SEVEN Series Minicast: Light of the World

Jesus says, here I am, I offer you, I offer you freedom, I offer you salvation, and I give it to you.

And we we have a choice to respond to that with rejection, or we have a choice to respond with that to that by following him.

And these men chose rejection.

Yeah.

Hi Mike.

Hey Jake.

How's it going today?

Doing well.

How are you?

I'm doing pretty good.

Thanks for joining me today as we do our next episode on our seven series mini podcast episodes.

Really grateful for your time today and everything that you do here at Crossroads.

I'm glad to be here.

Yeah, well today we are in John chapter eight.

Yes, sir.

Um, where we see quite a lengthy conversation for everyone that's reading along with us today.

We've got a lot uh to kind of to dig into today.

When you you wrote our devo for this week, which was so cool because you wrote it as a prayer, which is so fascinating, and you kind of had a little bit of a different approach that maybe some other people had, but um, I loved that.

And when I saw that, that was so cool.

Oh, thanks.

Yeah.

Uh so tell us what's going on here, man.

Walk walk us through uh John chapter eight.

Well well, gee, we're picking the pick it up in verse 12.

Jesus is speaking to a group of people, um, but the the Pharisees are in that within that group, and he kind of it kind of strikes up a conversation just with them.

Uh, and it gets it gets a little confrontational, pretty well, actually not a little, it gets very confrontational um quickly, uh, but it's it's important as to why it got confrontational as well.

So um it was uh was a point of tension, but it also was a point of revelation for Jesus to to speak who he was and uh to to address people who rejected that.

Yeah.

So so as you're reading through some of the stuff, what are some of the big statements that we see Jesus making here?

Well well, Jesus starts by saying, I am the light of the world.

You know, and as as I read that, I thought about I thought about a time when have you have you ever been in a situation where you're in complete darkness and you're trying to navigate?

Maybe it's the auditorium and the lights are off, and you're like, I even usually close my eyes and I'm picturing what is there so I don't walk into a post or you know, and always guarding my face to be pressed.

Exactly.

Something that you didn't expect there.

Uh but you have ever done that, and then because at the auditorium, I don't know if everybody knows this or not, but there aren't light switches by every door.

Right.

So you might come in and all of a sudden it's just pitch black.

Yep.

And you're navigating through there, and then someone comes in another door and turns on the lights, and you know, you've been trying really hard to avoid obstacles or whatever, but you can't see anything.

But the other part of that is when you're in total darkness, sometimes, very often, you're not where you thought you were.

Yeah.

You know, someone turns on the lights, and I thought I was across the aisle and I'm not even there yet.

And I think that's a little bit of a visual here of what Jesus is saying.

He says, I'm the light of the world, and without me, there's no darkness, or there's there's uh just darkness.

And the Pharisees were in complete darkness, uh stumbling around, avoiding obstacles, but they weren't where they thought they were.

They thought their righteousness was going to be sufficient for them.

They thought that they had it all together.

And Jesus is saying, uh, you know, you're not where you thought you were.

You know, he says, I am the light of the world.

And the the very first thing that the Pharisees say is, uh, your testimony is not true.

They're calling him a liar.

Yeah.

Basically, what that means.

They're saying, which by the way, they misapplied, they misapplied the concept.

It says you're bearing witness about yourself, so your testimony is not true.

You need two witnesses.

Well, just because you didn't have two witnesses doesn't mean the first witness wasn't right.

It just means you don't have the second one.

Right.

So um even even their application of that concept was wrong, but uh they they're basically calling Jesus a liar.

And it it gets it gets confrontational.

Jesus very soon addresses them and says, you know, you will you will die in your sins.

And he he says it multiple times in there.

And the weight of those words, you know, Jesus comes as our savior, as the for the the the one who paid the price to forgive our sins, but to say, no, your your sins aren't going to be forgiven, you're gonna die in those sins.

What a what a what a powerful horrible statement to hear.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Devastating.

Devastating.

And Jesus goes on and says, if you abide in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

And he goes on below that to say, so if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Saying that the the truth sets you free, that it's the bondage, the darkness, the the he is the solution.

The sun will set you.

If the sun sets you free, you're free indeed.

And these men were rejecting that.

He was offering, he was, he was the hope of the he was the only hope that they had, the hope of the entire world.

And they were rejecting him.

So uh it gets it, it continues as in a very heated conversation.

