Hello everyone. We’re back again to continue our study on the Trinity. Over here, we had the Jehovah’s Witnesses come back again and got to discuss with them on the nature of Jesus further and I believe they are being quite stunned by the things we are bringing out. Pray for my roommate and I that we will be given wisdom to guide them out of the Watchtower and pray for them that the scales may be removed from their eyes and they will come to a knowledge of who Christ truly is and have forgiveness in him.
One point we brought out to the JWs is that when a feast was going on or when Jesus passed a temple or saw any event, he found a way to point to himself as a true fulfillment. Such is the case tonight for tonight, it is quite likely that the passage under discussion was when the Feast of Tabernacles was going on. It’s John 8:12. Let’s look at the text.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
There were two big aspects to the Feast of Tabernacles. One was water and the other was light. There was a candleabra that was lit during this feast and it would have been a reminder to the people. It was also lit in the Court of Women, which was the most populated part of the temple seeing as more people had access to it.
Light was a perpetual theme in the Old Testament. The Lord was seen as a light. His Word was a light. The people living in darkness have seen a great light. There will be a light unto the Gentiles. For the Hebrews, light played an important role.
But didn’t Christ say to his followers that they are the light of the world? Indeed he did. However, we are definitely not lights in the sense that he is. He is light by nature. Jesus in giving the sermon was telling people how they were supposed to live. What sense does it make to tell that which is light by nature that it ought to shine? Jesus tells us who we are to be and tells us to go out and live accordingly with that.
John’s gospel has already described Jesus as light in the prologue. Jesus is the light that lights every man that comes into the world. Jesus is the one that is standing against the darkness in the world. The darkness cannot comprehend him and as we should realize, the darkness seeks to put out the light. If it cannot bring that which is light down to its level, it will do what it can to extinguish it altogether.
Let’s not overlook Jesus’s unique claim here as well. It is an “I AM” statement and it is certainly emphatic. One point we made with the JWs was that Jesus is seen as humble, but if I was to stand before an audience at a church and say “I am the light of the world” they would think me insane, a blasphemer, or an idiot.
Yet we don’t seem to think those with Jesus. If we do not think of him as Lord, then we should think of him as one of the above or some combination. If not, we are not taking his words seriously.
What’s your stance on him then? Are you going to accept him as the Light of the World? If so, be prepared to walk in that light, but keep in mind the purpose of light is to shine in the darkness. Are you ready to do that?
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