The Light of the World

Notes:

Introduce Danny as our new worship leader (pray for him and Amanda)

Give a heads up on the annual Pacific Northwest Church Planting Movement offering (4/3)

Introduction

One of the things you find out real quickly when you drive a vehicle is depending on how fast you are going will depend on where your eyes rest. If you are going “off-road”, around here, you are not going 40 mph per hour but are navigating tree stumps, steep terrain, lakes/ponds, and in 4-low going a maximum of 15mph. The distance you look ahead may be anywhere from right in front of your hood to 20’ to 30’ in front of you.

If you are on the highway, you are going 60 to 65mph. It is dangerous to only consider the road in front of you at 20’. If there is something you see that you have to navigate (an animal, a turn, debris, an off ramp, etc.) by the time you recognize it, you’ve already gone past it. You have to look 150’ to 200’ in front of you at those speeds.

This idea of looking ahead is valued in many areas and respects of life. Often times employers in the interview process will ask what someone’s 1yr, 5yr, and 10yr plan is. Often times it is just a litmus test to see whether or not an individual is capable of vision which means/translates their potential to be a force of creativity, ingenuity, passion, drive, and a catalytic agent for a company.

I believe this is who God is. He is a visionary, He is a creator, He brings order from chaos. What we see as a mess and chaotic, He brings order and structure. Speaking in human terms, He sees what is not yet materialized.

Genesis 1:1-3 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

When we see something that is broken, burnt, destroyed, He brings beauty from those ashes.

Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify him.”

This is very different how often times we see things, or how we see people. We see people through our perception of their actions. We judge based on what we can look at or touch (or even perceive). I will remind us of our dear brother Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, and his words upon hearing Jesus had risen from the dead...

John 20:25 “So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.””

Jesus in no uncertain terms is calling the Pharisees and us into this life where He is sufficient.

The pharisees in our text today are resisting this…

If you have your Bibles or on your devices, please turn to the gospel of John 8:12-19. If you are able, would you stand as I read God’s word this morning. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated.

Light of the World

vs 12, Jesus says “I am the light of the world”. This the second of the “I Am” statements where Jesus talks about who He is.

This will remind us of John’s preamble to his gospel, John 1:4-5 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Volumes 1 & 2 (1. The True Witness (8:12–20))

If the Feast of Tabernacles is at all relevant to the image, as many commentators suggest, light was also associated with the torchlight ceremony in the court of women in the temple during that festival. Jesus apparently uttered this declaration near the court of women, for the temple treasury (8:20) was adjacent to it. As commentators often observe, this lighting celebration commemorated the pillar of fire in the wilderness (Exod 13:21; cf. Ps 78:14; 105:39; Neh 9:12, 19), which recalls other Johannine images such as water (4:14; 7:38) and manna (6:32). But John does not restrict his light imagery to this feast.

“Walking in darkness” (8:12) is a metaphor: at night, one is more apt to trip because one cannot see where one is going (9:4; 11:9; 12:35). But “walking in darkness” had also already become a standard depiction of humanity living in sin. -Craig Keener

Can I remind us this is coming off of the first part of the chapter where a woman who was caught in the act of adultery is being tried before Jesus. While it is important to remember that adultery doesn’t “just happen”… there are causes and situations that lead up to someone running out on their vows… our text showed us last week it is a matter of identity and Jesus calling both parties (Pharisee and the woman) to live into their position as children of the promise. Jesus’ actions and words set a HUGE spotlight on what was actually going on… they were both playing the hypocrite! The clarity that Jesus brought, illuminating the reality, it brought life to everyone!

Jesus tells this crowd… I’m the light of the world. Where as we might be stumbling around trying to figure out how to work this thing called life, if you come to me, I’ll show you the way.

I was having a conversation with a friend this week. We were talking about the way of love. Did you know that God gave us love as the ultimate weapon of freedom. Think about it. Jesus said, Matthew 5:43-45 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

Our enemy, those who have hurt us, those who have affected us negatively… they control a piece of us. The thought of them may cause us to stress, get angry, lose focus on the task at hand, cause physiological damage because of what they have done. If we love them, they lose that control over us. If we are able to love instead of hate, be anxious, be angry, be wrathful, we are the ones in control of ourselves and they lose power over us.

This is not intuitive. I will suggest this is nearly impossible apart from the work of the Spirit in our lives to be able to love someone (caveat: love does not mean forget or put ourselves in harms way… but meaning you are able to genuinely want God’s best for someone. Which might mean being isolated or incarcerated for their good and the good of others in extreme cases). This way of being is the way of Jesus… this is what it means in part to walk in His light.

vs 13, The Pharisees doubt this… as pastor and theologian Eugene Petersen puts their response, “All we have is your word on this. We need more to than this to go on.”

This really is the task isn’t it. Do we believe Jesus at what He says. Is it just a hopeful ideal that we try to attain, or are we who are seeking life in Him applying and living out the truth of what and how He’d have us to live?

This is our call… this is the step of faith that we are constantly beckoned into by the Holy Spirit. However this is not a blind faith, this is one that is substantiated by who Jesus is (God the Son) and who He was sent by (God the Father). He knows the end, He knows and is asking us to see His past faithfulness and allow that to guide our present trust.

