I am the light of the world (10/21/18 John #41)
ATTN: I ran across the other day a former youth who was in my ministry years ago. He was not following the Lord any more, but he seemed pretty happy and content. I am still praying for him and hopeful that one day he will come back to the Lord. But this encounter made me think: Is christian happiness different from that of unbelievers? Is christian hope different from that of unbelievers? What is our source of happiness and hope as Christians? If we are honest, we would say that our hope often lies in the next vacation or the next break through in our job. It might even be in a prospect of moving somewhere else and starting new. But if that’s all there is, then we are no different from the unbelievers. The unbelievers put their hope in those things, and find happiness in those things as well.
The christian transformation ultimately is changing from wanting the world to wanting God. If what we ultimately want have never changed, only that now we are relying on Jesus to get them for us, then Jesus is not our Lord. He is our butler or housekeeper!
Today, we come to the passage where Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” This is the second of the seven “I Am” statements in the book of John after “I am the bread of life.” These “I am” statements are what distinguishes Jesus from every other religious leaders of the world – whether Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, etc. In them, Jesus claimed Himself to be God, and they force us to make a decision about Him. There are only three choices when it comes to Jesus. Either He is God or He is a liar or He is crazy. “Well, I don’t think He is God, but he was a good moral teacher, “ is not a choice! A man who said what He said about Himself – that He is equal with God – cannot be a good moral teacher if He is wrong about it. If I claimed to be God, but you don’t agree, you would not say I am still a good pastor, would you? You would say either I am crazy or I’m lying.
But Jesus made those crazy claims, one of which is “I am the light of the world.” Today’s sermon outline goes like this: 1) meaning of the light. 2) means to the light. 3) Becoming a light.
Background: when Jesus said this, He was still at the feast of the tabernacle. If you remember, this is also when He said, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me to drink,” probably when the water was being poured into the temple basin to symbolize God providing the Israelite water in the desert out of the rock. This is what one commentator said about this occasion:
On the first night of Tabernacles and apparently on each night of the feast except on Sabbath, the worshipers awaited the signal of the special lighting of the festive golden lamps of Tabernacles in the court of women. The lamps were intended to remind worshipers of God’s leading the people of Israel through the wilderness at night by a pillar of fire. The lighting of lamps also signaled Israel’s recommitment to the God of light, and it was accompanied by festive music of the Levites and special dancing by chosen men of piety (m. Sukk. 5:1–4).
So, John chapters 5, 6 and 7 pick up 3 major Old Testament events with the Israelites: the comparison between manna and the bread of life; the comparison between water in the desert and His being the living water, and now the comparison between the pillar of fire which led the people through the wilderness and His being the light of the world.
These are audacious statements Jesus is making. There is nothing humble about these statements unless they were true. He’s not claiming to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), but He’s claiming He created all the GOATs! He’s claiming He made the Einsteins, Lincolns, Alexander the Greats, Tom Bradys, and Michael Jordans. He is claiming Himself to be the Old Testament God who gave Israelites the manna, water, and light to guide them, and He is still that for the world today.
- Meaning of the Light
If you are a child and think literally, when you hear Jesus say, “I am the light of the world,” you picture Jesus lighting up and glowing like a lamp. Well, you are not too far from the truth. When Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah, he literally glowed like the sun, the bible says. I think that was symbolic of the fact that He is the light of the world. So, what did Jesus mean when He said he is the light?
1) Light means life-giving. V. 12 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So, whoever has the light has life. John 1:4 says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” We learned in Junior High science class that vegetation needs the light to survive. Photosynthesis process is what it’s called. Jesus is that light. Without Him, there would be no life. And by life, I do not mean simply physical life – like breathing and moving. Yes, that too because Jesus is the co-creator with the Father. – nothing was created without him. But I mean life as in energy, meaning, significance, all things we associate with truly being alive. There are many who are living but are not truly alive. But Jesus gives that quality of life – the abundant life He calls it – to those who would follow Him.
2) Light also means knowledge – the knowledge of the true God. The opposite, darkness, is often associated with ignorance or willful denial of the divine knowledge. 2 cor. 4:6, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”a made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Those who do not know Jesus do not have the true knowledge. It doesn’t matter how much math and science they know, how many letters they have in front of their name, ph.d, m.d., etc, or how many journals or books they have published under their name, if they do not know Jesus, they do not have the very source of knowledge. God uses the foolish things of the world to reveal the wisdom of God. 1 Cor 1:27, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” It has always been true generally those who are in the upper echelon of the society would reject God – the pharisees and scribes rejected Jesus during His time on earth, but the common folks – poor, marginalized – received Him gladly. Think about where christianity is most active right now – Asia, Africa, South America – poor countries… whereas wealthy countries such as europe and north america, christianity is declining… So, if you know Jesus, it’s not because you are smarter or you have read more, but because God has chosen you and revealed Himself to you. It is the most precious knowledge in the world because it leads to eternal life.
