JESUS: THE LIGHT THAT GIVES LIFE
By Pastor Stephen Manurung
Lemah Putro, Sunday, June 7, 2020
Shalom,
Truly God’s presence through His Word and His Holy Spirit makes us strong and able to endure our everyday moments. Into the world came Jesus, to be the light of life who cast the darkness away from this world and from our lives.
The Gospel of John, apparently, is very rich and profound in portraying the person of Jesus Christ as God through its explicit expressions as well as His status and embedded titles. For example, Jesus is the Word that became flesh (John 1:14), Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), Jesus is the bread of life (John 6: 35,48), He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), Jesus is the True Vine (John 15: 1) and so on.
We are to be thankful for the shepherding word that has provided us with a solid spiritual foundation of Jesus.
Reading through John 8: 12-29, what title is given to the Person of Jesus? “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify 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 am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” ……Then He said again to them, “I go away and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”….
From the verses above, there are two points that explain further about Jesus as the light of the world, namely:
1. Light comes by grace (vv. 21-29).
Jesus as light came into the world out of grace not because of anyone's invitation or desire / will. Analogy: very beautiful to see sunrise from the top of the mountain. The sun will still rise without ever delaying time with/without being witnessed by mountain climbers. Likewise the light of Jesus comes without depending on anyone, at any time and in any way but because of the grace from Him as the Owner of that light.
To whom did Jesus come as the light of the world and how did you get that light?
a. Holy light comes for sinners. At that time Jesus was in the community of sinners: adulterous women, crowds, Pharisees, sinful experts in the Law.
In fact, Jesus' coming into the world was due to God's initiative. Even if people try to look for Him, no one can find His place (John 8: 21-24). Jesus wants to explain that men cannot find God; on the contrary, it was God who discovered men. But the concept of thinking like that (men are looking for God) which was happening at the time of Jesus' ministry in Palestine is also the concept of thinking of the majority of humanity in the world today. They feel that with their ability to keep the law and study about God will make them worthy of entering Heaven. Illustration: can you imagine if Heaven is inhabited by arrogant people (because of their intelligence, strength, wealth, spirituality, etc.) who feel entitled to live in Heaven even when meeting Jesus feels entitled to topple Him from His throne to change position?
Application: However good our position or background is, let’s humble ourselves before Him, just like the twenty-four elders who cast their crowns and worship Him who sits on the throne (Revelation 4: 10-11).
Jesus used this opportunity to turn the people’s and the Pharisees’ idea upside down about the journey to Heaven. He is explaining the difference between us and God. But in practice we often force that great God into our very narrow and sinful cranium.
However, Jesus conveyed this fact not to demean His creation but wanted to realize the existence of a dichotomy (two conflicting groups) namely:
• Between the world and Heaven
Men come from the products of the world (born of sinful parents) but God, the Creator, comes from above / Heaven. Is it appropriate that clay tries to exhort and interrupt its Creator (Isaiah 45: 9)? But in reality the Pharisees accused Jesus' testimony of being untrue. One of human nature as a product of the world is feeling pretentious – just knowing a little seems to already know everything – eventhough God never contradicts science and world law.
Application: when we are before Him, we should say, "I am nothing." John the Baptist, the greatest person ever born by a woman (Luke 7:28), when meeting Jesus, the Lamb of God, acknowledged, "He must get bigger but I must decrease." (John 3:30) Remember, do not be proud of the good we do or the success we get because everything happens because of His grace.
• Between sin and holiness
Three times Jesus reminded the Jews, "You will die in your sins" (John 8: 21,24).
Proven sin brings death; on the contrary, holiness brings life. Our condition is very different from God. We are sinful men while He is so holy. That is why it is fitting for us to conquer ourselves and position ourselves as helpless people before Him.
b. Light is not sought or visited but trusted (vv. 25-29).
Jesus only said "I am the light of the world" but responded immediately with many arguments by the Pharisees who didn’t believe Him, but were distrustful and suspicious / a priori towards Jesus instead. They accused Jesus of lying and about to commit suicide (John 8:13, 22).
