The Light of the World

Speaker A: 00:00:05

00:00 — [COLD OPEN] Fulfilling the Promise

And so here Jesus acts in compassion toward a man in need, and by doing so, literally fulfills His promise that if anyone follows Him, that person will no longer walk in darkness.

[Theme Music Intro]

The Deep Waters Way: Where scripture, theology, and transformation meet.

00:20 — Introduction: The Light of Sukkot

How would it make you feel if someone claimed to be the fulfillment of everything you had just spent the last week celebrating? Would it change the way you feel if you knew there was documented support for their claim?

That's exactly what happened when Jesus proclaimed in the temple that He was the light of the world. In John 7, we read about Jesus going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. In Hebrew, it is called Sukkot, and it was one of the three pilgrimage festivals that required a trip to Jerusalem.

Sukkot is celebrated in the fall, and interestingly, at the time this episode is initially being released, it will begin in just a few days.

So what does Sukkot celebrate and where is it described in the Bible? Let's start with that second one. There are actually two places. Exodus 23 calls for a celebration of in-gathering, that is the fall harvest. Leviticus 23 then specifies the starting date and the preparation of booths that the festival is named for. So from that information, we see that Sukkot is intended to be a festival of thanks to God for the harvest, and also a remembrance of Israel's time in the wilderness after the Exodus.

In fact, in Leviticus 23, where the booths or tabernacles are called for, God specifically says it is to remind the nation of when He caused them to live in booths in the wilderness. To this day, that is still part of the celebration. Families will build enclosures topped with thatch or branches and eat, and even in some cases sleep, in them throughout the week-long celebration.

Now, you may ask, what does this have to do with Jesus? I promise we'll get to that, but first, I'm Ray and this is The Deep Waters Way. If this is your first time listening, welcome. And if not, welcome back. Thank you for choosing to join me on this journey into a deeper relationship with God. It is my hope that through this, we both grow closer to Him and have a better understanding of what it means to be God's people. If that sounds like what you're looking for, do me a favor and follow or subscribe wherever you're listening so that you never miss an episode.

Now, grab a cup of coffee or hot tea and settle in for the journey. It's time to slip the moorings and head for the deep waters.

03:40 — The Backdrop of John 8:12: The Four Lamp-stands

Last week, we began looking at the predicate I AM statements of Jesus that we find in the Gospel of John. These are the seven statements where Jesus used I AM with a predicate noun phrase that gives details about who He is and how He interacts with us. In the last episode, we started with "I am the bread of life" and talked about how Jesus fulfills the symbol of manna in the wilderness. Today we're looking at "I am the light of the world."

That statement by Jesus is recorded for us in John 8:12 and, as I mentioned in the introduction, occurs in the days immediately after the end of the Feast of Booths or Sukkot. This is an important detail because by Jesus's time, the celebration had evolved to include an increased use of lights and lamps, including four 75-foot-tall lamp-stands in the temple courts with four branches on each lamp-stand. These large, and at the time extinguished, lamps could have provided—and probably did provide—the backdrop for Jesus's statement. That means this isn't just a random statement dropped out of nowhere. It well could have been inspired by the lamp-stands still occupying the courtyard.

This possibility is made all the more real when you consider that at the end of chapter 7, on the last day of the festival, Jesus made the statement that if anyone who is thirsty should come to Him and drink, and for anyone who believes in Him, rivers of living water would flow from them. What about this statement makes the lamps the likely backdrop of the "light of the world" declaration? Well, John tells us it was made on the last day of the festival. That day included an elaborate water-pouring ceremony thanking God for the coming winter rains. Now, since Jesus used that ceremony as a backdrop for the living water statement, why wouldn't He also use the lamps when saying He is the light of the world?

06:50 — Light as Presence, Protection, and Provision

But why the emphasis on light? What does light symbolize that God's people would come to use it as part of their celebration of in-gathering and remembrance of their time in the wilderness?

The light is a symbol of God's presence, protection, and provision during that time in the wilderness. Exodus 40 tells us that after the tabernacle had been constructed and assembled, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle throughout the day, and at night, fire was in it in the sight of all Israel. Throughout scripture, light has been used to describe the presence of God, just like there in Exodus 40. One other prominent example is in 2 Samuel 22. Recorded there, we have a psalm of David. And right in the middle of that song of deliverance, David tells God, "You are my lamp, O LORD." Psalm 27:1 says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation." And Psalm 119 calls God's word "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

But you say, "Those are psalms. They're songs written to God and about God by people." Okay, what does God say about Himself then as light? In Isaiah 9:2, in speaking of the coming Messiah, God says, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone." And then again in Isaiah 49:6, God says to the Messiah, "I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Now, that's an interesting verse because it's actually that verse that Simeon references when Joseph and Mary bring Jesus as a baby to the temple.

Okay, you say, "But that's the Messiah, not God." Well, not so fast. Remember, just a few weeks ago, we looked at this: the Messiah is clearly treated by scripture as God. He's not the Father, but He is nonetheless God. And that is the reason light is so often attributed to Him—He shines with the radiance of God's glory.

And now in the temple, in the shadow of those 75-foot-tall lampstands that for the last week have made the temple light up in a magnificent way, Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world." This is a bold declaration of Jesus actually saying He is the Messiah and bringing the light of God into the world. And with that light comes the presence of God in our midst—Immanuel, God with us.

