John 8:12-19

“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, NLT)

It must have been frustrating for the Pharisees to always be losing in their arguments with Jesus in front of the crowds. You see, even though they studied God’s Word, their attitude kept their hearts and minds in darkness. In John the first chapter, it says, “In him was life and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:4-5, KJV)

They had the Light of the World standing in front of them and they would rather argue over whether he was a proper witness for himself. So they kept arguing from darkened minds and kept losing to Jesus in public debate. He tried to help them when he said, “If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life”.

People keep trying to create their own light their own way. They even get arrogant about it. They think they are the enlightened ones and Jesus is for ignorant, uneducated people, but their lives are still a mess, because they are walking in darkness. Jesus claims that his light leads to real life.

It’s very simple; if we walk in the light Jesus shines on our path, we can see the path clearly and not stumble. If we decide to turn around and stubbornly walk against the light, we are blinded like deer in the headlights. There’s going to be an awful crash.

Jesus is the light of the world and it’s still going around the world giving people life and transforming lives.

Lord, help us to accept you as the light of the world and stop trying to create our own. Help us to walk with your light instead of against it. Help us to let the Light and Life you give us to be a Light and Life for others.

– Pastor Stephen C. Floyd, First Church of the Nazarene, Falls City