Thursday, July 24, 2014
John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
LIGHT FOR OUR DARKNESS
When Jesus declared, "I AM the Light of the World," the setting and context could not have been more meaningful for a first century Jew. It happened at the peak of the celebration of the Festival of Booths -- that national "thanksgiving week" in which the people of Israel remembered the way God preserved their ancestors during those "tenting years" when they were on their way to the Land God had promised them.
As part of this festival there was a day in which dozens of oil lamps, many with multiple branches and bowls, were placed in every window and archway of the Temple. Since the Temple stood on one of the highest hills in Jerusalem, that night, viewed from the city below, the whole complex with its many courts and walls, windows and archways was aglow. The house of the Lord was filled with light, recalling vividly the "shekinah," the fiery cloudy pillar from the days of Moses. It was at the height of this celebration that Jesus stood up in a prominent place and declared: "I am the Light of the World."
We may not be Jews living in the first century, but we are part of this world. We may not use olive oil lamps in our homes, but we do know that being in the dark, literally or figuratively, can be dangerous. And we know that this is particularly true with respect to being in the dark about God and what sets us right with Him and gives us hope for heaven. Meanwhile, the Prince of darkness works daily to convince us that the "enlightened way" is to see ourselves and our life-choices as basically okay and acceptable to God. This kind of thinking is the worst sort of darkness and finally ends in the darkness that is total and eternal separation from God forever.
To us too Jesus says, "I AM the Light of the World." Through the forgiveness of sins He has purchased with his lifeblood, Jesus dispels the darkness of sin and death. The Father through the Spirit causes us to put our trust in the Son of God. He is the Light that leads us through life and through death to our promised home with God.