10:15 — Following the True Light vs. Counterfeit Lights

And where God's presence is, you can also find His active protection and provision. Jesus continues His statement about being the light of the world, saying, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." If you've ever stubbed your toe in the dark, you readily understand light as protection. Now, I will grant you that is a light-hearted analogy, but hopefully it makes the point. The glory and light of God's presence keeps us from walking through life in darkness. It opens our eyes and illuminates our minds and our spirits.

Last week, we talked briefly about chasing after and consuming counterfeit or substitute bread. The same thing can be said for light. We can follow false lights. The Bible lays out a few: divination, consulting with spirits, and following false gods. We could easily add astrology and numerous other spiritual practices that ultimately will lead us away from God. When we follow Jesus, however, we are assured that we are following the true light. And like Psalm 119 says, His word becomes a light to our way.

Not only that, though—the ways of darkness no longer have a hold on us. We walk in the light because we are free from the law of sin and death. As we follow Jesus, we no longer follow the way we used to live and the darkness that came with it. And there is the implication here of belief and obedience, of becoming disciples and following and learning from the Master. By following Him, we are led out of the darkness that once ruled our lives and into His glorious light.

If you stop and think about the wilderness experience, you can see this coming out as well. In the wilderness, not only did the cloud and fire cover and occupy the tabernacle, it served as the guide for the people. It was the physical manifestation of the presence of God that literally led the people through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

And with that presence and protection came the provision of everything Israel needed. While in the wilderness, God provided both food and water for the people. In a couple of dramatic instances, God brought water from a rock. And on one occasion, He healed a bitter spring so they could drink the water. And the food came through manna and quail. Earlier still, we see God's protection where He parts the Red Sea so that the people could escape from their Egyptian pursuers.

And then we have Jesus telling us that God sees and knows each and every one of us. In the Sermon on the Mount, He makes the comparison between sparrows and people and notes how much more valuable people are to God. He says that we don't have to chase after necessities, but that God will provide for us when we seek first His kingdom. Now, that doesn't mean that we will never experience hard times or that we don't have to work for what we need. It does, however, mean that when we order our priorities according to God's word, everything else falls into place.

14:50 — The Confrontation & The Sign of Healing (John 9)

And then all of this is bound up in that declaration made in the shadow of the lampstands used for Sukkot. It's no wonder that the Pharisees immediately challenge Jesus here. The discussion that follows becomes one of the most direct confrontations Jesus has with the Pharisees. It also provides the most explicit statement in John from Jesus about His identity, which then results in the Pharisees wanting to stone Him for blasphemy.

But Jesus leaves the temple area, and on the way out, He encounters a blind man. What follows is a situation almost identical to the scene in Mark 2, where four men lower a paralytic man through the roof of a house. There Jesus declares the man's sins are forgiven, and then in order to show that He has the authority to make such a statement, He heals the man.

Here's what we see then: when Jesus and His disciples leave the temple, they see a man born blind. The disciples focus on the cause, the why. Jesus corrects their theological reasoning, saying, "It is so the works of God can be displayed in him." He then goes on to say, "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

We could get into a discussion here about what Jesus meant about working during the day and the coming night, or we could even discuss the "as long as I am in the world." But what I want you to see is the repetition of "I am the light of the world" and the healing that follows. Just as in Mark, that healing stands as a witness to Jesus's words in the temple there.

Immediately after He declares that He is the light of the world, the Pharisees essentially tell Him He can't testify about Himself. They basically say, "You can say whatever you want about yourself, it doesn't make it true." Then His pointed claim to be God is rejected as well. And so here, Jesus acts in compassion toward a man in need, and by doing so, literally fulfills His promise that if anyone follows Him, that person will no longer walk in darkness—by healing the man born blind.

18:30 — Reflecting the Light: Moses & Revelation 21–22

There's something else here that we need to address in John. Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus declared that He is the light of the world. However, in Matthew 5, during the Sermon on the Mount near the beginning of Jesus's ministry, He told His followers, "You are the light of the world." How do we make sense of these two seemingly opposite ideas? Either Jesus is the light of the world, or His followers are. Well, it's simple really: Jesus is the light of the world. He is the one who fulfills all of the messianic and divine statements about light that we find throughout the Bible. You and I are His followers; that means, though, that we are walking in the light.

Let's back up though, because I think there is a scene in the Old Testament that perfectly shows us how these two things are both true. We've already seen how the glory of God filled the tabernacle once it was completed. Exodus also tells us that when Moses would go into the tabernacle to meet with God, afterwards his face would shine because it was reflecting the light of God's glory. You and I are just like Moses. When we follow Jesus and walk in the light, it ought to show in our lives. There ought to be a visible difference in us when people look at us—not because we are somehow special, but because our lives are reflecting the light of God's glory into the world.

So far, we've seen Old Testament examples identifying God as light. We've seen the Messiah as light. And we've seen the backdrop of Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, for Jesus declaring that He is the light of the world. But there's one more thing I want you to see. Isaiah 60 addresses the future glory awaiting Israel. And towards the end of the chapter, we read this:

"The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended."

Now, if that sounds familiar, it should. It is almost identical to what John tells us in Revelation 21 and 22 about the New Jerusalem, where there is no need for sun or moon because the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

21:40 — Conclusion & Call to Transformation

Are you living in the light? Are you following Jesus and allowing His light to be reflected in your life?

Thank you for joining me today. I hope you found this episode informative or encouraging. Most of all, I hope it helps deepen your relationship with God. I would ask you to do me two favors. First, would you pray for me and for this podcast? Second, if you enjoy this content, please share it with someone you know. Those things are the absolute best ways you can help this show to grow.

Now, it's time to slip the moorings and head for the deep waters.

The Deep Waters Way: Where scripture, theology, and transformation meet.