Introspection: Does not the existence of the Pharisees represent our attitude towards the Word of God that we hear? We should respond to God's Word with faith, not doubt or suspect it. He wants us to guarantee His Word without arguing as much as the Pharisees did. He is not sought (because He is looking for us) but is believed because He is the only one who deserves to be trusted and relied upon.
2. Light is declared over a dark world (vv. 12-20).
a. "I am the light of the world" is declared as existence (synonymous with the Greek understanding: Ego Emi) that Jesus already exists in eternity and now comes to this world which is in the dark. This has nothing to do with the time (chronology) when He began to be the light of the world. Besides, existence also speaks of exclusivity that Jesus is the only light of the world.
What is the difference between Jesus – the light of the world – and other bright objects (sun, moon, stars and electric lumens)? The sun, moon, stars and electric lumens can only illuminate the physical darkness of a place and the time of its irradiation may not be the same because of the difference in time and place in the hemisphere. For example: the sun shines in Indonesia at 7:00 in the morning while America is still in the dark at night. Also the electric lumen can be extinguished at any time due to interference / damage to the power line. It’s far different from the light of Jesus who was able to penetrate the hearts and minds of dark people. For example: to people who behave in certain ways we say that they are dark, their minds and hearts are dark.
Application: Only Jesus can illuminate the darkness of married life and of work like corruption, stealing, etc. The miraculous light of Jesus always lights up the darkness of the hearts and minds of men and the light of His Word has the power to solve all the problems of life that we face. All we have to do is to believe in His living word.
b. "I am the light of the world" was declared as a solution to counter the "light" created by the scribes and Pharisees when facing adulterous women (John 8: 1-11). It turns out that their "light" is not intact because it only illuminates one part so that there is an imbalance between judgment and forgiveness of sins – incompatibility between justice and the love of God.
The Pharisees and the scribes brought the solution "stoned to death" but Jesus gave another solution, namely forgiveness of sins. He reminded them not to judge according to human standards. Actually they did not use the strong law to sentence the adulterous woman to death because there were no other witnesses (the man who committed adultery must have been arrested, too); moreover, the case had not been tried in a religious court.
c. "I am the light of the world" declared by Jesus with the aim:
• Giving a way of life to the adulterous women through the remission of sins. The stoning death penalty only resulted in the death of the woman in her sin. In fact this woman had already been subjected to severe punishment by being dragged and humiliated in public, she desperately needed forgiveness. (The power of forgiveness is stronger than judgment especially when human judgment is not in accordance with the truth).
The scribes and Pharisees must have prepared stones to punish by stoning the adulterous woman. Doesn't this include premeditated murder for preparing a tool to kill someone?
But Jesus calmly gave a solution, "Whoever among you does not sin, let him first throw a stone at her." Obviously, Jesus did not negate punishment but judgment must be decided by "innocent people". Is not in the law, the decision to stone is God's decision not Moses's (Leviticus 20:10)?
Indeed, this adulterous woman deserved to be punished but Jesus needed to help her first so that there would be a balance between justice and God's love. Do not merely prioritize punishment because until now it is not clear who the man who committed adultery with her.
• Giving people a way of life (v. 12a).
After finishing the adultery case, Jesus told the crowd, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but he will have the light of life."
It seems that the truth determined by the majority of the number (Pharisees and experts in the Law) is always regarded as absolute truth and the crowd went along to stone the adulterous woman. For this reason, Jesus made it clear to them to follow Him to have the light of life.
Introspection: Don't many people claim to be Christian because they join in but aren't serious about wanting to know God more deeply?
• Giving the Pharisees a way of life (vv. 13-20).
Question: Where is the most unfair place in the world? It turns out that in court injustice exists. Also who is the least spiritual person in the world? It is precisely the clergy when he does not behaves spiritually. Be aware, God's servants also have the potential not to live spiritually; therefore they also need the light of Jesus. Didn't Jesus condemn the attitude of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees to repentance (Matthew 23)?
Anyone of us regardless of his position and background (clergy, scientists, lay people, etc.) desperately needs the light of Jesus who is able to illuminate the darkness of our hearts and minds to move from life to death to the eternal life promised by Him. Don't doubt every word of His Word but accept humbly and faithfully so that our lives will be changed from day to day to perfection as He wishes. Amen.
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