...from the desk of Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

I AM - 2

I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

John 8:12
Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion to His glory and our edification.  Amen.

Close your eyes. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be blind? Okay, please open your eyes.

Ever since June of 2002, when I had my detached retina, and lost sight in my left eye for several days, I’ve thought about that … what I would miss seeing. I know I would miss seeing Kathy’s face.

I would miss seeing the pages of books. I would miss seeing sunsets and mountains. I would miss seeing trees. I would miss seeing some of the paintings we have in our home, that mean a lot to me.

I would miss seeing a Tiger Woods putt, curl and drop into the cup. What would you miss seeing if you were blind? In John 9 Jesus encounters a man who has been blind since birth. Listen to his story.

Narrator … As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him:

Disciple 1 … Rabbi, who sinned, that he was born blind?

Disciple 2 … This man or his parents?

Jesus … Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work 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.

Narrator … Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. He told him:

Jesus … Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam.

Narrator … This word means Sent. pause So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. pause His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked:

Person 1 … Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?

Narrator … Some claimed that he was. Others said:

Person 2 … No, he only looks like him.

Narrator … But he himself insisted:

Man … I am the man.

Narrator … They demanded:

Person 1 … How then were your eyes opened?

Man … This man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.

Person 2 … Where is this man?

Man … I don’t know.

We come to an interlude in the story; here’s the Reader’s Digest version. The man is taken to the religious leaders who want to know how he was healed. “Well this guy came and put mud on my eyes and I washed it off, and presto, I could see.” So they said, “Well, we’ll tell you one thing about Him, He couldn’t be from God because He worked on the Sabbath day.”

Then they called in the blind man’s parents, and tried to squeeze some information out of Mom and Dad. But they didn’t want to talk … because they knew that if they said the wrong thing they might get kicked out of the synagogue.

So the blind man is brought back in, and is interrogated some more, and finally he says to the religious leaders. “You say He couldn’t be from God … well, all I know is that He healed me. How could He heal me if He didn’t have God’s power?” Now here’s the end of the story.

Narrator … Jesus heard that they had thrown out the man born blind, whom he had made to see. When he found him, he said:

Jesus … Do you believe in the Son of Man?

Man … Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him.

Jesus … You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.

Man … Lord, I believe.

Narrator … And he worshiped him. Jesus said:

Jesus … For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.

Narrator … Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked:

Pharisee … What? Are we blind too?

Jesus (to Pharisee) … If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

The Pharisees were spiritually blind, and the worst part about it … they were too proud to recognize their blindness. They failed to see Jesus for who He was.

We’re in the 2nd week of a 7 part series exploring the identity of Jesus by looking at the “I AM” statements that He made in the Gospel of John.

For Jesus to use that term was quite a declaration … because these were the very words that God used when Moses asked Him to identify Himself.

“God said, ‘I am who I am.’” 7 times in John’s Gospel Jesus says “I am the I am.” And to each “I AM” statement He adds a little descriptive phrase. Jesus feeds 5,000 plus people, and then He says, “I AM the bread of life.” Here in John 9 He says, “I AM the light for the world.” Then He heals a man who was born blind.

It’s like Jesus is using His miracles as a “show-n-tell” to back up His tremendous claims.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

Light is a key theme in John’s Gospel. He uses it 23 times. This morning we’re going to look at 4 of those passages. We want to find out what Jesus, the light of the world, wants to illuminate in our lives.

Here’s the 1st one. Jesus wants to reveal the person of God to us. That’s what light is all about … to help us see.

Jesus healed this blind man right after He attended the Festival of Tabernacles. There were 7 feasts throughout the Jewish year. With this particular one 10’s of thousands of religious tourists would come to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s faithfulness in providing the harvest.

During the feast a big ceremonial bowl of water would be poured on the ground to recognize that God was the one who had given them the rain for the crops.

Then, to acknowledge the sun that God provided, a huge candelabra would be lit in the Temple.

Then each person would take a candle and they would all gather (thousands of them) on the Temple grounds.

With all these lit candles, historians tell us that Jerusalem could be seen for miles. It was at this moment Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.”

I envision that when everyone’s candle was held high, Jesus announced, “I am the God that we celebrate at this feast for providing the sun. You’re looking at that God right now.”

Later on, during holy week at His final public appearance, Jesus spells this out more clearly. We read, “Jesus said in a loud voice ….” (This is one of the few times where Jesus spoke in His “outdoor voice.”) He wanted everyone to hear.

“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me. Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.”

Jesus is claiming equality with God. “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me.” (You believe in me, guess what, you believe in God, because to believe in me is to believe in God.)

“Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me.” (When you’re looking at me, you’re looking at God.)

“I have come into the world as light.”

Actually, the word “light” was kind of a nickname for God in the Old Testament.

The Psalmist says,

“The LORD is my light and my salvation.”

“How happy are the people who live in the light of your kindness!”

“O LORD, my God, how great you are! You are clothed with majesty and glory; you cover yourself with light.”

The prophet Isaiah, speaking for God, announced to the people:

“No longer will the sun be your light by day Or the moon be your light by night; I, the LORD, will be your eternal light; The light of my glory will shine on you.”

Micah writes: “We are in darkness now, but the LORD will give us light.”

