Sunday Service | "I am the Light of the World" | May 9, 2021
I AM the Light of the world
John 8:12
The book of John features themes such as:
Light and life
Life and death
Light and darkness
And it contains the “I Am” Statements of Jesus that we are currently studying.
John 8:12
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
This took place in the temple near the time of the Festival of Tabernacles, which was 1 of 3 Jewish pilgrimage festivals celebrating the end of the harvest and remembering the people’s dependence on God through the Exodus.
During this festival, there was a ceremony called the Illumination of the Temple, in which they would light four 75 ft tall menorahs at night to remind the people of the pillar of fire that guided Israel in their wilderness journey. The light was so bright that the whole city would be lit up until morning.
In celebration and anticipation, the holiest of Israel’s men danced and sang psalms of joy and praise before the Lord.
This festival was a reminder that God promised to send a light, The Light, to a sin-darkened world.
God promised to send the Messiah to renew Israel’s glory, release them from bondage, and restore their joy.
They used their worn out clothes to be the wicks that would burn.
This was a celebration of life and the hope of life to come!
Now, Jesus using the I AM statement was calling people to recognize him as God, and then in describing himself as Light--pointed to this very ceremony.
He was calling Israel into life from death. Out of bondage and into the joy of life here and now.
Like the pillars of fire in the desert--Jesus has come to lead the whole of creation into life!
What a powerful truth and imagery Jesus delivers. Yes--we want life. We want to no longer live in darkness or death.
But what does this look like on a practical level? In the ceremony of the illumination of the temple there is a crescendo of the joy and praise of God for his deliverance. But what does it look like for the day to day?
I think it looks like what is described in Micah 6:8: ”To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Is this answer anticlimactic? Remember: to be basic is to be mature. Yet Jesus is the Light that enables us to walk out justice, mercy, and a loving relationship with God in our every moment here and forever more.
Let us look at the verses that Lead up to John 8:12 to get a framework of why Jesus refers to himself as The Light of the World.
John 8:2-6 NIV
“At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.”
So much to unpack here. What a horrific scene.
Jesus was teaching in the temple courts: the center of faith.
What is the trap? A woman found in the act of adultery. A woman having sex with another other than her husband. This is breaking one of the 10 commandments. This is serious. And so they bring her in front of Jesus with stones in hand in the temple to test who Jesus really is.
The trap that is set up by those who bring this woman in is to know if Jesus will submit to Moses and the law or if he will break with the tradition revealing himself to be a false prophet--thereby negating his teachings and actions.
But Jesus pauses. He bends down and writes in the sand. Oh how I wish we could see his words, but they are not recorded.
Jesus is put in a position to make a stance on what should be done with this woman. She is guilty of sin. That’s not in question.
She is living in darkness and Jesus begins to reveal that she is not the only one in darkness.
John 8:7-8 NIV
“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.”
Jesus responds to their questioning with a question of his own: Who here is without sin? He can lead the charge against this woman.
Why did he say this? I believe because he is the light of the world, and therefore, he reveals what is hidden in darkness.
This crowd has sought out a woman committing adultery to use her as a tool to trap Jesus. This in of itself reveals the darkness of man.
The spirit of the Law was that it was written to help Israel to love God with all they have and to love their neighbors as they love themselves.
The laws set forth in the Torah was a guide to keep their hearts and minds open to God by protecting the community from distractions that would cause them to turn away from God and true love
Jesus saw that this crowd only brought the woman and not the man. In Leviticus 20:10, the law stated both parties in an adulterous act were to be put to death. Where was the man?
Jesus saw that the crowd did not bring this woman into the temple to purify themselves or to protect the community from wavering from God.
No, they brought her to use her as a tool to trap Jesus. There is no love for neighbor or love for God in this act.
In fact, I believe Jesus is calling out this crowd’s true motive. You are not here to preserve the Law so that you can love God and neighbor; you are here to prove that I am not who I say I am.
