Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 8:12
This is the second of the seven great "I AM" statements found in the gospel of John. This passage is again during the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Booths which we talked about last week when Jesus called out to people to come to Him and drink and get living water. The Israelites would go out of their houses and dwell in tents or booths for a whole week. During this time, there were special lamps that were lit. These gave light during the night and there was dancing and singing praises to God for His being the Light of the world and giving light to Israel. And then came Jesus pointing to Himself and saying that He is that very light that they are celebrating--that is crazy, right? The more you read the Gospel of John the more you will be confronted that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord of All.
The Hebrew people were called out of the darkness of Egypt. When they came out, the Lord appeared to them as a Pillar of Fire by night! (Exodus 13:21) This was when they were dwelling in the very booths that thousands of years later the people celebrated during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jesus' time. Each year they would celebrate God bringing them out of Egypt and being a light to them as they wandered in the desert. The Psalmist says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation ..." (Psalm 27:1) Jesus claimed to be that very light.
The world is full of darkness. The Bible says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5). The Bible tells us that the whole world lies under the influence of the evil one. (I John 5:19) We walk in darkness because our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). We grope around in the darkness looking for something to save us. Sometimes we think we have found it--money, religion, power, addictions, and people have all failed us too many times. We find ourselves broken and alone in a world packed with people. It is in this condition that Jesus comes to us and proclaims Himself to be our Savior and our Lord. He is the Light of the world, and when we follow Him, we will find ourselves awake, alive, and seeing for the first time. Like the famous part from Amazing Grace: I once was blind but now I see.
When His light pierces the darkness of our lives, it doesn't stop there. We become beings of light. We are called "Light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8) We become "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14) because it is His light shining in us and through us to illuminate the darkness so that others can see His amazing love and His amazing grace. That is True Light! Shine, Jesus, Shine!
Blessings to you!
Comments