“Again Jesus spoke
to them saying, ‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of
life.” –John
8:12 (ESV) “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.” –John 1: 4-5 “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the
world. He was in the world and the world
was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did
not receive Him. But to all who did
receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of
God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will
of man, but of God.” –John 1:9-13 (ESV).[Read John 8:12-20]
The occasion of Jesus announcing that He
is the light of the world came during the annual Festival of Tabernacles when
the Jewish people and leaders were assembled at the Temple in Jerusalem. The
festival was observed for eight days, about this time of year. It commemorated a joyful celebration of the
harvest but also remembered the time when the people dwelt in tents or
tabernacles during the years of wilderness wanderings. God had delivered them from those
hardships. Every night during the days
of the Festival, the priests would light four large candelabra in the court of
the women and these gave much light.
They reminded the people that God had led them with a pillar of fire by
night and a glowing cloud by day that had shown God’s direction, protection and
provision. They would sing and dance,
repeating assurances of God’s presence: “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm
27:1) or “Arise, shine, for your light
has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). In the
midst of the celebration of lights, Jesus stood and said, “I am the light of the world!” The
learned Jews among them should have known that Light was one of the names given to the Messiah. That was seen in the prophecy of Daniel 2:22:
“light dwells with Him” and in
Malachi 4:2: “But for you who revere My
name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.” Unfortunately, the Pharisees hearing
Jesus argued with Him and told Him that they did not believe His testimony,
that it was not true. Regardless of what
the Jewish leaders believed, they were standing there, observing and hearing
the very Light of the World as He sought to enlighten them. What a pity that they would not hear the
truth that the Light had been with God since the creation of the world. John would write about the Light at the
beginning of his gospel. Even at that
moment that true Light stood and taught among them.
Following the discourse with the Jewish
leaders, Jesus went outside the Temple courtyard and soon found a man blind
from birth. He told His disciples in the
presence of the blind man, “As long as I
am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). He then proceeded to restore sight to the
blind man, bringing the poor man from darkness to light. A discourse ensued between the healed blind
man and the Jews, but the man told the Lord he believed in him, praised Jesus
for restoring his sight and worshiped Him.
He had experienced the miracle of Light performed by the one Who is the
Light of the world.
James Hudson Taylor lived in Brighton,
England. He got a burden for the lost of
China, and arranged for a loan from his bank to start the China Inland Mission
in June of 1865. The mission work was
hard and tedious, but Taylor persisted in his mission “to open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to
release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness”(Isaiah 42:7). And
Jesus, the Light of the World, calls each of us
(as he did James Hudson Taylor) who have come to His light to be
light-bearers wherever we are: “Ye are the light of the world,” Jesus said as He called us. And our privilege is to follow Him and let
our lights shine where He has stationed us.
“Therefore, let your light so
shine!” Let us reflect the glory of the Father through the Light of His
Son. (Matthew 5:14-16).
