Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

As we begin our study of God’s word today, I would ask you to turn with me to John 8: 12-19.

As you turn there, today, we are getting to talk about the second of the “I am" statements.

Last week, we begin talking with the statement that Jesus is the "bread of life."

Knowing that Christ is the bread of life, we understand that he is that which sustains us spiritually.

Today we will see that not only is he the bread of life, but that he is the light of the world.

Let's look at the passage for today, and then we will give some context.

After that we will see that the light casts out darkness and gives life.

Let’s look to our passage as we begin:

** CHANGE SLIDE **

I have to give the context of this passage.

Since we are working though the Gospel, at this point, by way of the I am statements, we are skipping some of the narratives along the way.

One such narrative is the lengthy section that deals with the events and conversations surrounding the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles.

A simple explanation of the feast of booths is that this particular feast was a celebration of God’s provision throughout the Israelite’s wandering in the wilderness, and also thanksgiving for the annual harvest.

This feast would often take place in the months we know as September or October, and it was about two months before the feast of dedication.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

The Feast of Booths

During the feast of booths, the Israelites were to prepare booths or small tabernacles outside of their homes where the individuals of their families could come outside and spend seven days in these tabernacles.

On the last day of the week-long feast, A special ceremony would take place.

During this ceremony, large pictures of water would be brought in and water would be poured out in the Temple Courts as a symbol of God's provision to quench the thirst of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness.

John 7:37-39 tells us, likely when the ceremony was taking place, “37 [That] On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

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

” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

What is truly fascinating about that passage, is that it shows us that Jesus’ timing was perfect.

He took that opportunity as the water was being poured out, which symbolized the water God provided in the wilderness, and revealed that He gives greater water.

John makes sure to share with his readers that Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus made this statement, the Jews were divided.

A great discussion and argument broke out as to who this man truly was.

In fact, even Nicodemus got involved in the discussion, as the Pharisees were split on what to do with the claims this man was making.

Eventually, the discussion kind of centered around whether or not anyone could actually come out of Galilee as a prophet.

The Pharisees, who are all Hebrew Bible scholars in their own right, should have remembered Isaiah’s prophecy in the 9th chapter of his book.

Look with me, on the screen to this verse:

** CHANGE SLIDE **

While those first two verses may not be very familiar, you may notice that this is the famous, “Unto us a Child is born” passage that we recite at Christmas.

In their arguing, the Pharisees show both their disdain for the Galileans and their blindness to what was before them.

How often are we like that?

We become so focused on being right, winning an argument, or making others understand that they have to be wrong, that we miss out on what's right in front of us.

They were so focused on tradition and history, that they totally missed out on the fulfillment of prophecy.

As the argument continues and chapter 7 comes to a close, we find a very interesting story and the woman caught in adultery.

We do not have time to go into the backstory of this particular story, but there is a great debate as to whether this particular passage fits in this section of the gospel of John or if it belongs in a different gospel, or if it belongs in scripture at all.

This is because scholars have determined that this passage does not exist in any of the earliest manuscripts that have been found.

In some later manuscripts, it appears in different places throughout the gospel of John, and in other manuscripts, it actually appears in the Gospel of Luke.

With that being said there is nothing in this story that gives us concern or disagrees with any part of scripture.

Admittedly, it does seem to come at a strange time in the text.

Many scholars would then say that verse 12 of chapter 8 actually takes place immediately after chapter 7 verse 52.

Whether the story of “the woman caught in adultery” took place in this particular spot on the Gospel’s Timeline or not, it does not change the meaning of what Jesus said in chapter 8 verse 12.

The only thing that this particular story could change is the timing of Jesus’ statement.

You see, at the end of the feast of booths, or tabernacles, there was a massive celebration that would take place.

There were giant candelabras or pillars (which some say were as tall as 75 feet) that were brought into the temple courtyard, and the tops would be lit on fire.

Worshipers on both sides of the Temple would see a great light emanating from the tops of the pillars and everyone there would celebrate all night long as the temple courtyard was illuminated by this light.

I mention the controversy surrounding the story of the woman caught in adultery because either Jesus said he is the light of the world as they were preparing for this particular celebration in anticipation of the light, or he said it the next morning, after everyone spent all night enjoying the light.

Either way, all those within earshot would have known exactly what he was referring to.

By saying he is the light of the world, He was aligning himself with the symbolism of the light that guided the Israelites in the wilderness.

He was making a bold statement as to His divinity.

Once again, John uses the words of Christ to present Him as the Son.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

Let's go back to verse 12:

Of course, as we read the passage earlier, the Pharisees continued their argument with Jesus.

They called him a liar, they challenged him to present his father, and our portion of the passage ends with a great statement, where Jesus said “if you knew me you would know my father.”

Knowing the light, changes everything, just as having the light, changes everything.

In the time we have remaining, I would like to point out to very simple aspects of the light.

Knowing that Jesus is the light of the world, We want to ask, “What have we done with the light?"

First, we will see that the light cast out darkness.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

The Light Casts Out Darkness

When John begin his gospel, he started off by saying "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

When we started the series, we talked about how John was intentionally pointing his readers back to Genesis.

Where we are told at the very beginning of the Bible, "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

The very next verse tells us that the earth was void and without form.

We are told that darkness was over the face of the deep.

As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, we hear God himself say, "let there be light" and there was light.

We have already discussed, and do not have time to unpack again, the concept that Jesus is the agent of creation.

Therefore at the very beginning of the Bible when God said, let there be light, we see Jesus is active in creation.

Do you remember John 1:5? Hearing that Jesus is the agent of creation, that he declares himself to be the light of the world, and that he was active at the very beginning, helps John 1:5 make more sense.

Look with me:

** CHANGE SLIDE **

When God said, let there be light, the darkness was defeated.

Do you see, when we turn on a light, darkness flees.

Have you ever noticed at night, when you open your curtains?

Have you ever noticed that the darkness from outside does not come into the room, but rather the light from inside shines out into the outside.

Not only does light cast out darkness, but it reveals what is real and what is not.

By casting out darkness, you can see what is really there.

Have you ever been walking through a dark room and thought you saw some thing, and got scared, only to turn on a light and realize it’s not at all what you thought it was?

Some of you have heard the story of my former pastor at the church in Georgia where we moved here from.

Early in his ministry at that church, he lived across the street in the parsonage.

One of the perks of living in the parsonage, is that when the burglar alarm goes off, you get to go and turn reset it.

The church was preparing for their big Spring Musical, which was a beach themed children’s choir special.

One particular night, there was a beach ball that had rolled into one of the hallways, setting off a motion detector, and then the alarm went off.

It was about 4 o'clock in the morning, I think, and the police had to show up, because the alarm wasn’t reset in time.

I’m not sure what he was doing at 4 am, but for some reason resetting an alarm wasn’t something he was necessarily waiting around to do.

When the police arrived, they walk through the entire building to make sure that everything was OK, and that there were no burglars.

As they were walking down the hall, and turning into the sanctuary, they heard a noise.

The young police officer drew his pistol and said, “wait here.”

The pastor watched as that young police officer turned the corner with his gun drawn heard another noise and watched as the police officer very nearly took a shot.

Thankfully, as the police after service turning the corner he shined his flashlight on the object that had made the noise.

In the dark, he thought he saw a long haired person lunging at him.

When the light hits the figure, he realized it was a surfboard with a wig on it for some reason that had fallen over.

Right as he turned the corner.

I'm not sure about you, but I know one guy that is very happy that light casts out darkness, since with the aid of a flashlight, he didn’t have to explain why he fired center mass on a surfboard!

Isn't that how it goes sometimes though?