They they he says, here's the truth, and yet you seek to kill me for this.

Yeah.

And they refuse to believe.

And those who reject him will die in their sins.

Yeah.

And those who those who accept and follow him are set free.

Well, yeah, it's it's such a heavy conversation, but so filled with truth.

And I think it's why, like, in the middle of it, he does go to that idea of the truth will set you free, because I mean, for for these Pharisees, like they they had the law of Moses that they inevitably added more laws onto.

You know, they they have this idea of who God is calling them to be, and are even given very specific instructions, but they they take it way beyond what it's supposed to be.

Um, we did a podcast a couple uh last week on this, where we talked about Sabbath and how it was meant to be, and it's just that this is just one example of the Sabbath, how it's it was meant to be uh for man.

You know, Jesus says that a couple chapters ago, that Jesus or that the Sabbath is made for man, not made for the Sabbath, because and he has to have this entire conversation because these Pharisees that think they're doing the right thing are are totally taken over by lies and they're totally taken over by self-righteousness.

And instead of focusing on on God and uh realizing the truth that Jesus is bringing, they're trying to focus on themselves.

And because if they accept this, that they've lost all their power, you know.

They've they like they have to face the reality that the way they've been leading the Jewish people to God has been totally wrong, you know, and like this thing that they want fulfilled is actually or that they say they want fulfilled is being fulfilled, but what that means for them and their status is very different than maybe what they would want.

Well you brought up you brought up they were believing lies, and they were.

They they thought their righteousness came from themselves and what they did and keeping the law, which they didn't keep it anyway, right?

But but they thought they did.

Again, they were they were in a spot where they thought they were somewhere where they weren't.

Yeah.

You know, and the faith of um their their trust was in the the law, in the law of Moses, the law of Abraham, but they were rejecting the truth.

You know, it Jesus calls it out.

He says he calls he calls them uh sons of the devil.

Yeah.

I mean, that's that's pretty clear.

Them's fighting words, man.

Those are yeah, the the the tension between the two is I mean, well, and then they start slinging insults at Jesus.

I mean, first off, he says, I'm the light of the world, and you're like, they're like, you're a liar.

Um, and then he talks about uh abide in my word, then I tell you the truth, and and the sun will set you free, yet you seek to kill me.

And they come back with you were born in sexual immorality.

Yeah.

You know, insults of of his heritage, of his of his mother.

Um, you know, and and it it continues there, are you are we not right in saying that you're a Samaritan and that you have a demon?

They're talking to the Savior and calling him the opposite.

There is no uh, you know, this is this is blasphemy.

Yeah.

This is blasphemy and the the rejection of him.

Look at that question.

Are we not right in saying that you have that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?

He wasn't a Samaritan and he didn't have a demon, uh, but they were they were trying at their highest level to insult him.

And he answers, truly, truly, if anyone keeps my word, Jesus says he will never see death.

Multiple times talks about keeping my word, keep keeping my word, keeping the word of the Father.

And again, the the Pharisees come with a question, they say, Are you greater than are you greater than Abraham?

You know, who do you make yourself out to be?

And and Jesus Jesus is establishing his authority, his divinity, his power in this.

Um is is so devastating.

These were the men leading the people, and they were leading them away from the Savior.

Yeah.

The ones that are supposed to understand God the most out of all of them.

Of all the out of all of God's people, like they're the ones that are supposed that are supposed to understand the word the best and understand what the who the Messiah was supposed to be.

And the things that got in the way were their pride, yeah, their their self-righteousness, um, their own their own uh stature.

And when Jesus presented this, their response was slinging insult.

Yeah.

And Jesus says, and you will die in your sins.

That that just oh, those words again, I know we touched on it earlier, but the the power of those words, as opposed to you've been set free.

The Sun has set you free, you're free indeed.

Yeah.

And the bondage that these these men chose by not following Jesus.

And this is this is the ultimate choice.

I mean, this is the gospel in one passage.

It's like here I am, I offer Jesus is here I am, I offer you, uh I offer you freedom, I offer you salvation, and I give it to you.

And we we have a choice to respond to that with rejection, or we have a choice to respond with that to that by following him.

And these men chose rejection.

Yeah.

Yeah, but it it it it it crushes me for them even now, even though it's this was so long ago, you know.

Like it, but the to to be so distracted to the point where you can't notice God in front of you, you know, it man, it it breaks my heart for them.

And I wonder how often we experience that.

