Of All People

Recap

Last episode we traced light through the Bible — from Genesis, through the wilderness, through Isaiah's prophecy, all the way to Revelation. And we saw that light is really significant.

This episode we'll see the light arrive in person, so let’s focus in on the New Testament.

The Light Arrives

The light's arrival is announced in John 8, but first of all let’s notice the book of John. It’s written by one of Jesus’s disciples - John. He often referred to himself as the one Jesus loves. He was very secure in his identity and relationship with Jesus.

If we were to give John’s Gospel a focus, we’d probably say he writes to share who Jesus is. This makes sense, he seems to know Jesus very well. Whereas Matthew and Luke tend to focus on what Jesus said and Mark tends to focus on what Jesus did.

So John, focusing on who Jesus is, opens his account with this…when he mentions the Word that’s another way Jesus is referred to in the Bible - 

John 1:1-3 (NIV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

So John is calling back to Genesis. We have the old testament written down now split into chapters and verse numbers. So I know John is referring to Genesis 1:1 the opening of the Bible. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

But back then Genesis was just one long continuous scroll. It wasn’t split into verse numbers or chapters. So Instead of us saying go to Exodus 13:21, the passage about the pillar of fire, they’d have just said the first few words By day the Lord… and because the Jewish people back then learnt at least the five books of the Bible off by heart, they’d instantly have known the verse and carried it on… By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on the way.

So the hearers of John’s Gospel at the time, would have been transported right back to Genesis - In the beginning. But instead of God created, John switches to was the word. John wants the hearers to know that Jesus was there at the creation of the world. The Word was with God, the Word was God, and through him all things were made. And then he gets to the light bit.

John 1:4-5 (NIV)

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

So here we see, this light is linked with life, we know that already, it’s what God did first to kickstart creation, and it’s powerful - the darkness cannot overcome it. 

And remember we’ve seen that too (darkness cannot overcome it). God only has to speak, light is present, the darkness goes, there is no battle. 

So that’s how John opens up his book.

Then we get to John 8 the bit I wanted to zoom in on…

The Light is Announced

Jesus is teaching at the Festival of Tabernacles. This festival is celebrated around Autumn and is a 7 day festival where God is thanked for the harvest and Israel’s time in the wilderness is remembered.

During that time, the Illumination of the Temple Ceremony happened. Where huge oil fed candelabras lit the temple courts. 

It was to remind the people of the pillar of fire that guided Israel in the wilderness.

And it was said to be so bright that the night looked like day.

Does that sound a bit familiar? 

So it was right in the middle of this festival, can you imagine the huge lamps are lit, everyone can see clearly, they’re remembering God’s presence as he guided them in the wilderness - a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night - that Jesus says these words…

John 8:12 (NIV)

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Gasp!!!

Jesus is announcing himself as the light. 

Now, we already know this, I’ve just told you Jesus is the light, but for the people around him on this day this would have been a moment!

What a time to announce it. Jesus is basically saying “yeah, remember that pillar of fire your ancestors relied upon, I’m that for the world”.

It’s a major moment.

It’s a major moment for us too. Seriously good news. The light has arrived on earth in the form of Jesus. The one who guides, protects, brings life, reveals, brings truth. 

So what next?

Where is the Light Now?

If you know about Jesus, you’ll know that He gave his life, choosing to die on a cross for us, so that we could be made right with God and live with him forever.

But if Jesus no longer walks the earth in bodily form anymore, where’s the light gone?

Well Jesus is alive, so we still have Him as the light of the world. But, more practically, who is bringing this light to bear on the earth?

Jesus told us.

Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

You are the light of the world. 

All the people who Jesus had been talking to as he preached his sermon on the mount, the downtrodden and outcast who’d entered the Kingdom that He’s now made accessible, the ones trying hard to do their best and be good people, them too. 

Those people, the people he’d just called the salt of the earth - are also the light of the world.

If you know Jesus today, you are the light of the world too.

Can we stop to appreciate how big that is?

Jesus says in John at the festival, with the big lights shining, I am the light of the world.

And now he says to these some half decent and some pretty dodgy listeners - you are the light of the world.

That’s quite a responsibility.

But he doesn’t leave us alone in that responsibility, it isn’t like he passes the baton on and goes to chill.

It's probably best said that He didn't pass the torch, He passed the flame. If the torch is passed, the first person no longer has it, but if the flame is passed, both people have it, and the flame spreads, the original isn't diminished. That's what's happening here. Every person who knows Jesus becomes a new place where that same light is present in the world. The light is multiplied.

How Are We To Be The Light Of The World?

Well, notice that it’s an identity, something we are, not something we do.

How do we get that identity?

The Apostle Paul tells us in one of his letters to the church in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” 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.

It’s not something we do, but something that happens to us. As we accept Jesus and are made right with God, he makes his light shine in our hearts.

He says it a different way in his letter to the church at Ephesus.

Ephesians 5:8

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

The light is not our own. We are children of light. The light we shine is God’s light. This is a flawed example but bear with - kind of like how the moon has no light of its own but it still lights the night’s sky, it’s just reflecting the sun’s light. But instead of us just reflecting God’s light, we are filled with his light, filled with his Holy Spirit, and it’s that light that shines out of us.

Not our own light, His light. For He is Light. God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. It isn’t light is God. But God is light. We don’t worship light we worship God. God is many other things too. He is love, for example. But for now, the focus is light.

So if you know Jesus, you are the light of the world. Present tense.

Next episode we’ll look at what might be getting in the way of that light. For now, as always, let’s end with a question.

Question

Consider your life as a whole, where does the light seem to be coming through clearly?

Prayer

Jesus, you are the light of the world. And somehow you've said that we are too. Not because we're impressive or sorted or have it all together but because you've made your home in us. Help us to actually believe that today. Not just as a theological fact but as something that changes how we walk into rooms, how we show up for people, and how we live. In your precious name Jesus, amen.