I AM: The Light of the World
John 8:12-21
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
9-30-2020
Darkness that can be felt
When I was a kid, my parents took me to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. On the tour, we stopped and the guide told us that they were going to turn out of the lights. He told us not to move and that the lights would come back on soon.
I’ve never experienced anything like the darkness that happened when the lights went out. I literally couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I felt dizzy. I couldn’t tell up from down. The darkness was palpable and honestly terrifying!
Moses described the 10th plague in Egypt as “darkness that could be felt” (Ex 10:21-23).
That was a great description of our experience in that cave that day. The darkness could be felt. It was suffocating. I’m not claustrophobic but it felt like the darkness was closing in on me.
After about 30 seconds, the lights came back on and there was a lot of nervous laughter in the group. We were all thankful for the light because the darkness can be overwhelming.
In our culture, we talk about light a lot.
If someone doesn’t understand something, they are said to be “in the dark.” But when they finally get it, we say that the “lights came on.”
People need hope and they look for the “light at the end of the tunnel.”
When we observe someone acting differently than we thought, we “see them in a new light.”
What happens in cartoons when some has an idea? A light bulb appears above their heads.
When we approve someone project, we give the “green light.”
When we expose something, we are said to “bring it to light.”
The Police sang that Roxanne didn’t have to “put on the red light.” Debbie Boone crooned, “You Light up my life.” Rush sang about living in “the Limelight.” Journey paid tribute to their hometown San Francisco with “Lights.” The Weekend sings about “Blinding Lights.” And Thomas Rhett encouraged us to “Be a Light” in the middle of a dark and chaotic world.
The Bread of Life
Last week, we began our new sermon series on the “I AM” statements of Jesus with His words, “I AM the bread of Life.”
After feeding 20,000 + with five small barley biscuits and two small fish, the people decide that he must the great prophet that Moses spoke of and started planning to kidnap Him and make Him king by force.
Jesus wanted nothing to do with that coronation so He sent His disciples to the other side of the lake and He took a stroll later that night to join them.
The people searched high and low for Him and finally found Him on the other side of the lake.
They attempt to debate with the Son of God and demand a sign like Moses gave them in the wilderness.
You fed 20,000 for a day. Amazing! Wow! Moses fed 2 million people for 40 years in the desert with manna from heaven.
Jesus has to give the religious leaders a theology lesson and remind them that Moses was a man and he didn’t have any ability to call down manna from heaven. The manna was given by His Father.
They sarcastically request that He give them some of that bread.
Jesus stands and responds:
[Slide] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 8:35)
Jesus then contrasts two kinds of bread. There is a kind of bread that doesn’t last. That is temporary. That is not life sustaining.
To put all your effort, to “work” toward this kind of bread would be a tragedy. An ultimate waste of a life.
We search for happiness, contentment, truth, love - only to find that what the world offers is only a shadow.
Augustine famously wrote that “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rests in you.”
But Jesus says there is another kind of bread. One that cannot spoil and endures to eternal life. If you eat this bread you will never hunger or thirst spiritually again. This bread is soul-food in the best sense of the word.
We saw the crowds’ reaction.
For some of them, the teaching was just too much.
For others, they bailed on Him completely.
But Peter who spoke for the ones that stayed boldly proclaimed:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)
He is the Messiah who satisfies the deep longings of our hearts.
Today Jesus is going to make another startling proclamation - I am the light of the world!
Turn to John 8.
Prayer
Text in its Context
We always need to make sure we take our text within the context of the chapter and book that it’s in.
Turning back to chapter 7 we find ourselves at the Feast of Tabernacles.
This time of celebration happened about this time of year annual (it will be the second week of October) for the Jewish people.
[slide] They would build huts out of tree limbs to commemorate the Israelites living as nomads in the wilderness wanderings. The sun had to shine through the walls and there had to be enough room at the top to see the stars.
Jesus’ brothers mocked Him and told Him that if was the Messiah then He should show Himself in public. That’s how you build a platform.
Jesus was fashionably late and arrived about half way through the Feast and immediately began to teach in the Temple courts.
Everyone was amazed at His teaching and then they spent quite a long time arguing with Him and with the others.
Each morning the priest would hold up a golden pitcher and the people would then follow him to the pool of Siloam where he would draw water. The crowd would sing the Hallel psalms (113-118).
When the priest returned to the Temple He would circle the altar once each day, (seven times on the last day), and pour our the water on the altar.
The people would quote Scriptures like Isaiah 12:3:
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)
This symbolized the water from the rock episode in Numbers 17 and was also a way to for them to pray for rain.
As the priests are pouring the water on the altar, Jesus stood up and
[Slide] “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ( John 7:37-38)
Jesus says, look around. Pay attention to the symbolism here. I am the source of Living Water, not the rock, not Moses. This entire ceremony points to ME! And if you are spiritually thirsty only I can quench that thirst.
The Illumination of the Temple
[Slide] Each night of the festival, four huge candelabras 75 feet high were lit. It took 60 pounds of oil to fill the bowls on top. The light from these menorahs would explode out of the Temple and reflect off the limestone streets of Jerusalem. This was called the illumination of the temple.
