The Light of the World - John 8:12-20

When you think of early sea-faring exploration, it’s really rather intimidating, isn’t it? It required an enormous level of courage for Christopher Columbus to sail west in an attempt to find the West Indies. Of course, we know how all that panned out for him. He ended up discovering America, although it took some time for everyone to come to that realization.

But here’s what I find so incredibly amazing about Columbus and really all the early explorers: They were primarily relying on celestial navigation. They were navigating the open sea, by relying on the stars. Obviously, they had other navigational tools like a compass, astrolabe and quadrant. They would take those measurements and use them to navigate where they were going.

Now just imagine for a moment a week of cloudy skies. Or heavy storms. What do you do in those situations? But just the slightest degree off course can land you in the wrong place! It’s all compounded in the dark, isn’t it? It’s tough navigating in the dark.

But it’s much easier navigating in the brightness of the day! You don’t want cloudy darkness when you’re traveling out at sea navigating by the sun, moon, and stars! In fact, you don’t want there to be a cloud in the sky! You want the sun shining!

The more exposed light there is, the easier it is for you to know where to go!

And this is really the essence of our passage: Jesus is the light of the world! To follow Jesus means your life is on course. You are heading in the right direction. It certainly doesn’t mean that it’s perfect or easy. But your life is being navigated by the light and brightness of Christ!

In our passage we see three things: first we see the declaration of the light of the world (v. 12). And second, we see the denial of the light of the world (vv. 13) and lastly defense of the light of the world (vv. 14-20).

Last week, we looked at the woman caught in adultery and some of the textual issues that are associated with it.

Today, we’re picking up where we left off two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees and here, we have Jesus once again, arguing with the Pharisees. Jesus is in the Temple teaching a crowd, as the Pharisees lurk around him challenging and debating everything that he says.

Declaration of light to the world (v. 12)

Jesus famously has seven “I AM” statements in the book of John. “I am the bread of life.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the door.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am the true vine.”

And in each of his “I AM” statements he’s not just merely telling us what he’s like. Rather, he’s declaring and revealing some fundamental truth about himself.

We’re looking at his second “I AM” statement and how it was received by the Pharisees.

But look at verse 12, with me. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Really what Jesus is doing here using Old Testament language and metaphors to point people to himself. Light is synonymous with the Lord throughout the Bible.

The Lord spoke light into existence at creation. The glory and presence of the Lord was a pillar of cloud by day and fire at night. The idea is they both produced light.

Or Psalm 27, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” Or Psalm 119, “The word of God, the law of God, is a light to guide the path of those who cherish instruction.”

Ezekiel uses light and brightness to describe the presence and glory of the Lord. Or the promise of Zechariah 14, that the Lord will be the source of continual light on the last day.

And obviously the New Testament refers to the light in similar ways. John 1:4 says of Jesus, “In him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

In 1 John 1:5 the apostle John writes, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Or how about that glorious description of the heavenlies in Revelation 21? “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

This is an incredibly small survey of the word “light” in God’s Word. If you want to be blown away, do yourself a favor and do a word study on the use of “light” in God’s Word. According to Biblegateway, the word “light” appears in God’s Word 277 times.

When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” He was wrapping himself in all this Biblical language!

The light and brightness of the Lord is found in Jesus! Because here’s what we all need to understand when we think of light: it’s a reference to God’s glory. His moral beauty. His utter perfection.

And Jesus isn’t just the light, glory, and hope for one person, or one type of person, or just the Jewish people.

But notice what he says immediately after declaring, “I am the light of the world.” He says, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Notice a few things in the second part of verse 12. First, Jesus there’s an active obedience in following Christ. “Whoever follows me.” In order to follow Jesus you have to follow. You have to walk. He’s describing an active obedience. Because it’s not a mere assent to the knowledge of the light.

