Jesus, the Light of the World

Sermon preached by C. John Steer

Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN

April 19 & 20, 2008

 

 

Scripture:       John 8:12-30

No. 11:                   John’s Gospel

 

 

What did Jesus mean when he announced, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)  And what can we see by this light today.

 

We are going to attempt to answer those questions this morning.

So please turn to John chapter 8 in your Bible and the message outline.

 

We begin with AN ANCIENT UNDERSTANDING OF LIGHT

We find this in the biblical text.

When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” he meant that light dispels darkness.

“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.” (v 12)

 

Jesus made this claim about being the light of the world during the Feast of Tabernacles.

On the evening of the first day of the festival there was a ceremony called “The Illumination of the Temple.”

 

It took place in the court of the women.

The court was surrounded with galleries erected to hold the spectators for this great event.

In the center of the court four enormous candelabra were set up.

 

When night fell the candelabra were lit.

It was said that they sent such a blaze of light throughout Jerusalem that every courtyard in the city was illuminated by their brilliance.

Then all night long the greatest and the wisest and the holiest men in Israel danced before the Lord and sang psalms of joy to God while the people watched. 

 

It was when these candles were extinguished and the court has plunged into darkness that Jesus made his statement “I am the light of the world.”

He is saying “you have seen the blaze of the temple illuminations piercing the darkness of the night. Well, I am the light of the world and for the person who follows me there will be light not only for one exciting evening but for all the days of your life.  The light in the temple is bright but in the end it flickers and dies. I am the light that lasts forever.”

The light of Christ is so brilliant it illuminates the whole planet which is why Jesus is the light not just of a few but of the entire world.

 

Bishop Leslie Newbiggin calls this, “A claim of cosmic significance.” On this Earth Day it is good to remember that Jesus is Lord of all the earth.

For the light of the gospel dispels the darkness of ignorance, fear, injustice, and poverty.

It shines into the dark alleyways of oppression and brings freedom.

 

Then when Jesus said “I am the light of the world” he meant that light directs us.

For he says, “Whoever follows me” (v 12).

At the feast of tabernacles the Jews remembered their experience in the Exodus when the pillar of fire had led them for 40 years in the wilderness.

As long as they followed the light of that fire they were alright.

 

Some of us had an experience of the directing power of light at Family Camp last year.

One very dark night we went down to the edge of the forest.

One single light was hanging from a branch about 50 yards inside the woods.

We were told to walk straight for the light.

If we did so we wouldn’t walk into any trees.

 

Once we reached the light we could see a second light further off in the forest which led us to a third and so on.

Our family completed the entire course without tripping or falling by letting the light direct us.

We were able to say with Job, “By his light I walk through darkness.” (Job 29:3)

And so Jesus encourages us to follow him through the darkness of the world.

 

But what does it mean to follow Christ?

The word John uses for “follow” answers the question.

It is the word used to describe a soldier following his captain. 

A slave accompanying his master.

A student accepting their teacher’s instruction.

 

So to be a follower of Christ is to give ourselves body, mind and spirit to the obedience of the Lord Jesus.

To follow like that is to walk in the light.

The reason following Jesus transforms life is because Jesus gives no ordinary light.  This is the second of the seven “I ams” of John’s gospel. 

When Jesus says “I am the light” he is claiming to be God for “I am” is God’s name for himself.

God announced, “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14) 

 

Jesus is building on this Old Testament understanding.

David had declared, “The Lord is my light.” (Psalm 27:1) 

Isaiah said, “The Lord will be your everlasting light.” (Isaiah 60:19)

The light Jesus provides is supernatural which explains why it transforms the places where it shines.

 

Then when Jesus said “I am the light of the world” he meant that light gives life.

“Whoever follows me . . . will have the light of life.”  (v. 12)

 

Back in the first chapter of his gospel John has explained the implication of Jesus coming into the world when he said, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) 

John loves this picture of light and darkness.

Darkness speaks of death while light refers to life.

To have the light is to have Jesus.

There is no life apart from a right relationship with him.

 

Now you might think people would welcome this light. But they don’t. The people in the Temple Court argued with Jesus. They rejected his claim.

