I AM the Light of the World

 

Welcome! We are in the middle of a series called “I AM” in which we seek to really understand the I AM statements of Jesus.  These statements were always bold and provocative, meant to point out that Jesus was far from a normal everyday man. Today’s I AM statement comes from the Book of John, chapter 8:

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.” – John 8:12

Imagine standing up in a public place, maybe in a grocery store, or at your place of work, or, if you are a student, in your classroom, and saying so that all can hear, “I am the light of the world! Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life!” How would those within earshot react? Well, they might discretely go tell the manager at the store, or your supervisor at work, or call campus security at the university, and say that there is an out-of-control crazy person who needs to be dealt with. Notice that he says I am the light of the world, not a light of the world. Talk about delusions of grandeur, right?

And in fact, times have not changed that much, because those in the crowd around Jesus have similar thoughts. Let’s look at the response:

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” – John 8:13 

Now, you might say that this would certainly not be your own response, but let’s look a little deeper. The nature of the Pharisees’ response makes it clear – even apart from the previous chapters of John – that this is not the first time the Pharisees and Jesus have been in contact. In fact, it feels like we have just been dropped into the middle of an ongoing debate in which the two sides, Jesus and the Pharisees, have known each other and have been arguing with each other for a long time. And the previous chapters of John make it clear that this is exactly the case. Even if this is the beginning of a new confrontation, the lack of introductions makes it clear that they are picking up where they have left off. 

And the Pharisees don’t even bother to respond to the bold claims of Jesus directly. It is as if at this point they don’t really care what He says – it is all nonsense to them. And so their response is, in effect, “You can say whatever outrageous statement you like, but there is no reason to believe you when you talk like a madman like this.” 

But Jesus was no madman. He was telling the truth, using figurative language, of course. But He is truly the Light of the World. The main things we will do today is to look at the meaning of Jesus’ powerful claim, look at how it ties in with other Scriptures, and look at what it really means for us.

The theme of light is widespread in Scripture. Light is symbolic of goodness, holiness, and grace. In contrast, darkness is symbolic of wickedness, sin, and judgment. Note that darkness is the absence of light. It is not the other way around. Light shines into darkness. Darkness cannot overwhelm light, but light can and does overwhelm darkness. 

Consider the beginning of Genesis. Does God call darkness into being? No. He calls into being light. Starting at Gen. 1:1: 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. – Gen. 1:1-4

The light was good in Day 1. But God does even more with light on Day 4. 

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. – Gen. 1:14-18

Now on face value this passage is clearly talking about the sun and the moon, and it is interesting how God describes their purpose: they are for the benefit of people. They help us know when it is daytime and nighttime, and they help us know the seasons (to mark sacred times) – and days and years. And they light the earth.

It feels good to get out on a sunny day and feel the sunlight on your skin. Our bodies even depend on light – it’s not just plants that do that. Our bodies make Vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure. Amazing!

Light is a major theme in Exodus. God first appears to Moses as light in the bush that burned but did not burn up. And the contrast between light and darkness is made very clear in one of the plagues against the Egyptians at the time of Moses. From Exodus 10:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. – Ex. 10:21-23

The darkness was a plague; light is a blessing. It is impossible for me to imagine three days of total darkness. Clemson experienced a total eclipse in 2017, but that was nothing like total darkness. In our days of cellphones always a short reach away, we really cannot understand what three days of total darkness was like. Growing up, my family once all overslept on a vacation because, while we slept, so much snow came down that it blocked our one window to the outside world. But even then, someone woke up, looked at the time, and turned on a light. 

But let’s move on. When Pharaoh finally had had enough of the plagues and released the Israelites, how did God lead the Israelites? With light. From Exodus 13:

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. – Ex. 13:21

A pillar of fire to give them light. There is something almost magical about a campfire at night, is there not? How much more powerful must it have been to behold the power of God in the pillar of fire!

And a little later, when the Egyptians pursued the Israelites and were about to overtake them, God stepped in and saved them, ultimately by parting the sea, letting them pass through but then drowning the Egyptian army, but even before this, what did God do? He intervened with light and darkness. From Ex. 14:

The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. – Ex. 14:19b-20

And so God uses light to guide us and protect us and save us. 