Ezekiel describes his vision of God. “The figure seemed to be shining like bronze in the middle of a fire. It shone all over with a bright light.”

God had a firmly established tradition from the Old Testament times as being the light of the world. Then Jesus arrives and claims the same distinction for Himself. It is a bold proclamation of His deity.

Remember when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain? There, He removed a little of the veil and allowed some of His supernatural glory to be seen. It’s called the transfiguration. Matthew writes of it.

“A change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white.”

The sun, which burns at 27 million degrees at its’ core; the sun which bursts 4 million tons of mass into energy every second … this is the word picture that describes Jesus … “his face was shining like the sun.”

Then 2ndly, Jesus reveals the path of eternal life. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.” Actually, Jesus uses the word “life” a lot in His I AM statements.

Next week, “I am the gate … I have come in order that you might have life – life it all its fullness.” Later it will be “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Then, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

When Jesus refers to life, He’s talking about an intimate relationship with God.

At the very beginning of his Gospel John declares, “The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.”

Only 5 sentences into his Gospel and John’s already telling us about this cosmic conflict between light and darkness. We come into this world in spiritual darkness. That’s what Scripture teaches.

How many of you have ever been in total physical darkness? I remember being in Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, LA. We were out one night, no moon, no stars. We were marching, full packs on our backs. We went into this wooded area, and sort of slid down a hill into a ravine. I am not exaggerating to embellish this story. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.

The ground was all wet and mushy, (LA swamps). And the Lt. yelled, “Set up your tents, this is where we’re going to spend the night.” (To be honest, I’m glad I couldn’t see where I was sleeping!) But the darkness, the unknown that night was scary.

Spiritual darkness is frightening too! But we don’t have to remain there.

3rdly, Jesus provides opportunities for us to see the light.

“God sent his messenger, a man named John, who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe. He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light. This was the real light – the light that comes into the world and shines on all people.”

Sadly, the common response to God’s efforts has usually been rejection. “The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him.”

What does spiritual light do? It reveals the presence of sin.

“This is how the judgment works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.”

Isn’t that interesting! Believers are drawn to Jesus’ light; nonbelievers run away from it.

And the reason they run away is that light exposes their sins to a holy God. (And that ought to cause them to tremble.) Scripture teaches that every person will someday step into the blazing light of God’s scrutiny.

In John’s letters he says, “Now the message that we have heard from his Son and announce is this: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. If, then, we say that we have fellowship with him, yet at the same time live in the darkness, we are lying both in our words and in our actions. But if we live in the light – just as he is in the light – then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from every sin.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.”

John says, “I’ve Good News for you.”

If you’ll step into the light, Jesus will expose your sin, and initially that may be frightening … but when you’ll realize that He wants to forgive you … you’ll come to love the light. Are you going to run from the light, or run to the light?

4thly, Jesus reveals the plan of action. In John 11 Jesus is in the midst of making a very difficult decision. He has just received word that one of His best friends, Lazarus, is deathly sick. His sisters, Martha and Mary, have sent word to Jesus, “our brother needs your help.”

Scripture tells us that Jesus dallied a bit; He didn’t go immediately as they requested, because … He wanted to give Lazarus every opportunity to die. Jesus waited for Lazarus to die because His plan was to raise him from the dead.

But just as Jesus was about to leave for Bethany, His disciples say, “Woe, what a second, Bethany is in Judea where they wanted to stone you. There is a bounty on your head there. We don’t want to go there. You’re going to die there, Jesus.” (Sounds like good advice to me.)

What does Jesus do with their words of caution? … How do you make decisions? How do you treat the advice you’re given? When you come to a fork in the road, how do you know which direction to take?

Listen to Jesus’ response to His disciples. “A day has 12 hours, doesn’t it? So those who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light.” Jesus is speaking metaphorically here.

When you walk in the daylight you can see where you’re going. That’s just what it’s like to walk following God’s leading, (which is what I’m doing right now in my life), so I have no concern. I’m not going to stumble; I’m walking in the light.

God loves to lead, loves to direct our lives, loves to shed light on the appropriate course of action.

In the Old Testament when the Hebrews were traveling from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, during the day God led them by a cloud, and then by night by a pillar of fire. There was no getting lost when this bright light was shining in front of them directing them which way to go.

How does God direct you today? The Psalmist says,

“Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path.”

Later in same Psalm,

“The explanation of your teachings gives light.”

God provides light through the Scriptures. Let me explain how this is done.

God gives light to our decisions by making us wise people over time as we read and study His Word, which brings light.

If you have a big decision weighing on you this morning, the I AM the light of the world wants to help you … to be your illumination. Are you letting Him? Are you in contact with Him throughout the day?

Driving home the other night there was a car that didn’t have its’ headlights on … weaving in and out. Are you driving without your headlights? You have got the I AM the light of the world who desires to illuminate your path. Are you letting Him? Whether it’s a purchase, whether it’s a vocational decision, whether it’s a conflict in a relationship, whether it’s a health issue … are you seeking His wisdom?

The I AM the light of the world will reveal to you the person of God, because He is God. If you don’t know Him, step out of your spiritual blindness. The I AM the light of the world wants to reveal the presence of sin in your life so that you can be forgiven. Jesus is the light of life; with Him you’ll never walk in darkness.

MARANA THA