John 8:12

Jesus, the light of the world

Good evening, everybody. Quick show of hands, how many people work in the medical field? OK, thank you. I just wanted to ask because my heart rate is alarmingly high, and I want to know who to talk to if that does not change by the time we are done up here. The verse we will be looking at tonight is John 8, verse 12. I would invite you to open up your copy of the Word of God and follow along as I read it. Again, John 8, verse 12.

Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Now this verse is a declaration of the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a declaration by Jesus to those around him that he is the divine Messiah that has come to save his people from the darkness of sin. And so tonight, as we walk through this verse, we will do nothing more than examine the fundamental elements of the gospel presented here by Jesus. We will meditate upon Jesus, the light of the world, his person, his works, and his promises. So if you're taking notes, these are the three key ideas we will examine from the text. Jesus, his person, his works, and his promises. Well, the first clause in this verse is, again, Jesus spoke to them. And so we should first set the scene so that we can understand where Jesus is and who he is speaking to. From the preceding context in John chapter 7 and from John 8 20, we know that Jesus has been speaking in the treasury of the temple of God during the Feast of Booths. And now this was a feast where all of Israel would live in tents for a week to commemorate their journey in the wilderness from Egypt to the promised land. This feast ultimately culminated in a light ceremony in the treasury of the temple where the entirety of the court would be filled with elements of light and gigantic menorahs. This was to be a visual cue to help them remember that God was their light, a pillar of fire in the wilderness, and whoever followed him was brought out of slavery to the promised land. So, as Jesus is speaking in the temple when we get to John 8, 12, the people will be remembering their salvation from Egypt, but they would also be looking forward to a future salvation, a salvation that would come with the advent of the Messiah. They'd be looking forward to a time where God would send the Messiah, the true light, into a world darkened by sin and redeem it. And so when Jesus shows up on the scene performing his miracles and teaching with authority, we see from John chapter 7 that the question on the minds of the people is this, can this Jesus of Nazareth be the Christ, the Messiah we have all been waiting for? And then Jesus standing in the midst of the treasury after the lighting of the court says to the crowds, I am the light of the world. And the context of the feast and the location of the treasury makes this claim absolutely absurd to those around Jesus. The verse immediately following this one shows the reaction of disbelief from those around him, for they know exactly what he is saying. They know that by referring to himself as the light, he is claiming to be the object of the Old Testament prophecies that refer to the Messiah as the light of the nations. He is claiming to be the Messiah. And we'll do a brief flyover of three examples from the book of Isaiah. And I think if we approach John 8, 12 with the knowledge of what is written there, the promises there, we can gain greater understanding about what Jesus is saying about himself here, about who he is and what he has come to do. So Isaiah 9 says that the Christ will be a light that shines on a people who walk in darkness, and that this light, this Christ Messiah, will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. The Christ will have divine titles and attributes. He will be a child born, a human, and yet will be God with us, Emmanuel. In Isaiah 42, 9, we see the Lord say to the servant,

