The Light of the World

u003c!u002du002d wp:heading u002du002du003enu003ch2 class=u0022wp-block-headingu0022u003eIntroductionu003c/h2u003enu003c!u002du002d /wp:heading u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennOur lesson this week is the second lesson within the final unit of lesson of this quarter which, again, is titled – By His Teachings.  As we saw last week, we are tou003ca href=u0022https://newfoundfaith.org/the-bread-of-life/u0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022 data-type=u0022postu0022 data-id=u002210629u0022u003e live by every word of Godu003c/au003e.  When we live by His word, we will not be led astray.  In our lesson this week, Jesus backs up the fact that His word u003cemu003eis u003c/emu003ethe truth.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:heading u002du002du003enu003ch2 class=u0022wp-block-headingu0022u003eI am the Light of the Worldu003c/h2u003enu003c!u002du002d /wp:heading u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennOur lesson opens with Jesus proclaiming to the religious leaders, “I am the light of the world.  He who follows u003cemu003eMeu003c/emu003e shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (v.12).”  What a proclamation this is from Christ!nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:heading {u0022levelu0022:3} u002du002du003enu003ch3 class=u0022wp-block-headingu0022u003eThe truthu003c/h3u003enu003c!u002du002d /wp:heading u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennJohn opened his gospel speaking about Jesus being the Word of God (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 1:1u003c/au003e).  Afterwards, he then spoke about how John the Baptist bore witness of u003cemu003ethe Light u003c/emu003e— the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A7u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 1:7u003c/au003e).nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennWhenever I have preached or taught this scripture, I have always pointed out what light does.  Think about it for a moment, what does light do?  When you enter a dark room and turn the lights on, what does the light do?  It u003cemu003ereveals u003c/emu003eeverything in the room.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennOur lesson opens up in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths/Sukkot) celebration.  You may recall that this celebratory feast was a memorial celebration for the days of Israel dwelling in booths in the wilderness and how God brought them to the land of promise.  This celebration lasted for a full week and in our scripture today, Jesus had been teaching in the temple each day of the celebration.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennOn this particular day, midway through the week, Jesus went to the temple to teach and had special guests, the religious leaders.  The religious leaders came to Jesus with a woman that they had caught in the act of adultery, and they desired for Jesus to stone her (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A2-11u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 8:2-11u003c/au003e).nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennJesus said to them, that if any of them were without sin, they should cast the first stone.  None of them were without sin and so none of them could cast a stone.  I would point out to you that none of them could judge the woman with the judgment that they desired to.  However, because He was without sin, Jesus certainly could have cast a stone but as the Lord does, Jesus does — He was merciful.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennSo, when Jesus proclaimed to be the light of the world, afterwards, what truth did He reveal to them?  May I suggest to you that Jesus revealed that the Lord is a merciful and a forgiving God?  As I preached for a month and a half in my latest series of sermons, God loves us and is merciful; He loves us because He is faithful to Himself.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennIn this mercy, Jesus had said to the women, “Has no one condemned you?  Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”  The truth is that Jesus was not sent to our world, the first time around, to condemn the world but to u003cemu003esave u003c/emu003ethe world.  The truth is that whoever chooses to believe in Christ will not perish but have everlasting life (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A16-17u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 3:16-17u003c/au003e).nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:heading {u0022levelu0022:3} u002du002du003enu003ch3 class=u0022wp-block-headingu0022u003eDiscerning the truthu003c/h3u003enu003c!u002du002d /wp:heading u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennNow, the Pharisees, once again, did not like the authority by which Jesus spoke.  Jesus was saying to the people that His words were u003cemu003ethe u003c/emu003etruth, but the Pharisees said, “Your witness is not true (v.13).”  In the Pharisees’ mind, Jesus had nobody to back up His statements and because of this, His truth should be questioned or were simply not true.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennTheir thinking has always been the mindset of mankind.  If someone tells us about something that we did not see for ourselves, it is u003cemu003erare u003c/emu003ethat we will simply believe them.  You see, most of us want to see or hear something from the source and if that is not possible, we would want someone to back up the u003cemu003esecond-hand u003c/emu003estory.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennJesus, in a manner of speaking, some could say was revealing to mankind what the Father gave to Him to reveal; so they may say He was giving second-hand information.  However, I would point out that Jesus u003cemu003eis u003c/emu003eGod manifested in the flesh.  Jesus, coming from eternity, was able to give first-hand information about eternity.  The problem for the religious leaders is that they could not accept Jesus being the Son of God, or God in the flesh.