Ep 323 – John 8

The light of the world. That’s how Jesus chose to describe Himself in chapter eight of John. A fairly bold statement, especially when you take the time to dig into His meaning. He wasn’t merely claiming to be another source of light or intellectual illumination. He was claiming to be the sole source of light. And Jesus goes out of His way to differentiate between the light and the dark. The world into which He came was marked by moral darkness. The people living in the world were spiritually blind and hopelessly stumbling around the in the dark, unable to see and incapable of discerning truth. And the spiritual leaders of the day were no better. They were like the blind leading the blind. In fact, that was exactly how Jesus had described them. “They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14 NLT). In the very next chapter of his gospel, John records Jesus’ explanation regarding His incarnation, the reason for His coming to earth. “I entered this world to render judgment--to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (John 9:39 NLT). Jesus is the light. He shines in the darkness. But He does more than that. He opens the eyes of the blind so that they might see all that the light makes available. He gives light so we can run the race, rather than stumble around in the darkness.