There’s also a promise associated with following Jesus, you will not walk in darkness. Jesus doesn’t mean perfection, rather, knowledge of sin. How many times do we fall into sin and know we’re giving into sin? Happens all the time, doesn’t it? And how will you have knowledge of sin? Because you will have the light of life.

The light of Christ guides you through the Christian life. Que “This Little Light of Mine.” He describes it in terms of a journey.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie “A Bug’s Life,” but there was a great scene where a fly was flying toward a bug zapper and his friend said, “No Larry, don’t look at the light!” And he says, “I can’t help it, it’s so beautiful” and then it shocks him.

And it’s easy to think of the Christian life in those terms. We’re pilgrims blindly following the light. We’re in a trance like the fly in a Bug’s Life just robotically flying toward the light. But notice, that’s not what Jesus says. We’re not travelers heading toward the light.

No the Christian, possesses the light. Look again at verse 13. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The Christian possesses the light. Forgive me if this is a cheesy illustration but it’s like walking through the woods with a spotlight. A walk in the woods in the middle of the night is intimidating when you have one of those.

It’s easy to follow someone if you know who you’re looking for and where they are! Matthew Henry said it well: “Follow Christ, and we shall follow him to heaven.”

Denial of the light to the world (v. 13)

So Jesus once again makes a glorious declaration about himself. What he says is great news. Are people appreciative? Well, the Pharisees are there, and they have the uncanny ability to ruin everything.

Once again, Jesus finds himself in a debate with the Pharisees, which has happened a lot up and to this point. Do they say, you’re not the light of the world, that’s impossible? No.

In fact, they don’t even care about the theology that Jesus had just laid down when he said, “I am the light of the world.”

They don’t challenge him theologically, rather, they challenge him legally.

Many of you know we had a presbytery meeting yesterday, and some really good things happened, but presbytery doesn’t make a great spectator sport because there are so many rules!

Our presbytery meetings are run by Robert’s Rules of Order. There are motions, and seconds to motions, amendments to motions, blah, blah, blah.

Robert’s Rules of Order are wonderful and help us run everything decently and in order, but sometimes the procedural minutiae obscures the issue at hand.

We get so focused on, “wait did that get a second or are we amending the motion?” we forget the case at hand! Sometimes procedural quirks happen accidentally and other times they are brought up intentionally.

Like great lawyers, the Pharisees ignore the facts and focus on procedural issues.

What was the procedural issue they focused on?

Jesus doesn’t have any additional testimony to corroborate his claims. He’s bearing witness about himself. Look at verse 13, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” They reject what he says on the grounds of Jewish law. If there was an accusation made against someone, there had to be two or more witnesses.

While I was at VMI I had the great privilege of serving on the Honor Court, and VMI’s honor system is quite rigid and simplistic. “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do.”

The Honor Court regularly faced accusations of targeting certain groups of people.

And you know that accusation always frustrated me because no one ever asked the obvious question: did he do it? Does the evidence support a guilty verdict? No one ever asked that!

Isn’t that the problem in the text? No one asks the obvious question: is what Jesus is saying true? Is he who he claims to be?

It really reminds me that people will find the smallest, weakest, technicality to reject Christ won’t they?

I had a guy tell me one time that he wanted to lose weight before coming to church. What? I don’t understand what one has to do with the other. Who wouldn’t like to lose a little bit of weight? But what does that have to do with church?

I wish I was kidding. People will cite the smallest, weakest reasons to stay away from the Lord, and we know what the real reason is: Jesus Christ will demand something of them.

You’re not in the driver seat anymore if you’re a Christian. The problem that the Pharisees had is the problem that so many still have today. Acknowledging that Jesus is the light of the world and that you want to follow him means you have to submit yourself to him.

But here’s the major point of conflict as D.A. Carson points out, “...light is so common a religious symbol that commentators can find roughly parallel passages in a wide diversity of religious backgrounds that John may well have been exposed to. Insofar as some of his readers have been reared in one or more of these religious contexts, John would not be adverse to pointing out the ways in which Jesus is the true light. (pg. 338)”

What was so offensive to the Pharisees would have been the salvific and revelatory confidence that Jesus had in himself.

