Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcements

If you’re free to join us Wednesday at 7pm, we’d love to have you join us for our weekly Bible Study & Prayer, online via Zoom as we study through the Letter to the Ephesians.

The Wednesday Bible Study & Prayer is about an hour to an hour and a quarter and includes 45-50 minutes of teaching straight from the Scriptures and the remainder of the time is spent sharing prayer requests and praying for one another.

We’d love to have you join us, contact Natalie to get all the details.

Starting May 22nd, which is a Saturday and every other Saturday after that, we’re going to be setting up a booth at the Philipsburg Farmer’s Market.

We do need some volunteers to help with that, we’d love someone to help do some free face painting for children and then we need people that are willing to just sit at the booth, hand out flyers for the church, free Bibles and water, and really just talk with and get to know people.

Our goal is really to utilize the farmers market as an outreach so that the community knows that we’re here and that we care about them.

There is a sign-up sheet for that next to the snack sign-up sheet.

And just a reminder, the only reason we can do outreach like the farmer’s market is because of your faithful giving.

So, let me encourage you to continue to give as part of your worship of God.

In order to help you give, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) you can give in-person at the offering box in the back of the room—this would be for check and cash giving (checks should be written to Grace & Peace and if you’d like a giving receipt for your cash giving, please place it in an envelope with your name on it so we can properly attribute it to you); (2) you can give with debit, credit, and ACH transfers by texting the number 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts; or (3) you can give online at graceandpeacepa.com by visiting the “Giving” button in the menubar.

Everything that you give goes to the building up of this local church and for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in and around Central Pennsylvania.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship

Congregational Singing

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Wonderful, Merciful Savior

Come Thou Fount

Scripture Reading

Our Scripture reading this morning is from Matthew 5:1-16, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount given by Jesus to a vast multitude of people.

This morning’s sermon focuses in on Jesus’ statement of being the light of the world in John 8, but Jesus doesn’t just say that he’s the light of the world; in Matthew 5, he also makes the statement that if you truly believe, you are also the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

That you are here as a beacon of God’s truth to proclaim the Gospel as you live your lives.

Let’s read Matthew 5:1-16.

Sermon

Introduction

Last week, we took sort-of a break from the Gospel according to John and spent the sermon in 2 Peter talking about the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture.

The reason for that break was to explain why scholars don’t believe John 8:1-11 is original to John, but then to assure us that we are confident that what we have today is truly the Word of God that we can rely on.

We spent quite a bit of time last week discussing textual criticism, manuscript evidence, and what the Bible means when it says that it was breathed out by God.

The goal of last week was to provide evidence of the validity of Scripture in order to give you confidence in what it says.

This morning, we’re back in the Gospel according to John and this passage (John 8:12-38) seems to be a continuation from 7:52, so let me remind you a little bit of what occured prior to this point:

Jesus went to the Feast of Booths and in the middle of the week, he goes into the temple to teach and as he teaches, he claims that he has the authority to say the words that he’s teaching them because the words themselves come from God.

Jesus makes the claim that the Jewish people really don’t understand God’s Law at all and his example of their misunderstanding concerns the man that he healed at Bethesda—he states that they’re upset at this miracle of healing that he performed because according to him healing this man was considered work and he did this miracle on the Sabbath, but they’re willing to circumcise men on the Sabbath in order to keep the Law, but they don’t consider that work at all.

Ultimately, what it came down to was that they didn’t believe in him as the Messiah because they didn’t actually know God and they didn’t actually understand God’s Law.

Jesus ends the Feast of Booths by making the statement that “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

And this statement causes some to believe, many to question his validity, and the Pharisees to utterly oppose him (with the exception of Nicodemus, of course).

All of this is leading up to this section starting in Vs. 12, so keep it in mind as we read through the passage.

After we read the passage, I’ll explain how we’ll break the passage down and we’ll dig into the Word of God.

As we study this passage, we’re going to take it in three primary parts: (1) Vs. 12-20, Jesus is the Light of the World, covers the initial statement that starts this discourse and this is actually the section in which Jesus flat out accuses the Pharisees of not knowing God; (2) Vs.

21-30, Jesus is from Above and Jesus is God, tells us where in which all of Jesus’ authority comes from.

It is the fact that Jesus is God and Jesus is from above that makes what he says authoritative, but the Pharisees completely miss the point, which prompts Jesus to say that when they “[lift] up the Son of Man, then [they] will know;” (3) Vs. 31-38, Jesus’ Truth will set you Free, which covers an often misquoted and misused verse, that “the truth will set you free” and we’ll take the end of this sermon to discuss what exactly Jesus is referring to when he makes that statement.

All of this—the fact that Jesus is the Light of the world and because Jesus is from above and Jesus is God, should compel us to abide in Jesus’ words as his disciples.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus is the Light of the World (12-20)

Jesus continues this conversation from Chapter 7 by making a profound statement, Vs. 12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.

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

This statement is profound for two primary reasons:

Remember that this is during the final day of the Feast of Booths, which was a week-long celebration of the provisions of God both during their current time period and during the Exodus when God provided for their ancestors.

