But then there is also a secondary purpose for why Jesus considers himself to be the light of the world:

This woman, was in dark times, she was walking in darkness, but she was brought before the light. This passage of scripture should be an encouragement to us, that regardless of the dark times that we may find ourselves in, regardless of the things that may occur in our lives that Jesus is the light that will shine in our darkest hours!

Thought: If you were to take a group of people and put them in a room with no windows and then shut the lights off.....one of the first things they would probably do is look for a light source. They would get cell phones out, they would look for flash-lights, they would look for matches or anything that would emit light. It is the light in the midst of dark times that gives us direction, it is the light in dark times that helps us to remain calm, it is the light that shines in darkness that will help us to find our way out of the darkness. Jesus is the LIGHT!

In life, you are certain to face dark times. When the dark times hit.....make sure that you are prepared. When we know that a storm is destined to hit us, we take the necessary precautions to prepare for whatever is thrown at us. We go to the store, we buy groceries, we get blankets, then we have what is called an storm emergency kit. In that kit you have perishable foods, you have bottled water, you have bandaids......and other items. Besides the food and water, another important piece to that inventory is a flash-light. If the lights go out, you can see where you are going, if you find yourself in trouble, you can wave it around to get the attention of someone.

When the storms of life hit do you have your spiritual emergency kit handy? In this kit, you’ll find directions for what you need to do called a “bible/word of God”, in this kit you won’t find a blanket, but you can be covered by the blood of Jesus, in this kit, you won’t have a flashlight because Jesus is the light and it doesn’t matter how dark it gets, does matter how forceful the winds may blow in your life, if you got the light, if you have Jesus.......you can make it through any storm!

Close:

Jesus himself experienced dark times. When Jesus was arrested, he was in dark times, even before he was arrested, he knew the dark times that were ahead. When he was whipped.....he was in hard times, when he was bruised, he was in dark times. They put him on trial....dark times......he experienced rejection from the people....hard times. They chose a murderer over him.....hard times. Then.....they made him carry an ole rugged cross......up the hill of Golgotha....dark times. They nailed him to that ole rugged cross.....dark times. The made fun of him, stripped him of his clothes.....dark times. And while he was on the cross......darkness was all over the earth from 12:00 noon until about 3:00 in the afternoon......Jesus was in dark times. He died and gave up the ghost.....and he experienced darkness! See.....just knows what it’s like to be in dark times. But early.......on a Sunday morning.....before the sun came up......the SON got up! He was in a dark sealed up tomb....but then a flicker of light radiated within the tomb! Jesus the LIGHT began to shine in the midst of the darkness!!!! And Jesus.....rose and stepped out of the darkness! And if you are a child of God, if you got Jesus in your life, if you got him in your heart.....you must have faith that God won’t allow you to remain in dark times......if you look to Jesus......JESUS WILL BRING YOU OUT!!!! IF YOU LOOK TO JESUS.......YOU CAN COME OUT OF THE DARKEST TIMES.....BECAUSE JESUS IS THE LIGHT!!!!

Take home:

If you are in darkness, if you are living in dark times, Jesus is the only way to get out of the darkness. Follow Jesus, look to Jesus, believe in Jesus, he will bring you through the darkest of times. If you don’t follow the light (Jesus) you’ll be lost, you won’t be able to see your way, you won’t be able to navigate the difficult times.

If you want to come out of darkness.....you must follow the light (Jesus). When we are in darkness, we use a flashlight to find our way out of the darkness. Where ever we shine the light, that is where we go.....in order for you to come out of Jesus, you got to follow him, follow his way, follow his word, follow his instructions......by doing so it’ll lead you out of darkness.