EVERY THOUGH CAPTIVE: The Light of the World

The Light of the World

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “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. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 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. 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.” 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.” These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; but no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come.

So He said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins.” So they said to Him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but He who sent Me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from Him.” They did not understand that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but speak just as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” As He was saying these things, many believed in Him.

John 8:12-30

Jesus responded by stating to the crowd, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In this statement, Jesus was proclaiming that He was the one who protected and guided Israel all those years ago and that now the Jewish people were gathering at the temple to remember and celebrate. Jesus was claiming to be God. The Pharisees immediately responded to Him questioning this based on the fact that in the Hebrew judicial system, there must be two witnesses to verify something as truth (v.17). Darkness resided over the hearts of these Pharisees who failed to see that Jesus was God even after Jesus tells them in verse 18, “I am the one who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” The Pharisees then questioned where His father was, to which Jesus replied in verse 19, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

When we are not walking in the light of Christ, everything is much more difficult. I grew up going to a small summer camp in my hometown filled with all sorts of fun activities like high ropes, rocking climbing, color wars, jet skis, a water blob, you name it! There was one aspect of camp that I didn’t have as many positive feelings toward. Deep into the grounds of camp, there were some more of these fun activities, but, in order to get there, you had to walk through “Blackbeard’s Cave” (as far as I can tell, the real Blackbeard did not travel through this cave in Arkansas). When I say this cave was pitch-black, I mean it. What was probably a very short distance took what felt like hours to trudge through. As an eleven-year-old, it was a bit scary! But, once I saw that first sliver of light, all my anxieties would go away. Not only did that light show me that I was almost out, but I could finally see. Calvin says, “Out(side) of Christ, there is not even a spark of true light.”

What does Jesus say to this? “Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (v.12). Life without Christ is like walking through “Blackbeard’s Cave” every moment of every day. Life with Christ is where true life is found.

The Pharisees couldn’t understand that Jesus was truly God. Yet, as we see in their discourse in the following verses, only the Son of Man could be lifted up for the sins of humanity. “It was His task to swallow up death. Who but Life could do this? It was His task to conquer sin. Who but very Righteousness could do this? It was His task to rout the powers of the world and air. Who but a power higher than the world and air could do this? Therefore our most merciful God, when He willed that we be redeemed, made Himself our Redeemer in the person of His only-begotten Son” (Calvin’s Institutes 2.12.2).

The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down and gave us the light of the world in Himself through His death and resurrection so that we could take part in the light of life only found in Him by faith to the praise of His glory. “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…” (Ephesians 5:8).