Sermon on John 8vv12-20 Southwood 11 February 2007
By Tony Andrews
"I am the light of the world"
John 8:12-20 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." 13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no-one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." 19 Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no-one seized him, because his time had not yet come. [NIV]
Is there anyone here today who as a child was scared of the dark? When I was a child, I, like many children today, used to be frightened of the dark. As soon as the light went off I used to get all panicky - I used to think that nasty things lurked in the darkness. I might add that they usually did in the form of my elder brother! Mother used to buy the night lights to shine some light to get rid of the shadows and help me get to sleep. This is until that same older brother used to turn the light off. Just as well I did not see "Monsters Inc" as a child!
From today's reading we will be looking in depth at Jesus' claim to be the 'light of the world'. This claim was challenged by the Pharisees, but says much about the world Jesus wants us to live in: the life Jesus offered to all over 2000 years ago and which remains on offer today.
Jesus made the claim of being the light of the earth during the feast of Tabernacles: a feast that ran for seven days and commemorated God's provision to his people while they were in the wilderness, and celebrated the gathering of the Harvest.
One of the main elements of the ceremony was the lamp lighting rite, which was performed each day at the Temple and symbolised the Israelites being led out of captivity (by day a by pillar of cloud, by night by a column of fire).
We know from verse 20 that Jesus was teaching in the Temple area near to where the offerings were put, and it was as the feast ended and the fire was being extinguished that Jesus said (verse 12):
From today's reading we will be looking in depth at Jesus' claim to be the 'light of the world'. This claim was challenged by the Pharisees, but says much about the world Jesus wants us to live in: the life Jesus offered to all over 2000 years ago and which remains on offer today.
Jesus made the claim of being the light of the earth during the feast of Tabernacles: a feast that ran for seven days and commemorated God's provision to his people while they were in the wilderness, and celebrated the gathering of the Harvest.
One of the main elements of the ceremony was the lamp lighting rite, which was performed each day at the Temple and symbolised the Israelites being led out of captivity (by day a by pillar of cloud, by night by a column of fire).
We know from verse 20 that Jesus was teaching in the Temple area near to where the offerings were put, and it was as the feast ended and the fire was being extinguished that Jesus said (verse 12):
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life".
As short sentence with 23 words but packed with meaning and symbolism -
"Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
The Pharisees were trying to be clever, they threw back at Jesus his own criteria for truthfulness in John 5 V31 -
"If I testify about myself - my testimony is not valid."
The Pharisees had misunderstood Jesus: they were judging him by human standards. By not realising that Jesus and God were one and the same they were missing the whole point: Jesus was not only testifying by Himself to Himself but for/with and to the Father.
Jesus and God are one. Jesus had a mission with God and from God. Jesus knew where he came from, where he was going.
In V16 Jesus says that:
"His decisions are right, because I am not alone, I stand with the father"
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This unity with the Father that Jesus talked about was alien to the Pharisees. They could not comprehend how a mortal man could have such unity with God and talk with the authority of God.
A decision needed to be made, either to accept the relationship Jesus has with God and believe …. Or reject it and disbelieve -
Jesus justified his authority by quoting the Pharisee's own law from Deuteronomy 19 V15 back at them (verse 17):
"in your own law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid"
and goes on to justify the law by saying,
"I am the one who testifies for myself, my other witness is the father, who sent me"
In their ignorance, the Pharisees asked
"Where is your father",
to be told by Jesus
"If you knew me, you would know my father also".
The same applies today: do you believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? The unity demands a life changing decision which has not changed over the centuries……. To believe and follow Christ or not to believe…..
Coming back to the claim that Jesus made in verse 12,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.",
let us take a little time looking at this claim: It has been made in 4 other places in John, Ch 1 (V4-
To unpack this statement -
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He did not say I AM A LIGHT -
It is in Jesus' light that we have the opportunity of a life which is full of peace, love and joy one where Jesus will lead and guide us. …….. Just as God led the Israelites out of danger so Jesus' light can look after us today…
But we must keep ourselves mindful that there will be some who claim to be of the light, some may even be the servants of the Devil (in 2 Corinthians 11 v13 -
The light that Jesus offers is not selective but open to all, it does not say I am the light of the Jews it says "of the world" including the Jews and the Gentiles… it is open to all who believe.
SECTION 3 ...WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME
This is the decision that has to be made -
If we follow Jesus then we will never walk in darkness -
The whole statement is worthy of praise and it demonstrates Gods commitment to us all….
So, why do we need the "Light Of The World" today? After all, we are so much wiser and clued up, we can see the rights or the wrongs. Or can we?
Just look at the press -
Terrorism, War and Oppression?
So much ……..Pornography, sexual abuse, rape and adultery?
So much ……..Swearing, racial and verbal abuse and a need to gossip?
So many ……..False religions?
Why is there …Jealousy, materialism, one-
Paul in Ephesians 4 V17-
By living with Jesus in your life, by making that decision to follow him, will not cut you off from the temptations of the world. But with Jesus lighting the way, and his assurances to be with you at all times (good and bad), it will be possible to keep the heart as flesh and to see the temptations for what they really are.
HOW CAN WE TURN THIS AROUND?
It is easy to hide things in the dark; it is easy to ignore what is going on and do nothing, but it takes commitment to make a decision to do something about it.
Jesus does not want us to revel in his light saying to ourselves "I'm alright, blow the others". If this is the case then we are guilty of complacency. Jesus wants us to share the Good News: to shine his light to the hardest of hearts so that HE can turn them to flesh, in HIS time not ours.
We have to ask ourselves, are we open to His calling, and prayerfully seek His guidance through the Holy spirit. It could be like Steve and David called to ordained ministry, it could be helping to run youth activities such as our Youth Bible Study/Sunday School/ACE Youth Club/F-
When we baptise our children we make promises as to how we are to bring them up: "
By deciding to follow Jesus we can have "The Light Of Life", and by doing so we are not only walking in his light but we are reflecting the light to others -
By being united in Christ, keeping ourselves stirred up and alive to the living word in the Bible, we can help those in the church family and in the wider community who may be struggling in the half light to keep them from the darkness that comes from sin and the temptations that it contains.
Tony Andrews © 2007
*Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. "NIV" is a trade mark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.