Text: John 8:12-20
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
III - Who is Jesus?
In the movie "Independence Day" a massive space ship interposed itself between the sun and the earth. It covered the whole cinema screen and a massive shadow was cast over the planet. It made its way to Washington D.C. and two facts became clear: 1. It was quickly discovered that the aliens had one goal - to destroy and kill. 2. It became evident that we were contending with an alien force the likes of which we were not prepared to deal with. The best of human attempts to stop its power, its awesome arsenal, its defence mechanisms, were destroyed. A sense of despair penetrated the planet - a sense of despair that equalled the darkness created by the alien force. It is of course just a Hollywood movie. Yet it depicts for us a spiritual reality. And it is this: we are in the midst of a battle with a force that has one goal - to murder and destroy. And it is evident that we are dealing with a force that we are not, on our own, able to deal with. You and I are in a battle against all the forces of evil, against powers of wickedness and darkness. It is a force that is led by Satan himself. It is a scriptural truth that the Holy Spirit makes plain to us in Ephesians 6:12, "For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Now you don't know me well enough yet to know that I am NOT quick to label every trouble we face as demonic. There is some trouble in life for which we must take responsibility, because of our sin. There are times when we need to stop blaming Satan for our situation, especially as it involves our behaviour, and take some responsibility for it ourselves. But ultimately, let us recognize that we are involved in a battle of cosmic proportions for goodness, purity, holiness, and all that seeks to give life. When you became a Christian you gained millions of friends around the world who also call Jesus Christ Lord. But you also gained one enemy, the devil. So the Holy Spirit warns us in I Peter 5:8, "Be self-controlled, and alert. Your ENEMY the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (NIV) Let us also recognize that we are contending with a force the likes of which we are not prepared to deal with. Satan is stronger than we are, as strong as a roaring lion (I Peter 5:8). In some respects he is more clever than we are, a master at deceiving and telling lies (John 8:42-45; 2 Corinthians 2:11). He is more powerful than we are, able to imitate an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). On our own we cannot fight Satan, let alone defeat him. He is an angel (Rev. 9:11), a fallen angel, but an angel nonetheless and since humanity has been created a little lower than the angels, on our own we cannot hope to defeat Satan. Now it would be easy to despair over our situation in this battle. The powers of darkness are so strong and so unrelenting. We think of our own puny strength and the massive power of the evil one and we could easily fall into despair. But then we must remember who leads us, who it is that battles for us and through us. We have learned during the past number of weeks that we are not alone. We have discovered that we are in Christ. Just as a branch is in the vine - so we are in Christ. His life now courses through our spiritual veins. We are in Christ and we know his protection even as a sheep knows the protection of a shepherd who lies down across the fold as a door. We are in Christ and no one can snatch us out of his hand; for the good shepherd cares for his sheep and will not abandon them when the wolf comes. We are in a battle but we do not fight this battle in our own strength, but in the authority and strength of Jesus Christ himself. He is our strength. We do not fight for victory but from a position of victory. Well then, who is this Jesus? He is the one who stands up in the midst of this dark world and, in opposition to the darkness, says, "I am the light of the world." This is a bold statement. It is equal to saying that he is God. For this metaphor is one that is used for God all through the Old Testament. Psalm 27:1 reads, "The Lord is my light and salvation." Isaiah 49:6 promises that the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, would be a "light for the Gentiles," that he would bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth. And of course you know how God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews as a pillar of fire - leading them through the wilderness - out of the slavery of Egypt. (Exodus 13:21-22) This is what Jesus is saying, "I am the light that your ancestors knew and looked for. I am the light of the world, who has come to lead you out of the slavery of sin and against the forces of the evil one. In the words of Isaiah, "To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." (Isaiah 42:7) (NIV) Let me ask you, when you think of Jesus how do you picture him? Do you recall those pictures from your Sunday School days - pictures of Jesus in white robes with a blue sash over one shoulder? Do you see him as "gentle Jesus, meek and mild"? I wonder if we get too much of that - and if for many of us Jesus has become pale, anaemic, namby-pamby. That is not the picture Scripture paints for us. Jesus is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is the light of the world who has come to take on all the forces of darkness - he is not some pale Galilean. He is the one in whom lies all authority. This is the one in whom we put our trust, the one with all authority. And this is a position of victory. Victory does not come from power but from authority. Power and authority are two different things. Power expresses itself through force, authority expresses itself through sacrifice, mercy and love. In the movie "Gladiator" we have a picture of the difference between the two. There is Caesar, powerful, everyone does what he wants. But ruthless, murdering, everyone cowers in fear of him. Here is the gladiator, does he have power? No. He is told when to eat, when to sleep; he is chained and treated as a slave. No power. But he does have authority. People rally to his call; they follow his word; they do what he asks - why? Because he has authority. How does he gain that authority? He gives of himself; he practises mercy; he risks his life for another. He has authority. And in the end? Does power win? No. Authority wins.1 If there is one message of the gospel it is that you cannot keep love down, it has a nasty habit of rising again. Satan has power, but Jesus Christ has authority. There is a difference between power and authority. Power operates from a basis of force. Authority operates from mercy, love, and grace. Jesus Christ is the one with authority. And it is his authority that is questioned all through our text today. This