I was gonna say it's it's this situation, although Jesus and the Pharisees in in personal interaction doesn't exist the same way.

The choice does, the information does.

The truth is still the truth.

It hasn't changed.

He's still the light of the world, he's still the only hope, he's still the only way that we're set free.

You know, and we're still called to keep his word.

Yeah.

That none of this has changed.

And man's response, man's response is um we either submit and follow the hope and are set free, or we continue in bondage and are dead in our sins.

Yeah.

But it's it once again isn't based off of what we do, but who he is and what he did.

In the end of that passage, you know, there's the says that the Pharisees says, How could you have seen Abraham?

You know, you're not even 50 years old, and you claim to have seen Abraham.

And Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

And one of the most like gangster statements Jesus makes, I think.

Oh my gosh, break that down for us, Mike.

Well, that's great.

It's awesome.

The language there is um it it doesn't translate well to our to our English language.

He was he was using langu actually it's never really translated well in any language.

Right.

Um, you know, but this this is the language he used at the at the burning bush with Moses.

Yeah.

When God said, you know, I'm gonna send you to to uh deliver the people from from Pharaoh and from Egypt.

And Moses said, Well, who should I say is sending me when they ask who who you are?

And he says, Tell them I am has sent you.

And it's it's that language.

It's the same language um that he used earlier when he was on the boat with the disciples.

Well, I'm sorry, not on the boat, when he was walking on the water and they were in the boat, and he says, It is I.

It's that same ego on me as the Greek.

Um in Hebrew it's Yahweh.

Yeah.

And and so Jesus was Jesus was making a declaration of divinity, of the of being the Almighty, of being the creator, the sustainer, the giver of life, the giver of eternal life.

And um, you know, in in our day, it's we can read that and we understand it to a to a certain extent, but the the power of those words, you know, he's saying it's me, the Almighty God.

Yeah.

That's what he's saying there, which is why it threw them into a complete meltdown.

This is inevitably why he gets executed, you know, because of his claims to divinity.

And that this is the entire purpose of John's gospel.

And we've we've been learning that throughout this entire study.

The reason why John writes this is to try to communicate to both Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus, and really anybody that would read it, that Jesus is God.

And Jesus, anybody that would ever say that that Jesus never claimed to be God, like you I mean, yeah, read read this passage.

John, don't really read any of the gospels, but like I guess it's pretty clear that Jesus is claiming, like, hey, the the I am, the Yahweh that was in the burning bush, ding ding ding, right here.

You know, I have been here since the beginning.

And they weren't even allowed to utter that name.

Right.

So for him to do that was uh was incredibly powerful.

Right.

They picked up stones to try to kill him.

He makes this claim and they pick up stones to try to kill him, and he he just left.

He just walked out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This happens a couple of times throughout the gospels where it just says, then Jesus just left.

A couple of times it's like he walked through he walked through their midst.

He just walked away.

But I think like there there's kind of a mystery to that.

But he yeah, he just he hit himself.

Wasn't his time.

And that there's there's a there's a mystery to how he does that.

Um but the reality is it's a mystery to a lot of him, you know, about and when you're the king of the universe, you can just be in the middle of a hardcore situation like this, a really, a really difficult conversation, and just decide to hide yourself, you know, because you're God, you know, and he makes this claim, and then he really just kind of shows it through this interesting way of just hiding himself and just because he just revealed himself and he said even that he's being light of the world, he's the ultimate revealer.

You know, he's going to shine light on everything and guide everyone the way they need to go if they would just follow him.

Um and he's but then he just disappears.

And he's you know he's he's done the things to prove his power over the earth, over the elements, over um, you know, over evil, you know, casting out demons, over death.

Yeah, you know, and and he's shown this throughout the book of John, and he continues to do so.

Actually, I'm gonna give a little preface to chapter nine.

Um, he does another miracle, and the Pharisees just start hurling insults at the guy that he heals.

Right.

I mean, they just can't take it, and it's because their entire belief system was based on their own work, their own righteousness, and they thought they were somewhere that they weren't.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's it's brutal, man.

Well, Mike, thank you so much for for talking us through this today.

Really appreciate your time.

Those of you guys that are watching, maybe you're doing this on your own personal study time, maybe you're with your group, whatever.

We thank you guys for joining us today.

Mike, I appreciate your time, brother.

Absolutely.

Again, it's a great passage.

Sure is, it is.

Thank you.