The Light of the World (John 8:12-30)
This week I was pointed to an article from USA Today about porn usage and the damage it has done to young American men. And the damage has been tremendous. The far ranging results of this has been inability to have normal relationships, inability to have children, to anxiety, depression, and other things. It is often surmised that this is at least part of the reason that young men are struggling to get married and young women are struggling to find a suitable mate.
I was also reminded that the moral revolution of the 1960’s led to women thinking that they were going to be liberated. But the reality is that they are now degraded by men in ways that wouldn’t have been imagined in the 1960’s.
People are lonelier than they’ve ever been. The internet, which promised a tremendous amount of connectivity, has done more to isolate people than anything else that I can imagine. The United States has been discussing the loneliness epidemic in America and trying to figure out ways to combat it.
We live in a dark world, that seems to be getting darker. And in the midst of this darkness Jesus cries out, “I am the Light of the World.”
We are once again at the Feast of Booths. And Jesus once again claims to be the fulfillment of a tremendous ceremony that took place at the Feast of Booths.
Have you ever been outside, in a place far away from city lights, at night?
Even here in Conway I feel like it never really gets completely dark. It doesn’t help that there is a soccer field directly behind us. But in a place where there are street lights, it’s never completely dark. But that was not the case when Jesus was here at the Feast of Booths.
I have already described the water ceremony. Jesus cried out, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” And Jesus cried out, “I am the Light of the World”, which comes from the light ceremony at the Feast of Booths.
Around 75 feet high in the Court of Women there were giant menorahs that were fed with oil. The young priests would climb ladders and pour oil into the bowls and light the menorahs.
Remember, the Feast of Booths commemorated God’s protection of the people of Israel during their wandering in the wilderness. What brilliant light was with them throughout the wanderings? They were guided by a pillar of fire by night.
This symbolized God’s presence with His people. And every description of it was that it was the brightest lights they had ever seen. In a day and time with no electricity, the whitish, yellowish temple glowed in the brilliant light. It is said that the entire city was illuminated by the light of the menorahs. The people would sing and dance festively for a long period of time in great joy and celebration. And with that image in everyone’s mind Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
And in a dark, dark world the light is what we need most.
In a world filled with sin and rebellion. We need the light of the world.
The Light of the World has come, receive Him and have the light of life.
Jesus, the Light of the World (John 8:12)
It is a simple statement, but at the same time it is a profound truth that we could consider for a long time. Jesus is the Light.
This morning, the darkness of the night was invaded by the light of the sun. The darkness fled and the light of the sun conquered the darkness of night.
As modern people we don’t think in these terms. We tend to think of ourselves as smarter than those that came before us. Some people in hearing of this right now are just thinking about how the Earth rotates and can’t even wrap their minds around the darkness fleeing at the light of the sun. Modern people are quite dumb.
“4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” (John 1:4-5, 9-10 ESV)
The sun delivers life giving rays to the plants. They unfold their leaves to receive life from the sun. They point their selves in its direction to receive the life that the sun delivers every day.
If the sun were to stop giving its light, most plants would die.
God the Son, the Creator of the world came into the world. The One through whom the world was created came to save. He lived a perfect life, died on a cross paying the punishment for sin, rose from the grave and accomplished this glorious redemption for us.
Jesus is the light of the world that came to His own, that accomplished salvation for this lost and dying world.
We live in a dark world, racked by sin and death. And here, amid all that, God the Son stepped in. Light shone in the darkness. And light still shines in the darkness.
Jesus came, the Light of the World, into a world that His creatures corrupted. Into this world of dark chaos, loneliness, shame, Jesus came and offered redemption.
And today, amid the loneliness and shameful sin that surrounds us Jesus stands there beckoning us to come to Him, the Light of the World. And He will give to us the Light of Life.
Christians Have the Light of Life (John 8:12)
Jesus’s statement doesn’t stop with Him being the Light of the world. Christians have this light. They are united to Christ and have the Light of Life.
We were once separated from God and living in darkness, but now we have the Light of life. And because of this we have God the Holy Spirit. Christians are not walking aimlessly in this dark world.
When I was in college I interned as a youth leader in Harrison for a Summer. I grew up in Harrison and was familiar with the area and had been to Lost Valley before so the others trusted my judgment.