Jesus tells those who do not receive his light, “You will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

The word for “sin” here is associated with archery.

It means missing the target.

The person who refuses to accept Jesus as their light has missed the target of life.

They die with life frustrated, unfinished, and incomplete.

 

To come to the light we must first admit our darkness.

As John Calvin beautifully puts it, “None will ever present themselves to Christ to be enlightened, save those who have known both that this world is darkness and that they themselves are altogether blind.”

 

The Dalai Lama was in Rochester last week.

He likes to talk about enlightenment but Jesus here invites us to approach him and be truly enlightened.

 

The church father Irenaeus wrote that, “Jesus’ illumination leads us to immorality.” 

Augustine provides the comforting observation that unlike the light of the sun, the light of Jesus will never desert us.

When we follow it with the eyes of faith we will ultimately behold that future vision where there will be more night.

 

We turn now to A MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF LIGHT

God is the creator of light and he has granted us an increasing understanding of the nature of light which helps us to appreciate on an even deeper level what Jesus means when he says, “I am the light of the world.”

 

Theologians talk about God’s omniscience. 

That word is made of two parts omni  which is Latin for all and science which means knowledge.

God is all knowledge. All science comes from him.

When we do research we are studying the mind of God.

 

The astronomer Johannes Kepler describes science as, “Thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”

So in a very real sense the more we understand about light the more we will understand about Jesus.

 

We know that light is fast.

The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.

That means a traveler moving at the speed of light would circum-navigate the equator 7 ½ times in one second. 

 

Light is the fastest thing in the universe.

So what does this tell us about Jesus, the light of the world.

It means there is nothing slow about him.

He is not slow in keeping his promises as Peter as tell us.

Jesus informs us that, “God will give justice, and quickly.”

(Luke 18:8)

 

That is good news if you are in need today.

Jesus the light can move swiftly to your side.

He can save you immediately.

He can deliver you from your sin this instant.

He can provide you with the comfort of his Holy Spirit right away.

 

Then we know that light is beautiful.

Last weekend I was in Detroit airport which must be one of the best airports in the United States.  I experienced the Tunnel of Light that goes under the runway. 

 

Light has transformed a dreary experience into a fascinating walk.  Through clever lighting techniques combined with music you are made to feel like Alice in Wonderland. 

It is utterly beautiful.

I enjoyed it immensely.

 

The visible light spectrum itself is beautiful.

We all remember in physics class shining a beam of light through a prism and seeing the spectrum form.

We see the same effect in a rainbow which reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

 

The light that comes from the heaven is also beautiful.

Modern telescopes like Hubble have brought us spectacular images of distant galaxies. 

Here is a Barred Spiral Galaxy.

 

Here is the Whirlpool Galaxy.

 

Here is the Ring Nebula

 

Here is the Cygnus Loop Nebula

 

These are galaxies at the edge of the known universe.

They are all beautiful and were created by the one who commanded “Let there be light.”

 

Let’s apply this to Jesus.

True beauty is to be found in him.

Now we understand David’s request,

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” (Psalm 27:4)  

 

There is a beauty in holiness.

A life illuminated by the light of Christ is exquisitely lovely.

Peter tells us, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment . . . instead it should be that of the inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)

 

My children sometimes tell me that my feet are less than attractive. I inform them they couldn’t be more wrong for my feet are things of great beauty.

I can even prove it from the scriptures.

Paul tells us, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” (Romans 10:15) 

 

If you belong to Christ you are beautiful. 

You are made in the image of God and you reflect the beauty of your Savior.

 

And then light is complex.

Here I want to acknowledge the help of my scientific advisor, Dr. Janet Topazian.  Janet is an astrophysicist and she has taught me more about light this week than I learned in the past 50 years.

 

The complexity of light is seen in these equations that describe electromagnetic radiation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not even going to try and explain that.

 

Light is electromagnetic radiation made up of elementary particles called photons. We usually refer to light as the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum but it is also used to describe the entire spectrum which includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays as illustrated in this diagram. 