His testimony is true

Jesus doesn’t make His statements out of the narrowness of His experience, but in the largeness of the One who sent Him, the Father.

You might say, “Pastor Peter, what your saying is that Jesus didn’t know everything… I thought He was God. God knows everything.”

You are correct, God does know everything. Jesus has already told us (John 5:19), He only does those things that He sees the Father doing. Jesus is living the life that He calls us into, one of faith and dependence on God. The apostle Paul would say to the church in Philippi, Philippians 2:5-7 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Again, Jesus doesn’t make His statements out of the narrowness of His experience, but in the largeness of the One who sent Him, the Father.

vs. 15, For a person that can only believe something that they can hold, touch, feel, and know… this is difficult. That is a life of certainty, not one of faith. Jesus is calling them and us into a life of faith. To trust Him because He is God. What the Jesus says in vs15 about the Pharisee’s is essentially, you have to understand it in your own experience before you believe it. Jesus doesn’t operate that way. He sees things much larger and beyond where we often look, where they are perceiving.

I have a perfect illustration in my life and that is my children. There are a couple of my children when it comes to family movie night, I dig into the classics of the 80’s and 90’s of which are more often than not met with groanings, wailing and even gnashing of teeth at times. As I ignore their plea’s for something that they have already watched, we watch the classic movie I had chosen, and by the end of it they are more often than not, “that was ok”… which translates from kid speak into adult speak, “wow, that was good.” I continually encourage them to trust their dad and I will not intentionally lead them astray.

Here we see Jesus speaking to us, to them in that day, saying trust me… my testimony is true.

vs.19 they ask Jesus about this Father of His. “Where is your Father?” they ask. Boldly and truthfully, He responds, “You’re looking at me and you do not see me. How do you expect to see the Father?” To know Jesus is to know the Father.

The pastor who wrote the book of Hebrews would say it this way, Hebrews 1:1-3 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

If we have seen Jesus we know who God is. It’s not good cop, bad cop. In that we can read, see, and know Jesus so we can know God. This is what He’s telling them.

ISN’T THIS GOOD NEWS! Often times it seems that God gets a bad reputation. Its for various reasons. But if you read the gospel accounts of all that Jesus said and did, we can see God!! This is who He is. He’s attractive. The masses come to him. Those who are hurting come to him. Those who are crushed, tired, and empty come to Him and are filled. He doesn’t flinch.

He has given us an example

The Pharisees still did not get who Jesus was, or who His Father was. This is sad on many levels. They have given their whole life to study and knowing scripture, but could not see who was in front of them.

It is not a lot unlike today. There are many who would call themselves followers of Jesus but are not deeply formed by Jesus.

On one day we are singing songs, “The cross before the world behind me” and then tearing people down delegitimizing the humanity of others who are not socially, politically, or economically aligned with us.

Jesus said, John 8:28-29 “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. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.””

When I’m crucified, and thereby implication, risen, ascended, glorified, and the Holy Spirit is poured out… you’ll see… you’ll know.

So truly they could not go where He was going. This is the cost to following Jesus though. It is to go where He went. Luke 9:23 “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” It is that denial of self, to submit ourselves to the good and perfect will of God, and follow Jesus’ example in the love and service of others.

There is much to say to this.

The servant is not greater than the master. The follower will walk in the ways and the life of the leader.

How is our faith tested… in the crucible… in the fire. On the cross. Church the fact that we go through difficulty, hardship, uncomfortable, unfair circumstances in and of itself is hard. But when we are following Jesus as we are doing it, we are formed into His image if we allow that work to drive us to Him.

He is the light. He shows us how to live in the midst of heartache, difficulty, oppression, suffering, discomfort. We know how we are to respond, and in that response we are formed and that momentary affliction works in us for greater glory. 1 Peter 5:10 “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Conclusion

This is just a beautiful reminder. There are those like the woman who was caught in the middle of adultery who need to be called into the life that God has for her. One of love, forgiveness, attentiveness, beauty, and satisfaction. Running into the arms or bed of another will not bring that.

There are those like the religious leaders who hide behind their knowledge thinking it is their academic prowess will endear them to God. The title and the reverence it demands as if people can validate or invalidate God’s favor toward us. The insecurity that finds its foothold revealing in itself the ability to make others feel inferior to their mammoth knowledge. They need to be called into the life of being and embodying the way of the Master in His serving the least of these.

There are those who are confused, struggling, and faltering all over the place that need light shine in on their experience to navigate their circumstance.

May we be reminded that we are not sum total of our mistakes. That our worth is not wrapped up in what we do but in who we are. Our worth is not wrapped up in what we have (or don’t have) but in Who has us!

Allow the Light of Jesus to shine broadly in your hearts. Allow the work of the Spirit to bear forth fruit in your life that is characteristic of God… Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Would you stand with me.

I want to invite the staff, elders, deacons, and ministry leads who are here to come to the foot of the stairs. They are available to you for prayer. If you want to respond to God’s word today, if there is something you need to meet with Him about, they are here to pray with you. You may come during this last song or after service. Please don’t leave without seeking prayer if you need it. If you are talking with one another and feel led to pray for each other, please lean into that pray with each other right where you are.

Let us pray.