We walked the hiking trail and went into the cave. Everything was okay until I said, “Let’s go further into the cave.” And we did. But I didn’t bring a flashlight. And cell phones didn’t put off much light back then. My Nokia brick phone just didn’t cut it.
Before we realized it, we were completely in the dark. I waved my hand in front of my face and realized we had gone too far when I couldn’t see it. One of the ladies said, “Did we bring a flashlight?” I laughed and said, “I didn’t.” I could feel them panicking. So, I told them to lock hands so no one got lost. We went straight back to where we came from, and we began to see the light again. At that point, we knew the way and everyone was relieved.
We could see where we were going. And as we walked closer and closer to the light, we saw better and better what was around us.
As Christians, we have the light of life. We don’t grope in the darkness. We have Christ who is the light of the world. We do not walk in darkness.
We are not guessing. We have the light of life. We have the grace of God in Jesus Christ. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have the Scriptures. We have the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. We have access to God in prayer through the finished work of Christ.
Now, do we have all the answers? No. But as Christians, we have been given the resources.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)
I have grown weary of the common complaint from Christians that they seem to have no power over sin. “Yeah but we all fail” is probably running through some of your minds right now. And it’s a sign that you don’t believe what Jesus is saying in this text.
You are not wandering in darkness. As His people, you have been given the light of life. Again, you have been born again, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, you have the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, and the fellowship of believers.
As Christians, we also have been given each other.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call– one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV)
We are to love each other and grow up together in Christ together. You can’t do it on your own. You may think that you can, but you can’t. And if you think that you can, then you are in danger. The Bible and Christianity has no category for the lone wolf Christian.
I think about this often with my role as a pastor. Pastors have been given to the church as a gift from God for the equipping of the body of believers. That is what we read in the text above. I’m not making this up. I am obligated to be that for this congregation. You are not supposed to just wander this life on your own, attempting to navigate the fog of this world without guidance and help from others.
We do not wander in darkness as the world does. We have been given the light of life. And we do not wander around in darkness.
But the lost world does. And we see that with the response of the Pharisees to Jesus.
All Who Reject Christ Walk In Darkness (John 8:13-30)
The response of the Pharisees to this glorious message is not to deny it, but to argue that Jesus needs more witnesses according to Deuteronomy 13. Jesus’s response was to say that He does not bear witness about Himself, but even if He did it is true.
Remember that Jesus has already wrangled with these folks. He has already told them of many witnesses. Earlier, in John 5, Jesus listed John the Baptist and the Father as His witnesses.
These people simply do not know anything about Jesus. And they really do not know where He is from and what He is going to do (John 8:14). And their judgment about Jesus comes only from what they know, the flesh (John 8:15).
Then we have a very confusing statement from Jesus. Does He judge or not (John 8:15-16)?
Jesus did not come the first time to judge, but by His coming He did divide humanity into those that believe and those that do not. There simply is no middle ground. And so Jesus emphasizes knowing.
He is the Light of the world, and these people are in the dark.
And so, Jesus says to these Pharisees who are in the dark, that He does not bear witness about Himself alone. The Father does as well (John 8:18). And remember, Jesus did not begin the conversation with them here. This is something that Jesus has said before. And if they knew Him, they would also know the Father (John 8:19).
We again face a group of Hebrew people that claim to know God but do not. And they prove that they do not by not knowing Jesus. To not know Jesus is to not know the Father. The person who truly knows the Father, knows Jesus.
There is now a break in conversation. John makes this obvious, but at the same time he wants to connect it to this conversation. It’s like when you are telling a story and connecting a few similar conversations that you’ve had to make a point about someone. If they cussed you out once, you’re likely to tell about another time they cussed you out to bring shed more light on what was going on. And something similar to that is what John is doing here. We don’t know how much time passed between the two conversations, but there was a pause. And before the pause they tried to arrest Him, but again “His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20 ESV).
After the pause Jesus tells them that He is leaving, they will look for Him, and they will die in their sins (John 8:21). As Christians, we know the rest of the story. This is about the cross, resurrection, and ascension. But the Pharisees are still in the dark.
The Pharisees still do not understand, and they question whether Jesus is speaking of suicide (John 8:22).