One aspect of the Feast of Booths is that great candles lit up the courtyards of Jerusalem every night with the point of reminding the Israelites of their ancestors being led through the wilderness by the light of the pillar of fire.

The Mishnah, which are Jewish writings states that, “At the close of the . . .

Festival-day of the Feast they went down to the Court . . .

There were golden candlesticks there with four golden bowls on the top of them and four ladders to each candlestick, and four youths of the priestly stock and in their hands jars of oil holding a hundred and twenty logs which they poured into all the bowls.

They made wicks from the worn out drawer and girdles of the priests and with them they set the candlesticks alight, and there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that did not reflect the light”

Gerald Borchert, “On the first night of Tabernacles and apparently on each night of the feast except on Sabbath, the worshipers awaited the signal of the special lighting of the festive golden lamps of Tabernacles. . .

The lamps were intended to remind worshipers of God’s leading the people of Israel through the wilderness at night by a pillar of fire.

The lighting of lamps also signaled Israel’s recommitment to the God of light.”

And thus when Jesus claims to be the light of the world, he’s doing it during a time when the Israelites are remembering their commitment to Yahweh and they’re remembering, in particular, a time in history when Yahweh led them as a pillar of fire; and by claiming to be the light of the world, he’s essentially claiming to be the same God who led them as a pillar of fire.

In addition, not only is Jesus making the claim to be the same God who led their Israelite ancestors by a pillar of fire, he’s actually utilizing Old Testament prophecy to substantiate his claim:

Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 and 51:4, speak of the Servant of the Lord and the LORD himself as the light to the world.

Isaiah 42:5-7, says, “Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it : ‘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 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

Isaiah 49:5-6, “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 51:4-6, “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”

In all three instances, Isaiah is prophesying of a coming redeemer who will bring salvation to the people, in hindsight, we know that this is referring to Jesus Christ.

And in all three instances, Isaiah calls this Redeemer, Jesus a light for the nations or a light to the people.

So when Jesus makes the statement that he is the light of the world, he’s simultaneously utilizing the festival’s use of candles and the prophecy from Isaiah to make the claim that he is the Messiah.

And then he continues the statement by utilizing imagery from the wilderness wandering—In the book of Exodus, as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness Yahweh led them as a pillar of smoke during the day and a pillar of fire during the night.

Which means that as the Israelites followed the pillar of fire during the night, they could have light in order to see in the darkness and Jesus continues in this imagery by saying, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Whoever follows Jesus walks in spiritual light rather than spiritual darkness.

Vs 13, the Pharisees contradict Jesus, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

Which again, reveals their level of unbelief and unwillingness to believe what Jesus was teaching and what Jesus was saying.

And their rejection of Jesus’ teaching is based on one fact, “you are bearing witness about yourself.”

The question for us is what exactly is bearing witness?

To bear witness is a courtroom term and it has to do with a person who claims to have seen the event that transpired.

In the legal system, they call for witnesses to corroborate for or against the defendant.

And the idea is that these witnesses actually saw what occurred and can thus be considered trustworthy in their testimony about the defendant.

In the Jewish law, all faults and sins are to be established by two or more witnesses and this is the same pattern for accusing elders of sin and for disciplining people within the church.

If one person makes a claim, then it may not be true, but if multiple people make the same accusation, the likelihood of that accusation being legitimate increases.

In this instance, the Pharisees are making the claim that Jesus doesn’t have anyone to corroborate his claims.

Jesus alone is claiming to be the light of the world and Jesus alone is claiming to satiate spiritual thirst and thus they refuse to believe him.

The issue is that Jesus isn’t the only one bearing witness about him and Jesus responds to the Pharisees pointing this out.

Vs. 14, “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.’”

Jesus responds to their criticism of his statement by saying that, “even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true.”

So, even if the Pharisees were correct in their assessment that he alone was bearing witness about himself, it doesn’t stop the fact that he’s still correct.

And let me be clear that Jesus isn’t saying that they’re right in their assessment, he’s really just emphasizing the fact that even if they were right, he’s still telling the truth.

He says, “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.”

This response is rooted in the discussion that he had earlier in the week during the Feast of Booths and the division amongst the people concerning his Messiahship and his birth location.

Remember in John 7:25-31, the question of whether or not Jesus is the Christ is posited by the people and the question concerns the location of his birth.

Jesus in both John 7 and John 8 is making the argument that his teachings and his bearing witness about himself is true because he’s really from heaven and he’s really going to heaven, “but [they] do not know where [he is coming] or where [he is going.]

Not only are they clueless concerning his origins and future destination, he makes the accusation that, “[They] judge according to the flesh; [but he judges] no one.”

Vs. 16, “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.”

Now this can be a little confusing and it could easily be taken out of context, particularly when Jesus says, “I judge no one.”

And this could very easily be taken out of context and assumed to mean that Jesus is such a loving God that he only loves people, he never judges people.

So, let’s nip that in the bud and be clear about one thing, Jesus is the judge who judges all people.

To claim that Jesus is so loving that he won’t judge anyone is a heresy meant to placate those who would rather continue in sin than follow the words of Jesus.