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennSo, as I just explained, we will see Jesus say to the Pharisees, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going (v.14).”nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennIf we think about this for a moment, it is not up to the person that gives any information to you to believe what they may have seen or heard.  You see, if I saw or heard something and I shared that information with you, u003cemu003eI know u003c/emu003ewhat I saw or heard with my eyes and ears.  The onus, therefore, is on u003cemu003eyou u003c/emu003eto either believe me or not.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennSo, Jesus essentially says to the Pharisees, and to the world as well, u003cemu003e‘I know what I have seen and you just have to believe Me or not.’  u003c/emu003eBut again, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees, the reason why they could not see the truth was because they were thinking u003cemu003eworldly u003c/emu003e(v.15).  The Pharisees craved to hold on to their power and this craving, along with the fact that they hated Jesus, blinded them from being able to discern the truth.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennIn order for you to see the truth of Christ, you cannot think worldly; worldly thinking is simply incapable of ever being able to know Christ because worldliness is u003cemu003econtrary u003c/emu003eto Him.  Again, as Paul stated to the Corinthians, in order for one to know that Jesus is Lord, they have to be led to this truth by the Holy Spirit (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Cor.+12%3A3u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003e1 Cor. 12:3u003c/au003e).  The Pharisees had the law and had they actually attempted to live in the truth of the Mosaic law, they would have recognized Christ right away.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:heading {u0022levelu0022:3} u002du002du003enu003ch3 class=u0022wp-block-headingu0022u003eJesus’ witnessesu003c/h3u003enu003c!u002du002d /wp:heading u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennThe Pharisees said that Jesus had nobody to prove that what He was saying was the truth, but Jesus said that He certainly did have one that could bear witness of Him.  Jesus said that His Father, who sent Him, was with Him and could bear witness of Him (vss.16-18).  The Pharisees, after hearing that, looked around and asked, “where is your Father?”nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennJesus responded to the Pharisees, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also (v.19).”  John writes that, at that time, the Pharisees did u003cemu003enothing u003c/emu003eto Jesus when He said that His Father is u003cemu003ethe u003c/emu003eFather (v.20).  I believe John makes this statement because in a few chapters prior, at another confrontation, the religious sought more to kill Jesus when He claimed to be the Son of the Father (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A16-17u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 5:16-17u003c/au003e).nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennNow, in the gospels, we will see Jesus speak more about His witnesses in greater detail where we see His witness is fourfold.  In John 5, we will see where Jesus said that John the Baptist gave witness of Him (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A33u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 5:33u003c/au003e).  Jesus said that He had even greater witnesses than John the Baptist and they are:  Himself and the works He did (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A36u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 5:36u003c/au003e); His Father (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A37u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 5:37u003c/au003e); the word of God – Scripture (u003ca href=u0022https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A38-39u0026amp;version=NKJVu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eJohn 5:38-39u003c/au003e).nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennThe reason why the religious leaders could not accept the witness of Christ is because they rejected the fourfold witness.  We will recall that religious leaders had John the Baptist arrested and killed.  The religious leaders had the law but they didn’t truly live by the law that God gave; they bent and twisted to something they could lord over.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennBy not truly living by the law, they were rejecting the Father which made it easier for them to reject the Father’s only begotten Son; this is why Jesus said that the Pharisees did not know the Father.  So, Jesus cried out, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  u003csupu003e u003c/supu003eAnd he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me (vss.44-45).”nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennThe concept of the Godhead was u003cemu003eforeign u003c/emu003eto the religious leaders and it was not one they were willing to accept.  The Godhead, we know, is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Some like to think of the Godhead as a hierarchy where one is over the other; they like to think of the Father being God only.  However, the truth of the matter is that all three persons are God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) and all three are equal to each other.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e u003c!u002du002d wp:paragraph u002du002du003ennJesus, again, stated that He came as a light into the world and that whoever believes in Him should not abide in darkness.  When you abide in the light of Christ, you are not u003cemu003eignorant u003c/emu003eto all that is around you because His light reveals all truth.  So, knowledge like the Godhead, is revealed and understood by those who abide in His light.  The truth His grace, mercy, forgiveness, u003cemu003eand u003c/emu003esalvation is also revealed to all who abide in the light of Christ.nnu003c!u002du002d /wp:paragraph u002du002du003e