Defense of the Light of the World (vv. 14-20)

Jesus doesn’t defend himself necessarily the way you’d expect. He doesn’t break out his resume and have the Pharisees call his references. Here are my parents, they can verify I was born in Bethlehem, here are some witnesses to my miracles….

Instead, he says, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.”

In other words, even if I’m bearing witness about myself, why does it matter if it’s true. The truth can be quite inconvenient and unpopular at times can’t it? The Pharisees didn’t care about the truth. In fact, they didn’t want to hear it.

But there’s something else at play here. The Pharisees are judging Jesus based upon fallen humanity. Quite literally, they want other people to testify on Jesus’ behalf. The religious elites are totally spiritless. Whereas, Jesus is only driven by the Spirit.

Which is precisely why Jesus says “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

The Pharisees judge Jesus according to the flesh. They’re just assessing him according to his worldly standards. He’s not from the right place. He’s not saying the right things. They’re judging Jesus for superficial reasons.

But what Jesus is saying there in verses 15 and 16 can be a little confusing because he says I judge no one, and then follows it up with, well I judge sometimes. That’s like all of us, isn’t it? We don’t judge but when we do judge is always above board and appropriate I’m sure.

In all seriousness, Jesus is making a general point that he doesn’t judge in the same manner as the Pharisees. They judge according to the flesh. They base their judgment upon all the wrong things: ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education.

Jesus indeed judges and will one day judge the world by one relevant standard: are you united to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith? Are you trusting that his death and resurrection atoned for your sins?

That’s the relevant question and the standard that matters, which explains why he says, “if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

Doesn’t it feel like we’ve forgotten this basic, yet glorious truth of the gospel? That man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart?

We judge based upon outward appearances because our world often tells us that outward appearances is the only thing that matters!

That’s a sermon right there isn’t it?

But we need to keep moving. Notice that Jesus agrees with the Pharisees assessment of the law in verse 17 and defense in verse 18. “In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

According to Jesus, how many witnesses does he have? Two. Himself and the Father.

Look how the Pharisees respond in verse 19: They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

The Pharisees are looking for Jesus’ paternal father, but of course, Jesus isn’t referring to his paternal father, he’s referring to God the Father. The first person of the Trinity.

And what Jesus says here is profound. Because if the Pharisees truly knew Jesus, they would know the Father. What an encouragement to you and me? If you know Jesus, then you know the Father. If your faith is in Christ then you know the Lord.

It’s a statement on the exclusivity of Christ. There’s only one pathway to heaven. There’s only one person to follow. In other words, in order to know God, you must know Jesus.

There’s no hope of salvation apart from Jesus Christ.

So how do we wrap all of this up? Well, the main point is that Jesus is the light of the world because the glory of God is manifested in him.

Just think about that for a second. Whenever Scripture, particularly the Old Testament refers to light, brightness, glowing, brilliance, it’s almost always in relation to God’s glory.

And the essence of God’s glory is wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ.

David in Psalm 23 famously reminds us that we will walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. In other words, we’ll all walk through darkness. Many of you may be walking through a season of depression, grief, or pain. Or perhaps some of you are weary from the weight of your sin.

In the moments where the darkness is all around you what do you do? You turn to the light! What I find so amazing about what Jesus says in verse 12, is that he doesn’t measure or hedge his words.

Because he doesn’t say, “whoever follows me will usually not walk in darkness.” No, he says, “whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

There’s always hope in the midst of darkness because we know where to go to see the light - we go to the light of Christ, and it’s not something that we do once and walk away from. We do it over and over and over again.

He said, “I am the light of the world.” When you feel like you’re in the pit of hell, turn to the light. Turn to Christ.

Let me close with this verse from Psalm 18:28: “For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.”