There is a reason for the Pharisees inability to see. They are in the dark. They are from below. He is from above. They are of this world, He is not of this world (John 8:23). And because of this Jesus proclaims “unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
The “I Am” structure is awkward because it is Jesus taking the title of deity. He is purposely calling Himself “I Am”, “Yahweh”. He is taking the personal name of God for Himself. And unless people believe that He is God, they will die in their sins. Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Arians, Jewish people that don’t believe in Jesus, along with everyone else that does not believe will die in their sins.
The Pharisees are not finished walking in darkness though (John 8:25). Jesus just tells them that He has been telling them for a long time who He is (John 8:25). They are in the dark and don’t see it. He has a lot of other things to say and judge, but that is not for now (John 8:26). That day will come.
Jesus has declared to them the word from the Father (John 8:26). But because they are in the dark, they still don’t understand (John 8:27).
There will come a day that while they wander in the darkness, they will lift up “the Son of Man” (John 8:28). This is worded like a time of exaltation and it may have sounded to the Pharisees like Jesus was talking about sitting down on a throne, but this is about the cross. They would lift Him up upon the cross and all would be revealed. At that time, they will know that He is who He has said that He is. At that time it will be obvious that He does nothing of His own authority, but only what He has been taught by the Father (John 8:28).
And then, many people believed in Him (John 8:29).
The Pharisees were walking in darkness. And they didn’t realize it.
How like that are people today?
They tell us that the wicked things of this world are actually good. And they believe it.
They don’t know. They are wandering in darkness.
One day a group of students asked me if I would welcome a homosexual visitor from school to our church. I said, “yes”. They said, “But you don’t think homosexuality is good.” I said, “Correct. But I also don’t expect lost people to act like Christians.”
Over and over in our text today, the darkness of the Pharisees was front and center. They rejected Jesus because they were in the dark. They didn’t understand the claims of Jesus because they were in the dark. And they would lift up Jesus Christ upon a cross where He would die. And they would believe themselves to be doing the right thing.
We live around people that are still in the dark.
Unbelievers walk around, as if in a fog. They see things, but they don’t see them as they are. And their slogans reveal it.
“Love is love.” They shout. And they really believe it.
“Cut off bodyparts to make the child’s physical body match what he feels inside.” They say with a straight face, believing it to be true.
“Watch porn. It’s good for you.” They have said for decades with all seriousness.
“Marriage is bad for society.” They say today with all seriousness, for they truly believe it.
They walk around in the darkness. And they don’t see reality.
I was chasing a friend of mine with a bottle rocket late at night in the woods. He thought all was good in front of him, so he was running to get away from us. There was a tree ahead of him that he was looking to get behind, but he didn’t see the tree limb that was in front of him. It was hidden by the darkness. The limb was pointed straight at his head. He ran into it and it hit him in the gum right above the front teeth. He fell to the ground. There was blood all over his face by the time we got him into the light. We called his Mom and took him to the hospital.
The darkness hid reality from his view.
Everyone who rejects Christ is in that darkness. They don’t have the Light of Life. Jew, Gentile, Muslim, Pagan, and anyone else that rejects Christ, they live in this fog. They don’t see the world as it really is.
They have children, but don’t really know why they have children.
They get married, but don’t really understand what marriage is.
They understand that they mess up, but don’t know what sin is. They call cosmic treason against God a little mistake.
They live life, but don’t know that the purpose of life is to love God and enjoy Him forever.
They live in a fog, groping blindly through a maze that they do not understand. The darkness of sin and death clouds their minds. And all those that die apart from Christ will, “die in their sins”. They will face an eternity separated from God in a place called Hell.
They are “in their sins”. That is the fog. That is the darkness.
All of humanity is “in their sins” with one exception, those that have trusted in Christ. And everyone will “die in their sins” without the Light of Life.
Gospel.
Conclusion
Christian, what is your attitude concerning the Light of the World? Do you act as if you have it? Do you believe you are conquered in this world? Do you believe that you walk in the light? Or do you live conquered everywhere you go?
Do you live in the light? Do you walk in the light of life?
Are you living addicted to pornography?
Are you living a life at home that you would not want any of us to know about?
Repent. You have the Light of Life. Trust Christ. Walk in the Light.
At the end of our text we find that there were some that believed. And this sermon is a call for people to do just that. It is a call for people to abandon the darkness and receive the Light of Life found only in Jesus Christ.