In other words, you are here to justify your own way of living your own life because my teaching and presence is interrupting your desire and way of doing things.
The crowd did not bring the woman before Jesus for the betterment of the community. They brought her before Jesus to justify their own way of doing life. They were not preserving Moses’ way and the law. They were not following that; instead, they created their own set of standards. And they were willing to use this woman as a tool to achieve and preserve their own status quo.
But Jesus was not having it. He confronts them with their own sin. He reveals it. He is Light.
In Jesus asking us to follow him, he is also inviting us to engage with him on all matters. So often we think we have the correct perspective and the right answers, but too often our perspective and our answers are actually rooted in creating our own security.
The woman caught in adultery is a perfect example. By the law she was guilty and was to be stoned.
But what is the whole story? Jesus sees the woman as a person of value. He calls her actions out for being led in darkness. Yet her value did not change. This is the very definition of being Light--living in life.
Do we do this? Do we present and ask hard things because we want to see good happen in our world, or do we do it to justify our own world view?
In our questions to God about his character and his Kingdom: is it rooted in curiosity and a longing to understand or is it rooted in not being interrupted? Are our questions about justifying our way of doing and living, rather than engaging with God which causes us to change?
We are guilty of this, church: hiding behind scripture to justify our own way of doing rather than allowing scripture to interrupt our lives to look at Jesus as he really is.
John 8:9-11 NIV
“At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.””
Jesus saw the woman and the people. He is light.
The light tears away the darkness, so that we can see others as Jesus does. He calls attention to how often we operate out of darkness.
How does Jesus respond? Not with condemnation, but with invitation to walk in the light with him.
Living in darkness uses people. The adulterous relationship was not love, but a means to an end.
This mob trying to hold true to law was not about justice, but about proving Jesus as one without authority.
Yet Jesus sees through the darkness. He does not condemn the woman nor does he condemn the crowd.
In darkness we hide; this is humanity’s story: hiding from God. It started in the garden and continues today.
Jesus is the light. Let the light in!
He is revealing the path of Life. He calls out the darkness in the woman and in the crowd with mercy. He does so as an invitation to walk humbly with God in order to bring justice to earth as it is in heaven.
We want justice.
This has been the conversation for generations, but highlighted in America in the last year.
Would justice be found in stoning this woman? Condemning the crowd? Chasing down the unidentified man?
Is justice for us found in proving ourselves right?
Jesus illuminates justice for us, because He is the light of the world.
He treats the sinners with humanity and value. He did not use them as tools or as less than. No--he saw them where they were at and showed light into a path of belonging, love, and affirmation.
In order for true justice to come for us we need a heart change. We can’t work out of darkness which can look like retaliation or vengeance.
Instead we can operate in the Light of life--recognizing the darkness and inviting others to walk through it.
It looks like forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not excusing the actions away. It is taking things very seriously and choosing love and belonging over offense.
It’s empowering another through their process of change. This is the work of Jesus.
Where does the change of heart come from? The Gospel. The good news.
Jesus says I am the Light. I disperse darkness. I change the mind and heart and being. Follow me! Believe me.
This is where true justice is found--in the heart change of humanity. Not in laws and enforcement of laws. But in the darkness being repelled in our lives so that we can see clearly to love God and others with our whole self.
Jesus takes us on this path. To believe and to follow is a choice.
Not all choose. So to choose is a sign of freedom. Jesus brings us freedom and not into slavery.
John 8:12 NIV
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
Jesus is the path to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
May we allow Jesus to continue to interrupt our lives!
The invitation Jesus is making here is to believe and follow him. To pause in our judgements to get a higher perspective in order to act in mercy. Just as Israel was led by the pillar of fire through the darkness in the desert from slavery into freedom, Jesus is our Light that leads us out of darkness and into life.
So as the holy ones of Israel danced and sang psalms of joy during the ceremony of illumination, we too can worship Jesus as he is the light that renews us, delivers us out of bondage, and restores our joy.
May we live in the light of the great I Am!