The Light of the World

[Read John 8:12-20]

One of the privileges I had as a youth pastor was watching teenagers do and say things that were beyond their abilities and years of wisdom. Every once in a while, a teenager would come up to me and say something that would completely floor me. They would notice something very deep in God’s Word—something I’ve never seen or noticed before—or they would tell me about something they said and did that was pretty amazing.

I was talking with one of the seventh-grade girls from our youth group about sharing her faith with her friends. She had a bunch of friends who were non-believers and she was always trying to share her faith with them. Some of them were open to hearing about it and others were more hostile to her faith. One of them approached her with one of the typical questions non-believers bring, “How can you believe that a loving God would send people to hell?” I’m sure you’ve all heard that question before. You’ve had someone pose it to you—often people pose it as a “gotcha” question, thinking they’ve trapped us.

How do you respond to that question? We know that both things are true, right? We know that God is loving and we know that God sends people to hell. So, when people bring this objection to you, how do you respond? Most people respond by making some excuses for God, trying to help people understand why it’s okay for God to send people to hell. However, this seventh-grade girl responded differently. When this friend of hers said, “How can you believe that a loving God would send people to hell?” her response was, “That’s the wrong question. The question is: Why would anyone choose hell over a loving God?”

Notice the difference in that response. When people respond by making excuses for God, we’re really allowing someone to put God in the judgment seat. We’re acting like human beings are in a position to judge whether God is just or loving. Yet, this seventh-grade girl flipped the conversation around so that God was no longer in the judgment seat. Instead, the person asking the question—the human being created by God—was in the judgment seat. This is what CS Lewis writes about when he says, “The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock…The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the bench and God in the dock.” I think we can all agree that we are not in a position to put our Creator in the judgment seat, yet we try to do it all the time.

The more we go into the world with the gospel—bringing it into our families, our workplaces, and our communities—the more we will encounter this situation. When you begin to hang around non-believers and share the gospel with them, you’re going to encounter different types of people. You’re going to encounter people who are wrestling and struggling with a belief in God—people who are really, truly seeking answers, wanting to know the truth. However, you are also going to encounter people who are constantly putting themselves in the judgment seat over God—they are actually trying to place themselves in the position of God, and if God lives up to their standards, they may believe in him (basically, if God submits to them, then they will follow Him). They are not asking you questions to seek out the truth, but are constantly crafting “gotcha” questions, trying to trap you. How do you respond to these gotcha questions? How do you respond to people who are continually asking questions but not actually wanting an answer? How do you respond to someone who is continually trying to place themselves in the position of Judge over the God who created the universe? You can follow the advice of that seventh-grade girl. You can also follow the response of Jesus because that is exactly what is happening in this passage.

It’s important to remember the context of this entire conversation—especially since it has been a while since we were in John. Remember that all of chapter seven is in the context of the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles. Depending on how you understand the timeframes in John, this passage is either still happening on the last day of the Feast OR it is occurring with the Feast of Booths in the recent past. Also, remember that Jesus was under attack at the Feast. They were angry with him, arguing with him, and trying to arrest him. Anyone who considered the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah was mocked and rebuked by the Pharisees. Things were pretty tense.

In light of all that we read this, “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.”” (John 8:12, ESV). This statement is deeply connected to the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles. D.A. Carson helps us understand parts of the Feast’s celebration: “‘He who has not seen the joy of the place of water-drawing has never in his life seen joy’: this extravagant claim stands just before the description of the lighting of the four huge lamps in the temple’s court of women and of the exuberant celebration that took place under their light (Mishnah Sukkah 5:1–4). ‘Men of piety and good works’ danced through the night, holding burning torches in their hands and singing songs and praises. The Levitical orchestras cut loose, and some sources attest that this went on every night of the Feast of Tabernacles, with the light from the temple area shedding its glow all over Jerusalem.” (Carson, 337). Part of the Feast of Booths was this celebration of light—so much light coming from the temple that it basically lit the entire city of Jerusalem. Whether Jesus made this statement during one of these celebrations or in the days following, everyone would have immediately made the connection. But not only does Jesus say that he is A light in the world but that he is THE light of the world. He is the only true light of the world—there is no other.