It was time that musicians played and people danced around with torches.
This entire ceremony pointed back to the wilderness wanderings as well. Specifically when they left Egypt and God led them:
“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” (Ex 14:21-22)
I AM the Light of the World
While teaching in the Temples courts where the offerings were gathered.
Jesus stood up and cried out:
[Slide] “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.” (John 8:12)
Just like with the water, Jesus points to the smoldering menorahs and says, “Surely you get this, right?
I am the bread. The manna pointed to me.
I am the living water. The water that poured from the rock pointed to me.
And as you dance and sing around this huge lamps that represent the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night doesn’t that remind you of someone?
The people missed the point. That can happen when tradition replaces reality.
He makes the second I AM statement in the book of John - I am the Light of the World.
We are going to break this verse down today one section at a time.
I AM. Jesus claims to be God [Slide]
[Slide] “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
First Jesus claims without reservation or hesitation that He is God.
Remember back to last week when He appeared in a burning bush and told Moses that He had chosen him to lead the people out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land?
Moses argued with God and made excuses and finally says what if they ask me your name?
[Slide] God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14)
Pastor Brian Bill describes it this way:
Every time Jesus uses one of the “I AM” metaphors, He is emphatically stating that He is Yahweh. This is a staggering statement of His sovereign supremacy. Just as the bush burned brightly and cast light all around, so too, Jesus is the light of the world, and a consuming fire that should stop us in our tracks because we are on holy ground. When Jesus used the phrase, “I AM” He did so on purpose and those who heard Him did not miss the obvious connection He was making.
Jesus begins this proclamation with “Ego Eimi, “ I AM. The crowds got it. The religious leaders got it. So much so that they wanted to execute Him for blasphemy.
John actually begins his Gospel with the idea that Jesus is divine and pre-existent :
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
When did John see His glory? On a mountain where he and Peter and James witnessed Jesus “unzip” His humanity (what we call the “transfiguration” and allow His glory to burst forth:
“There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matthew 17:2)
And he says in his first letter:
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (I John 1:9)
[Slide] B. The Light of the World - Jesus claims to be Messiah
[Slide] “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The very first thing God does in creation is turn the lights on.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
The Psalmist said that God is “my light and my salvation.” (Psalm 27:1)
Isaiah came along and prophesied nearly 700 years before Jesus that:
The people walking in darkness? have seen a great light;?on those living in the land of deep darkness? a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:1-2)
In Isaiah 49, Israel is called to be a light the Gentiles:
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)
John begins his Gospel with this description of Jesus:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)
God is light and Jesus is God’s light of salvation in a dark and dying world.
When Jesus was a baby and was presented to Simeon in the Temple, he declared:
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (John 1:76-79)
And at the end of the ages, we see that there is no darkness in heaven:
“The [new Jerusalem] does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.” (Rev 21:23-24)
He wasn’t the Messiah for the Jews or for any one nation or people group. John uses the term “world” 77 times! He wasn’t like the giant Menorahs that lit up Jerusalem one time a year for eight days and then went out.
[Slide] C. The Promise - Jesus claims to the pillar of fire to guide us
[Slide] “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Just like light is a theme in the Scriptures, darkness is as well.
This is a spiritually dark world.
A few years ago, I struck up a pen pal relationship with a prisoner at the Pontiac Correctional Center. He asked me to visit him and I walked into to the prison not really knowing what to expect.
The first thing that strikes you is how dark it is in there. There is very little natural light and the lights are not very bright so it seems like there were shadows every where.
But that’s not what I remember most. As I walked into the inner section of the prison, every hair on my neck stood straight up. It was by far the spiritually darkest place I’be ever experienced. Honestly, I just started whispering Jesus’ name again and again to keep myself from losing it.
But it isn’t just the prisons that are dark. This world is controlled by satan, who we are told “masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14) but holds humans captive in the darkness of sin and, ultimately wants to drag us all to hell which is described as “outer darkness” in Matthew 8:12.
All you have to do is skim the front pages of the news and you will see that it is dark and getting darker by the minute.
Jesus, as the light, exposes darkness:
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:19-21)
God exposes our sins. This is a hard thing but necessary to convict us of our need for saving from the darkness.
At the Wednesday morning Bible study, we talked about darkness and one person talked about how scary a haunted house can be. It’s dark and you don’t know what’s coming around the next corner.
But if you were to turn on the lights, it would no longer be scary because you would see the high school kid with the bloody axe hiding in the corner.
That’s what Jesus does - He turns on the lights of our hearts to respond to Him:
After appearing to Paul on the Damascus Road, Jesus told Paul that He was sending Him to the Gentiles:
“…to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” (Acts 26:18)
Jesus gives an invitation to follow Him and if we follow Him we will never walk in darkness.
We follow Him - not a church, not a pastor, not a cause. Steve Lawson writes this involves “commitment, obedience, submission, passion, walking with him, following His Word, serving, and loving what loves and hating what He hates.”
