I am the Light of the world

John 8:1-20 From the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

¹² 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.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” ¹⁹ So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” ²⁰ These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” There are many things in the kingdom of heaven which are paradoxes, opposite sides of truth. That is not the case though with light and darkness.  Light and darkness are incompatible. Something cannot be both light and dark. If we are following Jesus there is only one reason He will lead us into darkness, it is not to participate in darkness but rather as He says in Matthew 5:16, that we:    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

In today’s text, the final exchange between Jesus and the woman caught in adultery says:   “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”    Like Jesus, it is not our place to judge or condemn. In fact if we are following Jesus we will defend those who are being judged unfairly by the world. It is neither judgment, condemnation nor lack of love however to encourage someone to do what is best for them, to say as Jesus says: from now on sin no more. John 3:16-17 are some of the most familiar scripture verses concerning salvation, God’ love and grace.       For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.     Jesus did not come to condemn sinners, but neither did He come that sinners should remain unchanged. Jesus came to save the world from sin, not to sin. In verses 18-21 of John 3, Jesus continues saying:      “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

We need to be like Jesus. We do need to seek and save the lost. We need to understand and acknowledge though what that means. Here is what Jesus says about our relationship with the world in John 15:18-25:    “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’          Make no mistake if we are following Jesus we will probably neither be loved by sinners nor the religious. The religious will say of us as did Jesus that we associate with outcasts and sinners. But if we are living and walking in the light, even if we love unconditionally as Jesus did, many in the world will hate us. Light is offensive to darkness. The two cannot coexist and occupy the same place. Light dispels darkness. If we live and walk in the light others will see the light and choose light or darkness. Their choice, not our words or actions are their judgment.

One of the things that caused many people to miss Jesus when He came as Messiah was that they were seeking political freedom. They were looking for a political leader to free them. Jesus was not political. The freedom He brings is not political freedom it is spiritual freedom. Those today who are seeking political freedom will not find it in Jesus. That’s not to say that we should not seek leaders with good values and character, those who hate darkness and evil, but no political leader can bring us the peace and safety we have in Christ. On the other hand the fact that Jesus is not political, also means that He has never been or never will be politically correct. Jesus says:  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because  narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)   I am not saying that I have the answer, that I am walking perfectly on the narrow path, but this I do believe: the narrow gate will not be found by walking on the side of judgment and condemnation. It will not be found by walking on the path of political correctness, tolerance and inclusion. It also will not be found by straddling the fence or wavering between these. Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)  The narrow gate will only be found walking with Jesus, following Him, walking in love, grace, mercy and light.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You that in love You came as light. Not to judge or condemn but to save. Help me to walk both in love and in the light that others too may see the way.   Amen