Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
When sin entered the world, it corrupted the world and everything in it. Suddenly, sickness, sadness, disease, broken relationships, and darkness overtook this world. We were in desperate need of hope. We needed a rescuer. We needed Jesus. You see, when Jesus came, He brought hope to a world full of darkness. He brought life. Those who reject him and live for this world will continue to live in darkness. Those who place their faith in Him, however, no longer have to live in darkness but can live in the light of Christ.
Jesus explained that all who follow Him can live in the light rather than in this dark world in John 8. He said to a listening crowd one day, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (verse 12). According to Jesus in this passage of Scripture, He is “the light of the world.” He is the light that this dark, dark world is seeking. He is the hope for humanity. When we follow Him, we will walk in His light, rather than the darkness and emptiness of this world. We will find purpose, meaning, and satisfaction. Those who do not follow Him, however, are stuck in the darkness of this world. They are stuck in the futile search for purpose, light, and meaning from this world that can never satisfy their hearts that are longing for the light of Christ.
This teaching found in John 8 is not the only time Jesus taught about light. You see, He explained that when we follow Him and His light, we are the light of the world, God’s ambassadors to spread His light and hope. He said as He taught a crowd in Matthew 5 one day, “You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden” (verse 15). Then, He commanded His followers to shine His light as He said, “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (verse 16). If we live in and follow His light, it stands to reason that His light would shine through us, pointing everyone around us straight to Him.
Have you been living for the things of this world, overcome by the darkness all around you? I urge you today, friend, to look to Christ. Look to the light and hope He brings, and follow His light by spending time with Him and obeying Scripture. Shine His light to those around you so that everyone you interact with will be pointed straight to Him.
Who do you know who needs the hope of Christ today? Spend the next few minutes praying for them. Thank God for the light Christ brings, and commit to following Him. Then, pray for the person in your life who needs that light of Christ. Pray that Christ would make Himself known to them and that they would come to know Him, walking in His light instead of the darkness of this world.
“God, You are the light of the world. I praise You for…”
John 8:1-21
1 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
11 “No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
13 The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid.”
14 Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15 You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. 16 And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”
19 “Where is your father?” they asked.
Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, because his time had not yet come.
21 Later Jesus said to them again, “I am going away. You will search for me but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.”
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