John 8:12-20: Jesus The Light

Retired Kentucky minister, Bob Russell tells the story of one year when a family kept their Christmas lights up well into January.

The house was located at the entrance of their Louisville subdivision, which he noticed every time he drove by. Finally, about the middle of February, he recalls critically saying, “You know, if I were too lazy to take my Christmas lights down, I think I’d at least turn them off at night.”

However, about the middle of March, a sign appeared outside of their house explaining why they’d left the lights on. It said simply, “Welcome home, Jimmy.” Their son was stationed overseas in the military and was unable to come home for Christmas. They left the lights on anticipating his return

Bob then offers this observation, “Lights are a symbol of hope. A person lost in a dark cave turns a corner and is relieved to see a ray of sunlight breaking through a crack. A person adrift on a life raft in the middle of the ocean at night is excited when he’s able to say, ‘I see the light of a ship on the horizon’”

Jesus is that light of hope to a sin-darkened world. In John 8:12, He affirmed, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The description of Jesus as “light” is found 24 times in John’s gospel. His prologue begins this way: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Jesus’ affirmation and this metaphor are rich with spiritual implications and applications.

#1 Light Dispels Darkness.

Jesus entered a world of moral darkness and depravity to enlighten it with the spiritual light of God. People were engulfed in the darkness of sin. They were held captive by the deceit and devices of the Devil.

The text reveals the Pharisees couldn’t see it. They defied and denied His witness and thus remained in the dark. Sadly that’s the condition of so many today. They’ve rejected the Light and grope in spiritual and moral darkness entrapped, ensnared and enslaved by the Devil.

However, Jesus is still the Light to lead those out of their mental, emotional, and spiritual darkness to see the radiance of God’s glory.

#2 Light Delivers Sight and Understanding.

Light makes vision possible. It allows us to see clearly that which was hidden in darkness. That’s not only true physically, it’s true spiritually.

Moral darkness blinds us to our true nature of our circumstances, our surroundings, our perspective, and even ourselves. The Light allows us to see things differently. To see Him who is the Light. To see our sinful condition. And to see and realize the need for change. Indeed, as Jesus later said, “he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.”

#3 Light Sustains Life.

Without sunshine life would impossible on earth. The sun is the source of energy for plants and indirectly for animals. Take away sunlight and we soon perish.

Likewise, the SON of God is vital for spiritual life. John affirmed “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (Jn. 1:4). In a later letter the apostle would declare “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 Jn. 5:12).

#4 Light Offers hope.

As observed in Bob Russell’s illustration, light has long been the symbol of hope.
Trapped miners speak of hope rising when they see a glimmer of light We often use the expression when dealing with a dark and dismal situation that we can finally “see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

As Jesus journeyed to the grave of his friend Lazarus, he reminded his sister Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). The question He then asked the grieving sister is one we must answer, “Do you believe this?”

Jesus, the Light, is the embodiment of hope when death’s darkness enshrouds us. The foreboding, the fear, and the frightening prospects of death’s seeming finality are diminished in view of the Light. Jesus is the reason we can “walk the valley of the shadow of death.”

You don’t have to live in darkness. Jesus shines in darkness. He shows the way. He dispels the gloom. He is the True Light. The Great Light. The Sun of Righteousness. The Bright and Morning Star.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman