Jesus Said: “I AM the Light of the World”
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And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” |
13 Then Moses said to God,
“Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The
God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me,
‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
When God revealed His name, I AM, to Moses, He was
not just giving Moses something to call Him—He was revealing His very being—self-existent, not created, dependent on no
one, eternal, always present, and unchanging.
Jewish
understanding linked this name with God’s absolute sovereignty and timeless
being. God says “…I AM…,” claiming to be the first and the last, the
only Savior.
In Isaiah 43:10,
we find the Lord saying”
“You are My
witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you
may know and believe Me, And understand that I AM He. Before Me there
was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.”
“I AM” is not just a name; it expresses God’s
absolute, eternal, self-sufficient existence.
The “I AM” of the Old Testament also applies to
Jesus, whom we know as the Son, one of the three persons of God…the One who
came to save us. Knowing Him changes how we trust, worship, and live.
This evening, we consider the second recorded time Jesus
used the term “I AM,” in John chapter eight.
It was early morning in Jerusalem. The previous night the
great week-long celebration of the Festival of Tabernacles filled the temple
courts with music, dancing, and light.
Massive golden lamps—some say on columns 75 feet high—had
burned each night of the Festival in the Temple’s Court of the Women. People
throughout Jerusalem could see the glow. The light commemorated the pillar of
fire that guided Israel through the wilderness and symbolized the coming glory
of God’s presence.
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Jesus teaches in the temple courtyard. |
But now it was morning. The light from the lampstands had been extinguished, and Jesus, sitting in the court where the lamps had blazed, was teaching a crowd of worshipers.
John reports that Jesus was among the Rabbis teaching in
the courtyard. John wrote: “…early in the morning He came again into the
temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them”
(John 8:2).
While Jesus was teaching, a group of scribes and
Pharisees interrupted Him, bringing a woman caught in adultery. We all know
what happened. They meant to trap Jesus, to twist the Law into a weapon and
discredit Him before the crowd. Instead, He silenced the accusers, and sent the
woman away, forgiven and free.
The scribes and Pharisees left, defeated.
Jesus turned back to the crowd, and John 8:12 tells us:
12 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.” (John
8:12).
In His claim here to be “…the light of the world…”
He takes the name or title of “I AM.”
Jesus as the “I AM” recalls John’s description of
Him in chapter one (vv. 3-4) that:
3 All things were made through Him, and without
Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life,
and the life was the light of men. 5 And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Jesus is not only the inexhaustible source of spiritual
nourishment for us, but also the genuine light by which truth and falsehood can
be distinguished and by which our direction in life can be established.
He is the “I AM,” the Light, the One who exposes
hypocrisy, dispels shame, and offers a new way to walk as only God can do…the “I
AM WHO I AM,” the self-existent, eternal God… oneness with the One we know
as the triune God…united in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus reinforces who He is even more clearly a few lines
later in John chapter eight, verse 56-58, when Jesus tells His Jewish listeners:
“56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My
day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the
Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to
you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
This “I AM” claim confronted the Jews in the
crowd, many of whom responded in anger, that He would claim to be God.
Everyone since His death have had the choice: to believe
and have life (John 20:31) or reject and remain in darkness, as Jesus tells
them in the 24th verse of chapter eight: “…if you do not believe
that I AM He, you will die in your sins.”\For all of us, His
followers, then and now, His “I AM” calls for trust, worship, and living
daily as people devoted to Him, the “I AM,” the self-existent Lord.
Our Savior and Lord is God and Light, and as “…the
light of the world…” He calls us to walk boldly in the blazing Light of His
presence.
In John 8:12, we see Jesus as:
- The Light of His Divine Identity
- The Light of His Saving Power and Guiding Presence
- The Light of His Life-Giving Hope
First, we will consider:
The Light of His Divine Identity
“I AM the light of the world.”
Jesus does not merely say, “I bring light.” He says, “I
AM the light.” That phrase,“…I AM…,” would have stopped every Jew
who heard His claim. They knew that God identified Himself to Moses at the
burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14; in Hebrew can be translated
to English literally either: “I
will be what I will be” or “I AM WHO I AM”).
When God revealed
His name “I AM” to Moses, He was not just giving Moses something to call
Him—He was revealing His very being: eternal, unchanging, and self-existent.
The “I AM” bridges
the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, it is the personal covenant
name of God, signifying His eternal, self-existent nature. In the New
Testament, Jesus boldly claims this name, showing that He is God incarnate, the
fulfillment of God’s promises and the source of life and salvation.
Note that John has been building the theme of Jesus being the Light since his gospel’s first chapter, where he tells us:
“4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5), and
“9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world (John 1:9).
Here, as in the Old Testament, the Light is a direct
attribute of God.