In making this statement, he also provides a stark contrast. He says, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV). By saying this, Jesus is not just saying that he is THE light of the world, but he is also saying that the world is walking in darkness apart from him—deep darkness. Imagine a time in your life when you had to walk through your house in complete darkness without a flashlight. You were walking slowly with your hands outstretched, trying not to run into anything, but constantly running into everything—stumbling and bumbling your way through the house. That’s the image Jesus paints of the world apart from him. They are walking through the world in complete darkness, unable to see where they’re going, no idea where they’re going, completely lost, no guidance, constantly running into things, always struggling, messing up, hurting themselves, and hurting others. It’s a mess.

But notice what is also connected with walking in darkness—death. Jesus says that those who follow him will walk in light and life, which means that those who are not following Christ are walking in darkness and death. That makes a ton of sense in a world without flashlights. Darkness was deeply connected with danger and possibly death. It was extremely dangerous to wander in the dark without any light. You could easily stumble and bumble your way into the presence of a deadly animal or a deadly cliff or hole.

So, the image given is that the world is wandering around in darkness and death, without any hope, without any guidance, without any idea of where they’re going. They’re constantly wandering into places they shouldn’t go, constantly getting hurt, constantly hurting others, constantly turning away from God. So, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you will no longer have to stumble and bumble your way through life. You will have light for your path, it will lead you out of destruction, it will  give you guidance and purpose, it will bring you back to your God.” It’s powerful stuff.

And here’s how the Pharisees respond to that powerful statement: “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” (John 8:13, ESV). To better understand what is happening here, you have to remember that this isn’t the first time they’ve brought this accusation to Jesus. They brought this accusation to Jesus back in chapter five and he answered it back there. The law required the testimony of two or more witnesses to prove that something was true. So, they keep asking Jesus for more witnesses to prove what he is saying is true. In chapter five he says, “Fine, if you want some more witnesses, John witnessed about me, the Scriptures witnessed about me, and the things I do bear witness about me. That’s three more witnesses. How’s that for you?” So, Jesus answers their accusation thoroughly, but here they are again, bringing that same accusation against him, what’s that all about?

This is what I was talking about at the beginning of this sermon. The Pharisees do not actually want to know the answer to these questions or accusations. These are traps they are trying to set for Jesus—these are their “gotcha” questions. That means, when Jesus provides them with a reasonable response or explanation for their question or accusation, they don’t care and will not change their mind or opinion. Their mind has already been made up on the matter. They are right and he is wrong. Yet, in the context of this passage, they are also proving something else—they are proving that they are in the darkness and that they need the light of Jesus to be able to see the world rightly and live rightly and be saved.

This is why Jesus responds the way he does. 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.” (John 8:14, ESV). Notice what Jesus is doing here. The Pharisees are constantly placing themselves in the position of judge over Jesus. They are constantly telling Jesus to prove himself to them, if Jesus gives them sufficient evidence, they may believe in him. They are the judges. Yet, Jesus flips that around and says, “I actually can bear witness about myself because I came from heaven. You don’t have any right to judge my witness because you don’t know that I came from heaven and continually act like I’m just another human being like yourself.” Jesus is putting them in their place. He’s done playing their games. He has already answered their questions about witnesses, and they didn’t listen, so he decides to flip things around. No longer is he going to allow them to place themselves in authority over him, he will put himself in his rightful place, and put them in the judgment seat because there is no judge higher than Jesus Christ. This is basically Jesus saying to the Pharisees, “Who do you think you are?!?”

That’s why he goes on to say, “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.” (John 8:15–16, ESV). When Jesus says, “You judge according to the flesh,” he is telling them that they are human beings, who can’t see beyond the created world and have no right to be placing themselves in a position of authority over someone who came from heaven—God himself. They aren’t seeing things as accurately as they think they are because they are still walking in the darkness.

Even in the midst of Jesus putting them in their place, he throws them a bone—kinda. He says, “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.” (John 8:17–18, ESV). It’s important to catch how Jesus words this. He calls it “your law,” because he’s frustrated with the way they are interpreting and using God’s Law. They have misused and abused God’s Law to the point that it is no longer God’s Law, but something of their own creation. So, he says to them, “Even in your twisted understanding of the law, I am proving myself to be true. I witness about myself and the Father witnesses about me. There’s two witnesses for you.”