Later, in Sinai, Moses went to the foot of a mountain to receive the Law from God. The mountain is described as being covered by lightning, that is, by continual flashes of bright light. And then we have the following events in Ex. 24:

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. – Ex. 24:15-17

A consuming fire that did not actually consume. I am struck by the parallels between this encounter and that initial encounter that Moses had at the burning bush. And in this description we see the holiness of God – so light also symbolizes holiness. 

The theme of God as light is also found repeatedly in the Psalms. Here are but a few examples:

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. – Ps. 18:28 

Another equally valid way to translate the Hebrew is to say that You, God, are my lamplighter. You, God, light my lamp. And how does one light a lamp? With light – with fire. I find this a nice picture of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives – we cannot light our own lamps; we cannot turn our own darkness into light. The Lord must do it. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? – Ps. 27:1a

Here we see a similar idea – we are not our own light. The context of both passages is the idea of being saved, of accomplishing victory. But this second passage also speaks of taking away fear. If the Lord truly is our light, if He truly saves us, then there are no enemies we will ever have to face alone, whether human enemies or spiritual ones. I have a story – one I don’t think I have ever used in a sermon, at least not that I can remember. 

When I was a kid, back in grade 4 or 5, I started helping an unlikely friend with his homework. I don’t really remember how it started, but we ended up once in the library together. I was there because I had read everything in my English classroom, and so when we had reading time, I was allowed to go to the library to find something else to read. This unlikely friend, named Carl Green, yes, another Carl, was the opposite of me. I was tiny; he was huge. I was a nerd, he was destined for football. I was white, he was black. But we somehow connected, and he really appreciated that I helped him with homework. One day he got accused of doing something bad to a student who was a bully – I don’t remember exactly what, but I knew it was false, because during that time – I think during lunch – Carl was with me. So I went to the principal and told him. And after that, Carl was really my friend. I later had a problem with bullies when I would come home from school, and this led to me trying to take long routes to avoid them. So I told my friend, and he told me to go alone the normal route, where the bullies were, and he would be waiting for me. And this is what happened. The bullies started bothering me, and then Carl Green showed up, and scared them really good. I never had problems with those bullies again. You could say that Carl Green was my salvation. Who did I need to fear? Nobody. How much more so if the God of the universe, the Light of the World, is your protector!

You [God] are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game. – Ps. 76:4

Here God’s light is used to describe God’s majesty. Majesty is not a word we use often today. Usually majesty is associated with being a king. This is out of our area of experience, as we do not have a king in America. But the idea conveys impressive beauty and dignity – picture a king in kingly garments, walking solemnly to his throne. In comparison, you do not feel adequately dressed or composed or trained or skilled to go before him. And how are game-filled mountains majestic? They too can have a beauty, a grandeur, that takes your breath away. I picture impressively steep mountains, with amazing views, and with goats leaping around as if it is nothing. 

The Lord wraps Himself in light as with a garment. – Psalm 104:2a

This also speaks to the idea of majesty. But it is not the royal robes that make our King majestic. It is His very character, His very identity, His holiness, His goodness. This is what takes our breath away, what makes us feel unprepared and inadequate to go before Him. Like Isaiah, we cry, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 

The Lord is God, and He has made His light shine on us. – Ps. 118:27

But just as God remedied Isaiah’s problem – He had one of His attendants, one of the seraphim, fly to Isaiah and touch his lips with a live coal, a glowing coal, God takes us, as we confess our sin to Him, and remedies our problem. His light is made to shine on us – we no longer are inadequate because of our lack of majesty; instead, we are clothed with His majesty. This is a beautiful truth – we are indeed clothed with Christ, covered by His blood, which was shed for us. 

And speaking of Isaiah, light is a major theme in the book of Isaiah, and some of the most messianic prophecies, those most directly pointing to Jesus, include the theme of light. Again, here are but a few examples: 

In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. – Is. 9:1b-2

We know that Jesus is from Galilee and He identified Himself as a Galilean. And so, yes, it is a great honor for Galilee to be able to say “Jesus was one of us!” And here the passage focuses on light as a source of hope, of rescue, of salvation. In a land of deep darkness, a light has come to save people from this darkness. The light is the gospel, and the gospel is all about Jesus, what He has done. 

Here is a second passage from Isaiah:

This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness; I will take hold of Your hand. I will keep You and will make You to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. – Is. 42:5-7

We know that this passage is speaking about Jesus from the fact that He is to be a covenant and a light for the gentiles, but also from the immediately preceding verses, which tell us that He is God’s servant in whom God delights (or is well-pleased with). And it tells us that God will put His Spirit on Him – both of these ideas clear reference to Jesus’ baptism. It describes His kindness, saying “a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not put out.” And it says that He will establish justice and that even the islands will put their hope in Him.