 

Light exhibits properties of both waves and particles. This ‘wave-particle duality’ is one of the most amazing principles of physics. 

 

Now most of that fascinating, complex information has been discovered in the last 100 years. You can imagine that in the next thousand years we will know much more about light.

Perhaps we will even have discovered how to do time travel.

So too, Jesus is complex.

There is a wonderful element of mystery about him.

He is a source of unending curiosity. 

He is worthy of our lifelong devotion.

In heaven, we will marvel for all eternity at him who is the light of the world.

 

Janet Topazian made this profound observation.

“The glory and magnificence of the world and the universe are revealed to us “through” light. Light from stars, galaxies, the far edge of the universe or because of light from things we see on earth. Likewise God is revealed to us through Jesus the light of the world.”

 

A PERSONAL UNDERSTANDING OF LIGHT

When Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” he is inviting us to make this truth personal and apply it to our own life. 

I thought it might be helpful to see how one man did this.

I hope it will stimulate you to make your own personal application.

 

His name was Holman Hunt and he was a painter.

He was the leader of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood who wanted to paint things, “as they were.”

Hunt was captivated by this statement of Jesus and sought to express it in his art.

Here is his famous painting entitled, “The Light of the World”

Hunt wrote, “Physical light represents spiritual light.”

 

I have loved this picture since I was a child. It shows Jesus as the light of the world standing outside the door of the human heart.

It expresses Christ’s yearning for us to open our lives to him.

 

This picture changed the life of the painter.

When he began the painting Hunt was an agnostic but in the process of his work he became a Christian as he gazed day and night at the character of Jesus.

 

Almost every detail of the painting is symbolic. 

I want you to notice two things.

First, the Savior.

We see his thorn crowned head and his nail pierced hands.

He is wearing a priestly robe because Jesus is our great High Priest who gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins.

 

Then we are captivated by his loving eyes which follow us wherever we are.

We are reminded that, “The eyes of the Lord are constantly on you.”  (Deuteronomy 11:12) 

 

Jesus the light of the world sees us today.

He sees all the reasons why we need to come to him and commit our life to him.

He sees all the excuses why we think we can’t do that right now. He sees all our anxieties and worries.

He also sees the way he will deal with those fears.

 

And then notice the surroundings.

There is the lifeless entrance.

The door on which Christ is knocking is overgrown with dead weeds, trailing ivy and rusting hinges.

On the ground there is rotten fruit, hinting at the apple eaten in Eden. 

The door has been shut and unused for a long time.

It depicts the lifeless nature of those whom the Apostle Paul describes as, “Dead in your transgressions and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

 

We see here that life without Christ is no life at all.

We are spiritually dead although we may be physically alive.

That is why we need the presence of Jesus in our hearts.

For he is the resurrection and the life. 

 

Then notice the latchless door. 

Holman Hunt drew no handle on the outside implying that it is on the inside. 

King Jesus could storm his way into our hearts if he wished to.

Or he could kick down the door of our life but he doesn’t.

Instead in the words of Proverbs he whispers, “My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26)

 

It is true the Bible speaks of divine sovereignty.

It teaches us that God initiates and completes our salvation.

But it also teaches human responsibility.

The door to our lives has to be open from within using the latch of repentance and faith.

 

Dominating the painting is the lighted lantern reminding us that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” 

If you are living in spiritual darkness Jesus is waiting to enter your life and flood it with his eternal light.

 

This picture was painted 155 years ago but the scene it depicts is still taking place today for Jesus says to us, “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

 

Eating implies fellowship and friendship. 

That is the relationship that Jesus wants with us.

 

People who saw this painting were profoundly moved and Hunt realized there was an opportunity to let the light of Jesus shine further. So twenty-five years later he painted another picture of the light of the world.

 

This painting that now hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London was four times bigger.

 

Hunt sold it on the understanding that the buyer would send it around the world.

In Australia and New Zealand four fifths of the population saw it. People traveled hundreds of miles to view it.

Many became believers as they opened the door of their heart to the light of the world.

 

Once our lives have been illuminated by Jesus the light of the world we are then able to fulfill his desire when he says, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14)