They respond in darkness, again: “Where is your Father?” (John 8:19, ESV). Again, this is not an honest question. Every commentator recognizes that the Pharisees are mocking Jesus with this question—again, it’s a “gotcha” question. It’s kinda like them saying, “Oh, okay. Well, if you have another witness, we’d love for him to show up right now!” They think they’ve got him right where they want him. They think they’ve got him trapped.

Again, Jesus isn’t playing their game. He will not allow the Pharisees to put themselves in authority over him, so he flips the tables on them again by saying, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:19, ESV). Jesus is telling the Pharisees, “Even if the Father showed up and bore witness to me, you wouldn’t recognize him because you don’t actually know him. If you knew him, you would know me. Yet, you don’t know who I am and you don’t know the Father.” Again, Jesus is putting them in the judgment seat. This is a full-out confrontation with the Jewish leaders.

I don’t want to move past this without pointing out how harsh these words are for the Pharisees. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they have devoted their lives to following the Father, but they don’t actually know him. They don’t actually know the God whom they profess to know. He is pointing out something mentioned in another portion of scripture, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.” (Titus 1:16, ESV). They may profess to know the Father, but they deny him by the way they live. When you look at their life, you can clearly see that they don’t actually know the Father. And, when you continue to work that logic out, things get even more harsh. Jesus is telling them that they are not true Jews. A true Jew knows their Father—which also means that a true Jew knows Jesus Christ.

All of this leads back to the main point of this passage, how in the world can they have a right judgment about Jesus Christ? How can someone who doesn’t even know the Father, accurately determine if Jesus is the Christ? How can someone who doesn’t have the Spirit, and still only judges according to the flesh, accurately have a right judgment? How can someone who is still walking in death and darkness see anything clearly? AND, more importantly, how can they begin to think that they have the right to place themselves in a position of authority over the God who created them, and over the light of the world?

And yet, it happens all the time, doesn’t it? People constantly come to Jesus as if they are his judge—trying to put themselves in a position of authority over him—trying to put themselves in the position of God. They say things like, “I will never believe in a God who sends people to hell” or “I will never believe in a God who allows evil and suffering” or “I will never believe in a God who says I cannot sleep with whoever I want, whenever I want.” And then when people say these types of things and put themselves in the position of authority over God, we get all nervous and self-conscious and embarrassed. We start trying to make excuses for God saying things like, “Well, he’s not like that. He’s much nicer than you think. He’s not that judgmental. He’s actually love” and we allow this person to place themselves in a position of authority over the God of the universe. It’s insanity, really.

Let me take this from a different angle. What if you encountered someone who said, “I will never believe that light exists.” How do you respond to someone in that situation? Are you self-conscious? Are you a little embarrassed that you believe light exists? Do you start trying to make excuses for the light? Do you start trying to give explanations? No. You will probably look at the person with a squint in your eye, a little concerned, and you’ll say, “Are you serious? Open your eyes! It’s right there! Look! It’s obvious!”  Light doesn't need an outside authority to prove that it exists. As long as people look at it, they know that it is there. It’s the same with Jesus Christ. How do we prove what he says is true? We don’t need to give evidences. We don’t need to prove Jesus to people—like they are the ultimate authority in the universe. We need to point people to him—“Look at Him. He’s right there! He’s obvious! His teaching is obviously true! Look to Him. Learn from Him. Follow Him. And you’ll see that this is true and right!”

We also have to learn how to do this in our own lives. Each one of us in the room this morning needs to recognize that apart from Christ we’re walking in the darkness. And, the more we turn away from Christ and try to find light elsewhere—from the world—the further into darkness we go and the more obscured the light of Christ is. The longer we refuse to follow Christ and continue to put ourselves in a position of authority over him, the longer we will stumble and bumble our way through life. We have to acknowledge that we’re not the authority of the universe, we don’t get to put him on the witness stand, and we don’t get to determine what is good and what is bad. He is God and we are not.

That means He is in a position to judge us. He is in a position to tell us what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. He is also in a position to rescue us from our darkness, and shed a life-saving light on our path, into our lives, and in our hearts. He is the light of the world. That means our role is to come to him with submissive, open hands by faith. Trusting Him to rescue us from the darkness, trusting the words that come out of his mouth, trusting Him to lead us in the midst of this darkness, and trusting him to lead us all the way into eternal life.