David wrote in Psalm 27:1—“The Lord is my light
and my salvation…,” and
Isaiah prophesied (9:2)—“The people who walked in
darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of
death, Upon them a light has shined.”
As devoted Christians, we recognize that Jesus claims
what only God can claim—He, the “I AM,” is the ultimate source of truth,
holiness, the light of His presence, and life.
Most of us have known Christ for many decades.
We have taught, we have served, we have preached, we have been in the uttermost
parts of the world with the massage of Jesus. And Jesus, the “I AM,” should
still cause feelings of wonder and gratitude.
He is no mere moral teacher or inspirational
figure, but God Himself…the I AM… Worship is our only fitting response.
Next, we will consider:
The Light of His Saving Power and Guiding Presence
“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness…”
The light of Jesus, the “I AM,” …truly God…rescues
the lost from their darkness. Darkness in Scripture is used to symbolize sin,
ignorance, and death.
The Lord, using symbolic language, gives Isaiah a
prophetic look at the future promised, that the support of his servant, Christ,
in the doing of his will. Isaiah prophesied in 42:7 that the Servant would be “…as
a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring
out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison
house.”
If we interpret this passage in terms of its ultimate
fulfillment in Jesus, then it was through His earthly ministry with its climax…just
as through his sufferings He died for our sins and rose again so we can inherit
an eternal future with Him.
Jesus says, in John 12:46: “I have come as a
light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness”
(John 12:46).
Some of us carry decades of private regret—past sins,
failures in ministry, and broken relationships with colleagues or family.
The light of our Savior and Lord exists to deliver us,
from the darkness of sin, from the darkness of doubt, and from the darkness of despair.
In fact, in Psalm 27:1, David tells us:
The Lord is my light and my
salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Even for people in later life, as we are, the light of His
saving and sustaining work is present, it is personal, and it is powerful. We do
not have to stumble in old guilt or silent despair.
Notice that our not walking in darkness is conditional: “Whoever
who follows Me…” Jesus’ light is not for passive regard; it is for us, His
disciples. That means we are called “to walk
closely behind” or “to stay in step” with our Savior and Lord. Just as the
Israelites faithfully followed the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night through
the wilderness (Exodus 13:21–22), we are called to follow the light of Christ’s
living presence.
In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist declares: “Your
word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path...” Jesus
fulfills that Word in person. Later in John 12, He warns: “Walk while you
have the light, lest darkness overtake you … believe in the light, that you may
become sons of light” (v. 36).
And for us, the Holy Spirit tells us in John’s first
epistle: “5 This is the message which we have heard from Him
and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at
all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and
walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But
if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”
(1 John 1:5-7).
The call of our Savior and Lord to us is as fresh today
as it was when we were young. His call is for us to “…walk in the light as
He is in the light…” to continually seek Him through His Word…to keep praying
for guidance every moment of every day…to walk with Christ step by step…and to
teach the next generation about Jesus, whether they be your grandchildren,
greatgrandchildren, or other young believers. Write emails and letters, talk to
them about their Savior. I even post scriptures on social media. I know they
follow.
I am particularly affected by the writer of the book of
Hebrews, through whom the Holy Spirit advises us: “…let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews
12:1-2).
Finally, I want to consider:
The Light of His Life-Giving Hope
“…the light of life…”
Jesus promises not only to rescue and guide us as his
disciples, but also that we will experience: “…the light of life…,” that
is, an eternal, vibrant, unquenchable life.
John’s inspired message begins in John chapter one with the
promise: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4)
and ends with his description of the New Jerusalem: “23 The
city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for
the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”
(Rev 21:23).
For us, life with Christ can be as vibrant as ever,
though we are retired…think of it not as sunset but sunrise.
Always remember Jesus’ words:
“12 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” (John 8:12).
We have served Him faithfully in pulpits and classrooms,
in mission fields and homes, in board meetings and prayer rooms. But the
question before us now is not, “Have we once followed Him?” It is, “Are we
still following Him—closely, joyfully, radiantly?”
Christ still leads, still illumines our path ahead.
Retirement is not the end of our pilgrimage, but a new stage of following His
light with clearer eyes and steadier hearts.
So, let me ask:
Is your faith complacent or alive and vigorous? Hear again the voice of Jesus—calling
us to rekindle our faith, to
“…walk in the light, as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7).
You still have a testimony to give, a prayer life that
can be vigorous and effective…Christ’s light in each of us is not diminished by
the years; so, let it shine all the brighter because it has passed through many
storms.
Hear the promise from our Savior and Lord: as Christians,
we “…have the light of life.”
Present hope and eternal joy are already ours.
We walk daily in the dazzling light of His presence, the “…I
AM…” who is “…the Light of the world.”
Amen
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