THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!

From John 9:5 we read from the lips of Jesus, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A little boy was excited about being in a Christmas play. His part in the play was to recite the words of Jesus, “I am the light of the world.” He was very nervous, so his mom told him to look at her if he forgot the words. Sure enough, when his turn came, his mind went blank. Immediately, he looked to his mom. While pointing at herself, she mouthed the words, “I am the light of the world.” The little fellow blurted out, “Mom is the light of the world!” The congregation cracked up in laughter and applause. Well, as wonderful as each of our moms are, mom is not the light of the world. Jesus, in our text for today, reminds us He is the light of the world.

CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT LIGHT, NOT NIGHT. We sing the familiar Christmas carol every year, “Silent Night, Holy Night.” But Christmas is about light, not night. In John’s gospel, he describes Jesus’ birth in a different way than the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. John describes Jesus’ birth as, “…a light shining in the darkness.” The prophet Isaiah prophesied of Christ’s birth this way, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light…upon them hath the light shined” (Is. 9:2).

WHY IS JESUS COMPARED TO LIGHT? I believe there are obvious reasons for the analogy of Jesus as the light of the world. 1. LIGHT IS PURE. In the natural world, nothing is purer than sunlight. Light of any kind can’t be corrupted by anything it shines upon or passes through. You can shine a light on the most germ-infested thing imaginable, like roadkill, but that light wouldn’t be touched by it. What a wonderful picture of Jesus! He was in the world and He touched sinners, but sin never touched Him. The Bible says, “He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet, without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus had to be holy and the spotless sacrifice in order to pay the price for our sins and die in our place on the cross. “For He (God) hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus).” 2. LIGHT EXPOSES. John tells us, “That light (Jesus) was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” I’m sure you ladies do most of the cleaning around your home. Maybe you’ve noticed, after you’ve dusted, you pull back the drapes and the sunlight pours in and you see all those dust particles floating around in the air. That’s when you discover things aren’t as clean you thought they were. That’s because light exposes. Jesus came to expose our sinfulness and show us our need to be forgiven and cleansed of our sins. He spoke to the most religious people of His day when He said, “If I had not spoken unto them, they had not sin, but now they have no cloak (covering) for their sin. Therefore, they hate me without cause” (Jn. 15:22). Jesus came into this world to show each of us our need for the Savior. He didn’t come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The Bible says, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil” (Jn. 3:19). Thank God for the light of His Word that shows us our need to be saved from the penalty for our sins. 3. LIGHT GIVES LIFE. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (Jn.1:4). This verse reminds us that light and life cannot be separated. It’s a scientific fact that you can’t have life without light. In Genesis 1, the first thing God created before her created life was light. Then he created the trees, flowers, etc. The sunlight caused the trees to grow and the flowers to blossom and so on. It’s sunlight that causes plants to produce chlorophyll and the entire plant life chain is connected to sunlight. You take away the sunlight and the entire earth would become cold, dark and dead. The same is true with us. Without Jesus, you and I would be cold, dark and spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. You want your life put back together? It’ll be put back together with light. There is a divine photosynthesis when Jesus brings light to your life. Your cold, dark, dead, clammy world will be put back together when the glorious light of the Son of God shines into your heart. Thank God there is a sunrise for the soul. Thank God for sending His only begotten Son, Jesus, The Light of the world! Think it over ….🙏