John
8:12-20
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light
of life." 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, "You are testifying on
your own behalf; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered,
"Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know
where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come
from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one. 16
Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge,
but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the
testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the
Father who sent me testifies on my behalf." 19 Then they said 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 He spoke
these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one
arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Recently, it has occurred to me that we live in a culture
dominated by sound-bites. In the never-ending news cycle a word or phrase
spoken by a celebrity or politician during a speech or an interview can be
hashed and rehashed over and over again until we associate his or her complete
ideology with that singular phrase. Advertisers spend millions of dollars to create
and print slogans or write quick jingles that are designed to stick in our
minds, words that not only seek to inform us about a product, but attempt to
persuade us to buy it. Sound-bites even dominate our ways of communicating:
text messaging, with its limited number of characters per text, is quickly
becoming the most popular form of communication among young people, and social
networking sites like Facebook and Twitter limit one’s thoughts and opinions to
status updates and 140-character “tweets.” Perhaps it is the collective reality
of an ever-shrinking attention span, or perhaps it is necessary in a fast-paced
world that doesn’t seem to be slowing down, but we do seem to be in the midst
of a culture dominated by the sound-bite.
Of course, this catchphrase-driven phenomenon is not
exclusive to the worlds of politics, advertising, or the internet. No, in fact
it seems that our modern, Christian culture is tailor-made for sound-bites:
pastors have their own catchphrases they like to use when preaching or
counseling; we have bumper stickers with abbreviated Bible verses scrawled on
them; one can even buy jewelry with slogans and mnemonic abbreviations
(remember WWJD bracelets?) to show the world you’re that kind of Christian. I believe, however, that perhaps the most
troubling evidence of our faith being driven by the sound-bite comes in the
form of what is often called proof-texting. Proof-texting is when someone takes
a verse or passage of the Bible out of its context in order to prove a point.
It isn’t always done maliciously, but it is almost always done poorly. Whether
it is proof-texting, jewelry, or bumper stickers, it seems that modern
Christianity is custom-made for the sound-bite.
I suppose one could make the argument that the “I am”
statements in the fourth gospel would make for seven, wonderful sound-bites. They
are clean, crisp, uniform statements made by Jesus himself. They are
straight-to-the-point and complete with wonderful images of bread, light,
vines, and shepherds. However, we should not be so quick to fall into the trap
of simply taking these “I am” statements and running out to get them tattooed
on our arms or stitched on some throw pillows. These words of Jesus, like all the
words of Scripture, are made clearer and even more powerful if we allow them to
speak to us from their context. After all, as we saw last week, Jesus didn’t
just randomly choose a time and a place to say to an anonymous crowd, “I am the
Bread of Life…” Jesus spoke those words after
having recently broken enough bread to feed thousands and after having a conversation about manna—the bread that came from
heaven for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. When he said “I
am the Bread of Life” it had a deeper meaning for those who had just witnessed
his actions in the feeding of the five thousand.
The same is true of our text this morning and Jesus’
statement in verse 12: "I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
On its own, this is quite a powerful statement, rich with all sorts of
symbolism and meaning. Jesus’ words here, however, do not come to us as if they
were printed on a tiny strip of paper in an after-dinner fortune cookie. In
fact, John gives us some context for Jesus’ words here in verse 20: “He spoke these words while he was teaching
in the treasury of the temple…”
Now here’s where those wonderful maps in the back of some
of our Bibles come in handy. The temple of Jesus’ day was Herod’s temple—an
extravagant complex that was said to shine so brilliantly in the sun that it
could be seen miles away from Jerusalem. Herod’s temple was more than just a
building; it was an enormous religious center, divided into several sections.
Just inside the first wall was the court of the Gentiles: anyone could be in
this area, but Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) cold go no further. Through the next
set of gates Jewish worshippers would enter the court of the women: Jewish men
and women were permitted into this area, but women could go no further[1]. It was here, in the court
of the women, where the temple treasury was located, so when John tells us that
Jesus was teaching in the treasury of the temple, we can safely assume that he
is speaking to Jews who have come into the temple to worship. But the location
of Jesus’ teaching isn’t all that John tells us.
