Jesus Offered Light

What Did Jesus Do?

“Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8.12

Funny how some people are so sure they know more about us than we know about ourselves. I mean, the kind of folks who size us up and pass judgment on us, based entirely on opinions, folks who simply don't want to hear the truth. Jesus was always encountering these kinds of people, people who rather liked keeping themselves in the dark, so to speak. Nevertheless, Jesus offered light.

Though many expressed interest in knowing Jesus—who was he, where did he come from—it seemed that every time Jesus gave them an answer they insisted on arguing with him about it! This is clearly and amply illustrated in John's gospel, where we find the Lord making six “I Am” statements about himself (John 6.35; 8.12; 10.11; 11.25; 14.6; 15.1), which typically resulted in contentious debate, boiling anger, and even murderous outrage. Some even picked up stones to stone Jesus to death (see John 10.31).

For some people, perhaps even for many, the truth is so painful that they will refuse it, even resist it violently, rather than accept it. You would think that anyone living in darkness would welcome light into their lives. But coming out of darkness into light is painful, especially when the darkness is employed to try and conceal one's evil and sin. And so, many simply choose the darkness over the light (see John 3.19). Some may even go so far as to start calling darkness “light.”

The legal ploy the Lord's opponents employed when he declared that he was “the light of the world,” was to disallow his bearing testimony for himself (John 8.13). People can make all kinds of claims about themselves, so it is not all that unreasonable to require that others submit testimony. The trouble was, Jesus was just about the only person sufficiently informed about who was the Son of God, and where he had come from, who had sent him, and where he was going, everyone else had little more than an opinion about him (John 8.14). And so, the Pharisees proceeded time and again to judge Jesus according to the flesh (John 18.15a), rather than the Spirit. But it is only the Spirit who reveals the truth about Jesus (see 1John 5.6).

For his part, Jesus was not about to get caught up in judging people (John 8.15b), though there will come a day...(see Matthew 25.31-46). But, if Jesus had indulged in judging people, even himself, his judgment of himself was acceptable, for it did not stand alone. The Father, who had sent the Son, also bore witness about him (John 8.18). Sadly, the Pharisees knew not the Father, making it impossible for them to know or to believe the Son (John 8.19). Thus, in their darkness, they could not apprehend the Light, though they did not cease to contend with the Light.

In a day that is certainly as dark as in the time of Jesus, and quite possibly darker, it is absolutely essential that the Lord's offer of light still be made to the world. Many will yet argue with the Light, refuse the Light, hate the Light, and even seek to kill those who are bearers of the Light. Even so, others now in darkness will yet be led by the Holy Spirit into the Light of life, if we but offer it to them. It turns out that “this little light” of ours, isn't so little after all, but is in fact the only light capable of illuminating the world, if we would just let it shine! That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4