3) Light means hope. Ps. 30:5, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. With the dawning of the light, comes joy. In other words, light represents hope. The opposite, darkness, represents despair, depression, hardship whereas the light gives hope. The book, Night, by Elie Wiesel is appropriately titled I believe as it describes his own loss of faith in humanity and even possibly in God as he describes his horrendous experience in the Nazi concentration camp. He describes a particular night when his father died next to him calling for him for one last embrace, and he did not go to him because he himself was so distraught by the whole hellish circumstance. He waited for the dawn, hope, when all hope was lost. Jesus is that hope. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can have hope because Jesus will resurrect us from the heaps of despair and death.
- Means to the light.
How do we get this light. How do we attain this abundant life, divine knowledge and undying hope? We follow the light. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who FOLLOWS me …” He could’ve said, “anyone who receives me,” or “anyone who obeys me,” and He has used those words before and therefore it wouldn’t be wrong, however, in this instance he uses the word “follow” to be associated with him. Why?
Because he is reenacting the Israelites following the pillar of fire when they were in the wilderness during Moses time. During the day, a pillar of clouds led the people and during the night, a pillar of fire led and protected the people. God Himself guided and led the people, and while the festival is celebrating that very act of God in the past, Jesus stands in front of them and says, I’m that light. I’m the fire that will lead you. And therefore, you follow me!
Christians are those who follow their master. Not only in general sense – like tithing, going to church, putting the community before the individual etc, but in a specific sense. You watch for the master and listen to His voice and follow Him as sheep follow their shepherd. That means you move when He tells you to move. You choose the hard road sometimes because that will honor God more. Sometimes it’s taking a pay-cut or taking a job that no one else wants to do. Isn’t that what Jesus our master has done? He walked the calvary road and told us to follow Him. “Deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me!” (Matthew 16:24)
So, how do we get the light? We follow the light. We walk as He did.
APP: Would you learn now to discern God’s voice? How do you go about making major decisions in life? Have you ever gone against what is obvious to everyone because you felt God was pulling you another way? If Noah, Abraham, Moses did what was obvious to everyone, they should not have built the boat (Noah), left his country (Abraham) or left the palace (Moses). These were foolish moves to the outsiders. But they were hearing the voice of God. So I am asking you now, have you ever done what seemed foolish to the world because you were following the voice of God?
Young people, learn to listen to God’s voice before you have to make major decisions, such as where to go to college, who to marry, what career to have, what church to serve in, etc. If you don’t learn the discern the voice of God, then you will simply follow other gods – such as money or family.
III. Becoming the light
We used to sing a song called, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going…” as we each held a candle in our hands and we lit each other’s candle down the line as we sang the song. It was so moving back then even though now it seems so cheesy and tacky… Why is it that whatever seemed so cool years ago seem so cheesy now? I was talking to Sennah, my 12 year old who is into this boy band BTS, “when daddy was your age and was listening to new music then, my parents thought they were very weird, even though I thought they were so hip and cool. But now you think they are so old and boring. Wait till you have children of your own and your children are going to think BTS is so old, if they will even know what BTS is….
But the song illustrated well the concept. Jesus is the light, and we receive that light and we follow the light and as we do so, we also become a light. We are not the source of it, but reflectors of it. And we lead others to the light.
Jesus said for us to the salt and the light of the world – one characteristic about the light is that we do not look at the light, but look at what the light is revealing. I don’t turn on the flashlight and look straight into the flashlight! No. mosquitoes do that and I’m not a mostquito! I look at what the light illumines. In other words, if I am a light, I am shining my light so that others can see and be drawn to THE Light, which is Christ. The same is with salt. If I’m eating food and I notice salt, then there is something wrong with it. When it’s well-blended in, people won’t notice the salt; only the good taste of the food.
In other words, we do not try to bring attention to ourselves. We should not be the focal point. We are to live quiet lives, illuminating, saltifying, making those around us better, bringing them to THE Light. Kindness, generosity, gentleness, and at times firmness to bring them to Christ.
CONC: Jesus is the light of the world. He gives abundant life, diving knowledge and undying hope. And He calls us to be the light. Get near enough this light that we can be infected by His holy light, be satisfied by this light, bask in the light until we start glowing with His light that we can be light to others. Desire each morning to come to Him and work throughout the day to clean the mirror of life so that you can reflect as much of the light that you are getting from Jesus.
0 Comments