is the question that the Pharisees ask him again and again and again in our text. On what authority do you do, and say, these things? On what authority do you tell the woman caught in adultery (in the first part of chapter 8) that no one accuses her? On what authority do you heal? On what authority do you say that you are the light of the world? They say to him in verse 13, "You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid". In other words, by what authority do you say these things? And what follows is a seemingly convoluted conversation. But understand that the Pharisees are not really interested in the truth; they are interested in trapping Jesus. In fact, our Lord tells us later in the chapter, in verse 44 - he says to them, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!" Yet Jesus displays a high level of patience with their questioning. They ask, what authority does Jesus have? Now, when I go to a Weall and Cullen store, I get a discount, and when I check out it is inevitable that the 18-year-old sales clerk does not know who I am. I have to tell her, "I get a percentage off because I'm a Cullen." And she looks at me with this look of disbelief and she says, "Yeah right. How do I know you are telling the truth?" And I could respond, "I know it's true - that's one witness you can trust - and my dad knows it's true. Ask him and he'll tell you." Before I got married I could say, "I live with him, in fact he sent me to get this stuff for him." This is how Jesus responds to his questioners. He responds in verses 14 through 18 saying, "I know you could question my testimony since I am testifying on my own behalf. But that doesn't discount the validity and truth of my testimony. I know where I've come from, and I know where I'm going and you have never been there. And besides that I am not alone, my Father also testifies to who I am - so that makes two of us - we're in agreement. And that is legally binding. My witness and my father's witness." (paraphrased) In verse 19 the Pharisees then ask him, "Where is your father?" So, I'm at the sales desk with this clerk, and she asks me, "Where is your father." And I could say, "Well if you really knew me, if you really talked with me and walked with me for a while, you would discover that I am very much like my dad. You would discover that I sometimes think like him, talk like him, and walk like him." This is how Jesus responds - but where I had to temper my answer to say that I sometimes think, talk and walk like my father - Jesus doesn't do that at all. He says, "Obviously you don't know my father because if you did you would see him fully in me, his son." The interrogation continues with the Pharisees, not able to catch Jesus' meanings, and Jesus continuing to assert his authority, telling them that they are from two different places - he is from God, and they, well they have their minds on the things of this world. In verse 25 they ask again, "Who are you?" And Jesus says, I am only telling you what my Father has told me to say. And Jesus concludes in verses 28 to 30 saying, when I am lifted up, then you will realize who I am. When I get to the clerk at Weall and Cullen, I pull out of my wallet an identification card that clearly shows that I am who I say I am. It is signed by the boss and allows me to get my purchases. Jesus has an identification card - it is his crucifixion. And it is when we see him hanging on that cross that we see clearly, what is perhaps veiled in this conversation, that truly, this is the son of God. That all authority lies in his hand, and that he is the one sent from the Father in heaven to save us from the powers of darkness - to give us the light of life. Upon first read of this text it appears that the Pharisees have Jesus backed in a corner. It looks like they have the upper hand; they are riddling him with questions like an interrogating officer. But look at verse 20. Do you see who is in control? The text reads, "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." His hour had not yet come. Who was in control? The one who is in control now and who will be in control forever more. The one in whose hand lies all authority, Jesus our Lord. And, my friends, if you are in Christ, then you have been brought out of darkness into his marvellous light (I Peter 2:9) and you are battling the evil one from a position of victory and authority. I recently heard a grandfather tell of how he was in his backyard doing his gardening when his granddaughter came running from the front yard, running toward him in terror. And he thought, "What in the world?" And then he saw right behind her was a dog chasing her and now he could hear the dog barking and she was running and screaming and crying. The grandfather says, "She calls me poppy, so she was screaming, 'Poppy, poppy,' and she was terrified and she ran toward me and jumped up in my arms screaming, wrapped her arms around me screaming and the dog stopped as he got close to me. The dog kept barking and barking and barking and she was terrified and terrified and terrified. But after a few moments she looked up at me, and looked down at the dog, then looked up at me, then looked down at the dog, then looked up at me and this last time she looked down at the dog and stuck her tongue out and said, 'Nah, nah, nah.'" I ask you, where'd she get that authority from? How could she be running one minute and sticking her tongue out the next minute? It was not because of who she was, it was because of who she was with. When she got connected with her grandfather, that dog shrunk in size. And when you get connected with Jesus Christ, Satan shrinks in size. You know, people say this is a dark age. People say that 160 people in a Baptist church cannot alter the course of history. The evil is too big; the task for goodness and holiness too enormous; the powers of darkness are too strong. It's a dark age. And people say that this town cannot be impacted by the gospel. It's a dark age and they are saying our work places cannot be transformed by the power of the gospel. And I say, do you know who Jesus is? Are you connected to the one who is the light of the world? But we listen to other voices. It's a dark age; the church needs to retreat; it needs to recoup; it needs to practise restraint. We need to practise a fortress mentality so that once we get inside, hell cannot reach us. No, we have a victorious Saviour. He has been exalted and has won the victory. In his hands rest all dominion and authority. In him is the light of life - and, hear the good news - the light has shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. May we move forward in the strength and authority of his light.
Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - March 2001
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