Here is a third passage from Isaiah: 

He [the Lord] says: “It is too small a thing for You to be My servant to restore the tribes of Jacob     and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make You a light for the Gentiles, that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” – Is. 49:6

It is hard to imagine a passage more directly speaking of Jesus. Of course there is Isaiah 53, which describes the crucifixion and resurrection. But I recall that when I was a brand new believer in graduate school, I was told that the rabbis had the proper interpretation of Isaiah and that the object of these verses was actually the nation of Israel. Well, it is hard to see how the nation of Israel is going to restore and bring back itself! No, this is clearly referring to a person. Throughout history, only one Person has been a light for the Gentiles, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth. Only one person can eternally save even a single soul, and that Person is Jesus, Light of the World. 

And then we have this passage which is also one of our old Scripture songs:

“Arise, shine, for Your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon You. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon You and His glory appears over You. Nations will come to Your light, and kings to the brightness of Your dawn. – Is. 60:1-3

Again, we see the theme of salvation coming to the whole world through the Light of the World. It says that “the Lord rises upon You” – yes, He literally rises. He is risen. He is the risen one. 

And the theme of light continues in the New Testament. We have looked at the “In the beginning” in Genesis. Let us now look at the “In the beginning” in John.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:1-5

The Word, the Logos, is Jesus. Jesus was with God in the beginning, and Jesus is God. And He is the light – the light of all mankind. And I am struck by the fifth verse – that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. God and Jesus – one great God; two great Persons of light. And this reminds me again of Genesis chapter 1 – I want to go back to this. Here are verses 14-18, reformatted:

And God said, 

(A) “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky
to separate the day from the night, 

  (B) and let them serve as signs to mark sacred
        times, and days and years, 

  (C) and let them be lights in the vault of the sky 

                to give light on the earth.” 

                And it was so. 

     (X) God made two great lights—

                   the greater light to govern the

       day and the lesser light to govern the night. 

  He also made the stars. 

  (C’) God set them in the vault of the sky 

                to give light on the earth, 

  (B’) to govern the day and the night, 

(A’) and to separate light from darkness. 

And God saw that it was good. – Gen. 1:14-18

Where we have the two lights, the greater light and the lesser light, placed there for the sake of mankind, to mark sacred times – what a curious thing to say – at a time when no “sacred times” have yet been established. It makes me wonder if even the Genesis 1 passage had a second, more hidden message – that of the two lights, the greater (Father) and the lesser (Son) – and before I go on let me make clear that I do not think that Jesus is in any way inferior to God the Father, far from it! But I do think there is a parallel in how, just as the moon gives off the light of the sun, reflected to us for our benefit, so the Son wholly obeys the will of the Father, and He reflects the Father’s desire for us for our benefit. I wonder if this is something we are meant to consider. Kind of an “easter egg” in Scripture. I believe Scripture is filled with such “easter eggs.” One reason I think this is that Genesis 1:14-18, on the events of the fourth day – by the way, the middle day, if you include the final day of rest – is unique among the accounts of each day in that the verses are arranged as a chiasm.

What is a chiasm? A chiasm is like climbing up one side of a mountain, getting higher and higher, perhaps going through a layer of forest and next a layer of scraggly bushes, and then a barren layer, above the tree line, and then at last the very peak – where you find an amazing view – and then descending on the other side, going through the various kinds of brush in reverse order. Using letters to describe the various types of terrain, we could call the regions A, B, C, X, C’, B’, and A’, where X is the peak of the mountain. 

I would argue that this passage also has the structure A B C X C’ B’ A’, where A and A’ have a common theme (that of separation of darkness and light), B and B’ have a common theme (that of governance and serving in a leadership role), and C and C’ have a common theme (that of giving light to the world). I would point out that Jesus is all these things. He will separate darkness and light – the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats – believers from unbelievers. And He is a leader - in servant leadership as the one who washed our feet, who died for our sins – and as one who will lead as King of kings and Lord of lords. And He is the Light of the World. And at the center, the X in our A B C X C’ B’ A’ are the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day – this would be the Father, who is unapproachable by the unholy, who lives in light – and the lesser light (again, not less powerful or in any way inferior, but simply subservient, obedient); the lesser light is Jesus, who brings the light of salvation to the night, to those who are in darkness. 