Back in chapter seven, John tells us in verse two: “Now the Jewish festival of
Booths was near.” Now, I understand as Baptist Christians living in
Alabama in the twenty-first century the ancient Jewish festivals may be a bit
lost on us. We’re somewhat familiar with the festival of Passover; most of us
have seen the Cecil B. Demille epic The
Ten Commandments, and we still carry a bit of the traditions of Passover in
our observance of the Lord’s Supper. When it comes to the other festivals of
Judaism, however, we’re not as familiar. The festival of Booths (or the
festival of Tabernacles) was originally a harvest festival that recalled God’s
provision for the people of Israel during their wandering in the wilderness
after the exodus from Egypt. The festival lasted for seven days with an eighth
and final day of great celebration. The festival was so popular among the
Jewish people that it was simply known as “the Feast,” and it came to have an
intense association with eschatological hope.[2] As if this electric
atmosphere of hope and anticipation were not enough to give Jesus’ words
meaning, what took place during the festival would have served as a remarkably
powerful image for those who heard Jesus proclaim, “I am the light of the
world.”
During each night of the festival, four giant lamps were
positioned in the court of the women (you know, that place where Jesus was
teaching by the treasury…), golden bowls of oil were placed on these lamps,
while wicks made from the discarded clothes of the priests were lit. People
would celebrate, sing, and dance by the light of these lamps all night long; it
was said that the light would cover all of Jerusalem. The light served as a
reminder of the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness. When
the night was over and the light of the lamps were burning out, two priests
would come down the steps of the court of the women, turn towards the Temple
and say, “Our fathers who were in this place turned their backs to the temple
of God and their faces eastward and threw themselves down eastward before the
sun; but we direct our eyes to Yahweh.”[3] With the celebration of
Booths/Tabernacles, the Jewish faithful were proclaiming their trust in God as
the one true God—the light from the lamps reminding them of His presence even
in the darkness of night.
It was in this context that Jesus speaks the words in verse 12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness but will have the light of life.” Is it any wonder that, in
perhaps the shadow of those smoldering lamps, the Pharisees say to Jesus, "You
are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid"? Of
course they’d want to challenge such a statement! While it was common in those
days to call the Torah, the Temple, Moses, or even some of the more popular
prophets and rabbis “the light of the world,” for Jesus to make such a claim in
close context with the festival of Booths was too much. Where did he get off
making such a radical pronouncement of self-identity?! “I am the light of the
world”? “Don’t you get it Jesus? This lamp, this festival, they remind us that
God, YHWH, is the light of the world. Where do you get off making such a claim
without any further testimony?”
Where did Jesus get off making such a claim? He responds
to the Pharisees accusations in verses
fourteen and following: "Even if I
testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have
come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where
I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do
judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the
Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two
witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me
testifies on my behalf." In other words, Jesus says that his words
have validity because God the Father testifies as his required second witness.
The Pharisees, of course, misunderstood what Jesus was
saying. They ask him in verse 19, “Where is your Father?” They think
Jesus is referring to an earthly man, perhaps a man of authority, someone they
would recognize or someone they could ridicule for Jesus’ claim. Perhaps they
were even attempting to sting Jesus a little; after all, the father he knew on
this earth, Joseph, is nowhere to be seen in the gospels after the nativity.
Yet Jesus responds to their question "You know neither me nor my Father. If
you knew me, you would know my Father also." They completely miss
it! With all the show, all the celebration of the recent festival of Booths,
with all their knowledge of the Law and the Prophets, these Pharisees still
miss it. They are still in the dark!
"I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
Just as the light from the lamps lit the night during the festival of Booths, just
as the pillar of fire lit the way during the night for those wilderness
wandering Israelites, Jesus, the Light of the World, lights the way through the
darkness that engulfs this world. He lights the way through the dark nights of
grief. He lights the way through the dark valleys of depression. He lights the
way through the enveloping darkness of sin, revealing the way of redemption.
Jesus is the light of the world, and whoever follows him will never walk in
darkness but will have the light of life. The Almighty God has testified to the
power of Christ. He has testified to his power by raising him from the dead,
and He has testified to his power by granting salvation to those who seek to
follow the Light of the world, those who seek to be freed from the darkness.
Are you walking in darkness today? Christ, the great I
am, the light of the world, calls you to come and follow him. May you hear his
call today and begin the journey following him, out of darkness and into the
light of life.
Let us pray…
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