| “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” – John 8:12 |
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| I AM the LIGHT for the WHOLE WORLD – Jesus Throughout the Gospel of John, we find John telling us WHO JESUS IS. This starts in John 1 where He is the Word and continues in chapter 1 where John the Baptist proclaims that Jesus is the Lamb of God. As one continues reading through the Book of John one will discover that Jesus is the Water of Life and He is the Bread of life. He is the Door to salvation. He is the good Shepherd. He is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the Vine. Here in our verse to consider He is the Light of the world. Without LIGHT, there is no life. LIGHT is tied to having LIFE! Jesus tells us by describing Himself as the LIGHT that He is the provider of life. Please note that as Jesus describes Himself here as LIGHT, He says “of the world.” A. T. Robertson writes that Jesus was at the feast of Tabernacles in the Court of the Women. In this court, there was a brilliant candelabra and there was the memory of the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. With this setting, Jesus makes this supreme and exclusive claim of Him being the LIGHT of the WHOLE WORLD, a world of Jews and of Gentiles. He is the LIGHT to and for everyone. As we DATE this aspect of one of the great I AM statements of Jesus, ponder just how important it is to have LIGHT. Consider it against the alternative of DARKNESS. DARKNESS is associated with DANGER, and it brings DESTRUCTION. Recall the difference between light and darkness based on how one lives as taught in Proverbs 4. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19) Even with the destruction that comes with darkness, we find ourselves perplexed at how many reject the LIGHT in order to continue to live in DARKNESS. Jesus said, “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. “John 3:19 Have you made the turn from DARKNESS to LIGHT as spoken of in Ephesians 5:8; “For you were once darkness, BUT now you are light in the Lord?” Do you have a story of being changed as Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light?“ As we consider Jesus as the Light of the world we must not forget that He now expects us to not only walk in the light but be the light to the world. See Matthew 5:14-16. Our verse to DATE the Word on August 12 (8/12) is John 8:12. It says, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Continue Strong walking in the LIGHT And remember to DATE the Word |