But we have wandered down a rabbit trail (or maybe up one). Let’s continue to look at the theme of light in the New Testament. 

I find the theme in the birth accounts of Jesus. First we have the shepherds:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. – Luke 1:8-9

Radiance – a great shining – was undoubtedly amplified even more when the great company of angels suddenly joined this one angel, saying “Glory to God in the highest.” 

And then we have the devout man, named Simeon, who was able to pick up the baby Jesus at the Temple, who said, praising God,

“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You may now dismiss Your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” – Luke 2:29-32

And this brings us full circle back to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus repeatedly used the theme of light and spoke of Himself as the light of the world. 

Recall John 8:12, that we opened with:

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.” – John 8:12

In this passage we see the fulfillment of everything we saw in the Old Testament. His holiness, majesty, protection, salvation, goodness, and more. To follow Him means to have the light of life – a life without fear, a life that we do not live for ourselves, but for Him, a life of abundance, of blessing, a life that is ultimately eternal in Him. 

Now, this is not the only occasion that Jesus describes Himself in these terms. In John 9, we have a situation where Jesus’ disciples ask whether a man they see who has been blind since birth had sinned or his parents had sinned so that this had become his lot in life. Jesus gives this answer to their question:

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works 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.” – John 9:3-5

And so we see here that being the light of the world also means being the restoring one, the healing one. And this is exactly what Jesus does: He heals this man, making him able to see. And the disciples, in a hilarious sequence of events, question him. I love that this man gives short answers; he is not intimidated by the Pharisees, but give short answers that must infuriate them. “Where is the man who did this?” “I don’t know.” “How did it happen?” “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” “What do you have to say about Him? It was your eyes he opened.” “He is a prophet.” Then they question his parents, who were more fearful of them, and they say, “He’s an adult. Ask him yourself.” Then they bring the healed man back, and say “Give glory to God by telling the truth.” (Basically they are calling him a liar.) “We know this man (meaning Jesus) is a sinner”, they say. And then his reply: “Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know – I was blind, but now I see!” They continue to question him, and he says the best line of all: “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples too?”

How did this man have such boldness? Why wasn’t he afraid of them? Because He had been touched by Jesus – Jesus had transformed his life! He was now able to see, for the first time in his life! He had been healed, and although he at this point knew next to nothing about Jesus, he was willing to identify himself as a Jesus follower. 

And with that, let me turn to the application. We have been talking about how the idea of Jesus as the light of the world pervades Scripture. Well, now consider this:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matt. 5:14-16

This familiar passage almost becomes new again, even shocking when we look at it in view of the passages we have already discussed, doesn’t it? You, yes, you, are the light of the world. You are a Jesus representative, a Jesus ambassador, a disciple. 

A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Just like that blind man could not hide what had happened to him, if you are a follower of Jesus, there are also things that have happened to you that you cannot hide, even if you try to do so. It doesn’t matter if you have been a Christ follower for a long time or for a short time – He has changed you and is continuing to change you, and people are going to notice, even if they don’t understand it, even if they don’t like it – like the Pharisees investigating the man who was no longer blind.

But don’t try to hide it! That is the point of the rest of this short passage. Let your light shine! Now, don’t think this means it is about self-effort; if you go there, you are entirely missing the point of this passage. He is the greater light – you are a lesser light. And in this case, truly a lesser light – in every sense of the word. In fact, there is nothing in you that is solely of you that is light at all. What you are is a light reflector. Just as the moon shows the light of the s-u-n, you reflect the light of the S-o-n. Your job is not to try hard to be good; your job is follow Him, to repent when you do not do so, to read and obey Scripture, to pray, to listen to Him, to do what He prompts you in your heart to do. You are to be one of His disciples, too. 

We have a beautiful picture of this in Moses. Recall that after being with God, Moses’ face was radiant; that is his face reflected the light of God, and this resulted from spending time with God. Moses wore a veil because his people were afraid to come near him. But we are people of the New Testament, and the time for a veil is past. Let me close with this passage from 2nd Corinthians:

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! – 2 Cor. 3:7-11

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. – 2 Cor. 3:12-18

Go, unveil your faces. Go, be very bold. Go, and be who you are, the light of the world.