The Light Of The World

John 8:12-32

“Again Jesus spoke to them…” This continues the interaction and conversation between Jesus, the Jews and the religious authorities we have been seeing since John 5. Now in this verse, we see a clear contrast set before us of light and darkness: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” If you are to choose between light and darkness, what will you choose? Obviously, no one will choose darkness I want to believe. Let me borrow Joshua’s words and say “Choose you this day between light and darkness, life and death. This morning I want us to consider for a sermon title, “The Light of The World.” In this sermon, I will do two things. I will try to bring out the contrast between light and darkness stating what each means in the text.

There are about seven I Am statements of Jesus recorded in John’s Gospel. These statements are metaphors Jesus used on specific occasions to point people to who he is. In John 14:6 in a conversation with his disciples on his last days about knowing the Father, Jesus told his disciples “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” Here Jesus lays exclusive claims about himself. There is no one, there is no other way to come to God but through Jesus Christ. He is the only source of salvation, the only hope for sinners. The apostle Peter says in Acts 4:12 there is no salvation in any man, no name given among men by which they will be saved, except the name Jesus Christ. This is the exclusive claims of Christianity. And it doesn’t sit well with everyone. In John 6:35, 48 and 51 Jesus refers to himself as The Bread of Life. This is to say he feeds the hungry soul. He is the food of the soul. He is the One who satisfies our deepest desires. We all have desires, don’t we? Some are superficial, but most are deep; seeking satisfaction and meaning in life.

The other I Am statements reads: “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7;9); “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11;14), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). All these statements have salvific significance, that is, they teach us about salvation and how sinners are to be saved. Salvation is in Jesus alone. He is the one who died to save sinners and reconcile them to the Father. Praise God if you are saved! You have been joined to the people of God and reconciled. And pardoned of all of your sins. You have entered the door of the sheep. You are following the good shepherd. You have experienced the resurrection and the life. And you are grafted into the true vine.

If you are not saved, these things will make no meaning to you until you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness and pardon of your sin. Now the text we read is one of the I Am statements (v.12). And I have indicated it sets a contrast between light and darkness.

A World of Darkness

When Jesus says, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness”, we can understand that to mean whoever doesn’t follow Jesus will walk in darkness. Again, we can infer that when Jesus says he is the light of the world, it means that the world is in darkness. Or the world is a world of darkness. Or better still the world is dark. So what does this darkness of the world look like. It is obviously not the absence of electricity or the sun. Look around you, the world is not that dark. It’s a bright sunny morning here. In fact in this part of the world, we have enough sun to fry an egg. The darkness is not the dumsor we experience. You know how you feel when ECG takes the light. Yet, the darkness in view here is more than that. Firstly, the darkness Jesus spoke about is

Spiritual Ignorance

What does it mean to have Spiritual ignorance? Two things here:

(I) Not Knowing Jesus (v.14;19;25).

You will notice in this narrative, that constantly, Jesus confronts the ignorance of the people. The real problem then of the people, is a lack of spiritual understanding. And that lack, is obviously darkness. They are groping in life with no spiritual understanding and direction. They are blind to the truth of the gospel. They are blind to the reality of who Jesus is.

This is the basic Spiritual Ignorance the Jews in the text are faced with. All of the confrontations Jesus had with these people is basically about his identity. They do not know who he is. And when he told them, they rejected his testimony about himself. The response of the Pharisees to Jesus’ statement in v.12 rejection (v.13). Jesus then responds and points out their Spiritual Ignorance (v.14) That is the real problem in this text, rejecting the Saviour. And we really see this manifesting throughout the conversation with the people (v.19; 21-25).

(II) Not Knowing The Father

Note also that, ignorance of Jesus is ignorance of the Father. It is a rejection of God. Jesus Christ tells them, in response to the charge of he bearing witness about himself, that he is not the only one who bears witness about himself. The Father does also (v.17-18). Then they displayed their ignorance about the Father (v.19). Jesus’ response here tells us that if you don’t know the Son, you don’t know the Father: “If you knew me, you will know my Father.” This statement has theological implications. There is no way anyone can say they know God, and reject Jesus Christ. All knowing of God must be grounded in a knowledge of the Son. If you have no relationship with Christ, you have no relationship with God. Forget about any talk of knowing God by yourself. No, you cannot know God by yourself. You must know God through Jesus. Non-negotiable truth!. Jesus will tell Philip and Thomas, If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

Sinful Nature

Secondly, the darkness in the text depicts a sinful nature, a world of darkness and evil. An unregenerate mind and heart. Brethren, when people reject Jesus, when they reject God, it is not an intellectual problem. It is a sinful spiritual problem. Their heart is closed. They are earthly. They operate as it were on the natural realm (v.15a). In the v. 23, Jesus tells them of their earthly origins and nature. This says a lot. It introduces us to the Christian teaching of the sinfulness of human beings. All, without exception are born sinners and possess a sinful nature. And until we come to faith in Jesus, we are under the power of sin (Psalm 51:5). To be in darkness is to be under the control of Satan and sin. We are slaves of sin until God has worked in our hearts. This was the dark state of the Jews Jesus was speaking with. They were sinners (v.24;34).

Eternal Damnation

Anyone who has not come to a saving knowledge of Christ is living under the condemnation of God and headed towards eternal damnation. Hebrews 9:27 tells us it is appointed to die once and after that judgment. One day, everyone will answer for their lives and the only mark of difference will be if one has put their faith in Jesus. A day of judgement, a day of accountability approaches and the only way anyone can find hope on that day is to put their faith in Jesus (v.24).

Light of The World

Having seen what the darkness or darkness of the world means, let’s come to the Light Of The World. We all know that light dispels darkness. Where there is light, darkness must give way. Light illuminates. So if darkness is Spiritual Ignorance, then Light is what dispels or illuminates that spiritual ignorance: If darkness, is a sinful nature and life, then light is righteousness and holiness.

But most importantly, this light of the world is a Person: “I am the light of the world” We shouldn’t struggle much to see that. The light of the world is not a concept. The light of the world is not an ideology. The light of the world is not a philosophty. The light of the word is a person: “I…Am” Jesus points to himself as the one who illuminates dark lives. He brings peace into our shattered life. Are you in any state of confusion in your life? Look to him who is the light of the world. Is your soul weighed down with anxiety, look to him.

Throughout this interaction, Jesus bears witness about himself. If you like, he preached about himself, he told the people who he is. Apart from speaking of himself as the light of the world, He spoke of

• His origin (v.14;23)

• His destination (v.14)

• His assignment (v.18; 28-29)

• His relationship with the Father (v.19).

Faith In Christ

To experience the light is to have Faith In Christ. Sinners need to believe in Christ. The end of all preaching, the goal of all ministry is that people will believe in Jesus. And we see this clearly shown in the text (v.30). What a beautiful sight. Despite all the antagonism towards Jesus, many believed in him. Not few, many. Not a little, many. We can hear many sermons. We can listen to many great preachers, but if we do not believe in Jesus, nothing has happened. Many believed in him. This is the only way to follow Jesus, to have faith: “Whoever follows me…” This is how we follow Jesus, by faith. You are still in darkness if you haven’t believed in Jesus. You are still a sinner under God’s condemnation. Turn to Jesus and be set free

Freedom From Sin

Again, to have the light of life is to have Freedom From Sin. Jesus told those who have believed in him that they shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free. Truth liberates. Truth delivers. And what truth is in view here? The truth of God’s word (v.32). “Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth” (John 17:17). Have you believed in Christ? Then you should experience this liberating power of his word. The fruit of God’s word working in you must be seen. You can’t be a believer and nothing has changed about you. No, there should be notable changes in you. Those who know you must indeed testify that something is different about you.

Free From Eternal Damnation

When you come to faith, when you experience freedom from sin, you are delivered from eternal damnation to eternal life. You are reconciled to God. Jesus says whoever follows him will have the light of life. Dear friends, this is eternal life. This is the ultimate promise Jesus gives to his followers that they will have eternal life: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Here is an invitation for sinners to come out of darkness into the light of Christ. It is to turn away from sin and seek the rigtheousness of Jesus.