When we follow Him, place our full faith and trust in Him, we can praise him for rescuing us from the darkness of sins’ dominion.
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:13-14)
Peter wrote that this should lead to worship:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (I Peter 2:9)
Jesus offers us the bread of life - bread that will nourish us spiritually forever.
Jesus offers us living water that if you drink it will never spiritually thirst again.
Jesus offers us the light of life. Once you’ve seen the light, you are never the same again.
A Man Born Blind
[Slide} In the very next chapter, John records Jesus giving the crowd a glimpse of what this life looks like:
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”
In this chapter, we see Jesus not only opening his physical eyes but also His spiritual eyes.
After he was healed, the Pharisees are totally bent out of shape that this healing happened on the Sabbath.
The man is asked what he thinks of Jesus. He replies, “He is prophet.” (John 9:17)
The Pharisees drag his parents into the interrogation and they want no part of this because they were scared of being kicked out of the synagogue.
“A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”” (John 9:24-27)
Did you catch it? He went from thinking Jesus is a prophet to now identifying himself as one of His disciples!
The Pharisees went ballistic:
Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.” (John 9:28-34)
The man basically starts sharing the Gospel with the Pharisees!
“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:35-41)
The Pharisees knew their Bible backwards and forwards. How could they not have said to themselves, “Wow! Isn’t this exactly what Isaiah said the Messiah would do?”
“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 42:6-7)
Or in Isaiah 61 that Jesus said was about Him:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Is 61:1-2)
John Piper summarizes the idea of of Jesus being the light:
Because Jesus is the light that means there is no other light
Because Jesus is the light all the world needs Jesus as the light
Because Jesus is the light we learn that the world was made for this light
One day, this world will be filled with the light of Jesus.
C.S. Lewis famously wrote:
“I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun has risen; not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.”
[Slide] D. The Promise: Jesus claims this light leads to life
[Slide] “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Light is necessary for life. Right now, the days are getting shorter and the light is getting dimmer and temps are getting colder. We moved here from Central Mississippi where it was warm 10 months out of the year. I suffer from what’s called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and you will find my reading in the sauna at the gym a lot in the winter.
Jesus says that once He “enlightens” you, everything changes. You are on a new path, a new direction, a new destiny. You have a new life.
Paul described it this way:
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. (Ephesians 5:8-13)
John wrote in his first letter that this light changes the way we walk in this world:
“ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 1:5-7)
It changes the way we love people:
“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” (I John 2:9-11)
Is it dark right now? Yes. Will it get darker? Yes. But we are called to be the light in the darkness. Paul encouraged the Philippians to shine like Jesus our “bright morning star.” (Rev 22:16)
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” (Phil 2:14-16)
Warren Wiersbe wrote:
“Christ is our light and he trust Him. He is our leader and we follow Him. He is our life and we grow in Him and reveal Him to a dark world.”
Applications
Re-calculating. Maybe you feel like you’ve lost your way. But as Michael Card ha said, “sometimes being lost is the best way to be found.”
Maybe you have unplugged from church and fellowship. Or maybe your batteries are running low.
Just like Jesus led the Israelites in a cloud of fire by day and pillar of fire by night, He will lead you back to Himself.
Psalm 119:105. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
It’s only one step back and He will light the way.
2. Dead Batteries
This is a really neat little lantern. But it wouldn’t help me in the dark because the batteries are dead. That’s a perfect picture of your heart.
In John 12, Jesus is telling the crowd that He is going to die for their sins and, of course, they start arguing and debating with Him. He responds with an invitation:
“Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” (John 12:34-35)
Today, ask God to give you new batteries - a new heart, a new destiny.
Paul wrote this to the Christians at Corinth:
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6)
3. Shine!
Twelve year old Malachi Russell was a normal kid until he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and told he had 17 months to live.
17 months. Do you know he responded? He wrote down 17 names of people that he wanted to make sure that he would see in heaven. He started reaching out, praying and sharing the Gospel with these people.
When asked why he wasn’t sad or angry, this twelve year old’s answer shamed me:
“The Lord has given me so many chances to share the Gospel, and I’m going to take every chance I can,” Roger recalled him saying. “The world needs Jesus, and I want to step my game up because this cancer can kill me, and I want to tell as many people as I can.”
He shared the Gospel with Ambulance workers, with nurses, with doctors, and anyone else who came across their path.
On September 10, 2019, Malachi got to hear well done good and faithful servant. At his celebration of life more than 100 people indicated that they prayed to receive Christ! And that included Malachi’s uncle who had been watching this entire situation play out.
By the way, the name Malachi means “my messenger.”
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” (I Thes 5:5)
And it changes the way we shine in this world:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-16)
The moon has no light of its own. It simply reflects the sun.
I heard Christine Caine, the director of A21 (rescuing sex slaves), tell the story of her little girl who was obsessed with flashlights. They went to Walmart and she bought her a flashlight and she turned it on and said, “Mummy, I’ve got a flashlight. Let’s go find some darkness!”
Video: Light of the World (in my KeyNote)
Ending song: Might to Save