I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

And finally, in Isaiah 49.6, we see the Lord refer to the Messiah as the light again, and he says, Now, if we return to John 8.12 with these texts in mind, I think we can see clearly that when Jesus says, I am the light of the world, He is claiming divine and messianic identity Jesus is saying that he is the one who is fulfilling these promises He is the promised light the promised Christ and he is assigning to himself the divine titles given to the Christ in Isaiah 9 Jesus is saying I am the child born to save my people. I am mighty God. I Am here to bring the salvation of God not just to Israel, but to all the nations all the way to the end of the earth So how is he to do this? How will the light of the nations bring the salvation of God to the end of the earth? As we read in Isaiah 42, the Messiah was to be given as a covenant for the nations to bring them out of darkness. And a covenant must be instituted by the shedding of blood. And this is what Jesus came to do. Jesus, mighty God, took unto himself human nature to shed his blood in order to purchase forgiveness of sins for his people. Jesus himself becomes our substitute on the cross, bearing the punishment for sin that we deserve, and he dies, shedding his blood, giving himself as a covenant for the nations. But how can we know that this is true? And how can we know that he is who we claim to be? Quite simply, I think we can know that he is who he said he was because after this he rose from the dead. And he rises from the dead three days after laying down his life as a sacrifice for sin. And this resurrection is what validates his claim to divinity and his claim to be the Messiah. This resurrection is God's vindication of his son. It is the resurrection that proves to us that Jesus was who he said he is. And it is by the power of his resurrection that he brings us, who walk in darkness, out into the light. And this deadness, this darkness, is our state by default. Darkness is the condition of the world and of human nature after the fall. We are inherently sinful. We have filthy thoughts, filthy desires, and corrupt motives. We all walk in darkness, and that is why the offer of light here in John 8, 12 is relevant to us all. We are all by nature enslaved to sin. Sin is the reason why we are all in darkness. Sin is the reason why we are alienated from God. And ultimately, sin is the reason why we are all going to die. And the wages of our sin is death, and after death, we are justly destined for eternal punishment in hell. And thus, we walk in darkness, surrounded by the presence of sin, under the penalty of sin, and enslaved to the power of sin. But Jesus here tells us that we who walk in darkness may do so no longer, and instead have the light of life. So what does this mean? What does it mean to be given the light of life? What is the light of life? Ultimately, the light offered here is Jesus himself and with him all of his benefits. He is God become man, the source of life. And if we follow him, he becomes our God and we become his covenant people. And so we gain life. Jesus is the true light and he becomes our possession if we follow him. And this is the great gift of light offered in John 8, 12. He becomes our savior, Lord, brother. friend, high priest, mediator, and shepherd. He is the gift, and it is through him that we come to possess the forgiveness of sins, cleansing of our hearts, and hope for eternal life. And this transformation from death to life is what Jesus openly offers to those around him in John 8, 12. Jesus says, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. This is an open invitation to those around him to heed the cry and follow Jesus. This offer, according to Jesus, is for whoever. Whoever would follow him will be brought out of spiritual deadness, granted life beyond the grave, and be forgiven of their sins. As we read from Isaiah 49, Jesus has come so that the salvation of God may reach to the end of the earth. There are no prerequisites, no background, no genealogy, no education that bars a person from following Christ. He invites whoever would like to do so to follow him. This is what he has come to do. And the only prerequisite to becoming a Christian, to following him, is to be a sinner in need of great grace. So how do we follow him? Where do we start? The first thing we must do is leave our spiritual Egypt. We must forsake our sin. We must turn away from the darkness of sin that we love. And turning away from our sin, we must turn to Christ as our Lord. We must turn to him in obedience. We must repent of our sins. And while we turn from our sin, we must believe and trust in Jesus and his work for the full atonement for our sins. We can peek at the context in John 8, 24, and we can see that is by believing that Jesus is the light of the world that we can be freed from sin and death. He says in verse 24, Or to put it negatively, if you believe that I am he, you will not die, but have life. Jesus says that this offer is for whoever would follow him or believe in him, and that these will not walk in darkness, and they will have the light of life. Now these things are promises. Jesus was given as a covenant for the nations, and what is a covenant in essence but a promise? And so the verse does not say that those who follow Christ can or could or would have the light of life, but it says will. They will have. They will be forgiven. They will be changed. They will have the light of life. Now, if we follow him, we will walk in the light and no longer walk in the darkness because Jesus is faithful to forgive and cleanse us. He has said here that those who follow him will not walk in darkness. We will be freed from the power of sin. He promises to change us so that we might no longer walk in the way that we did before. He promises to change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. He says that our old man, the one that walked in darkness, can be crucified with Christ on the cross, the one that is enslaved to sin and its passions. And instead, a new man raised in the image of Christ can be born within us, and we can be raised with him as he was raised from the dead. Now, if we believe in him as the light of the world, we are born again, and he saves us from the power of sin. And then one day, he promises that we will one day be saved from sin's presence, when we pass on from this world into the one to come when Jesus returns. And on that day, we will have the light of life fully, and our salvation that is promised will be complete. We will never again feel the pain of sin, both within and on the outside. We will never again have to wrestle with sin, for we will be glorified and freed from its power and presence. We will dwell in eternal communion with God, our creator, for we will be forgiven, having been saved by Jesus from the penalty of our sin. So for those of us here who are not yet believers, John 8, 12 should be an invitation, an invitation to come and follow Jesus. And if we see our sinfulness and the evil thoughts of our minds and the evil desires of our hearts exposed in the light of Christ, he promises that if we come and confess them to him and repent of them, he promises forgiveness, cleansing, and a new birth. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Come to Him and repent of your sins and place your faith in Him as your God and Savior. If you do this, you will have a fresh start. You will have the light of life, and the pleasures of sin do not compare with the treasures of knowing Christ. And for those of us that are believers and followers of Christ, this verse should serve as a challenge. It is a reminder that we have already been transferred from the domain of darkness into the domain of light, and we should walk accordingly as children of light. So, as means of applying this verse to our life, I will merely read to you the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 5, where he writes,