John 8:2-12 Sermon

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

“I Am… the Light of the World”

John 8:2-12

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 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.” (NIV)

I’ve done it before, without even realizing it.  You probably have, too.  I’ve driven at night without my headlights on.  Now to be fair, it wasn’t on purpose, but because I happened to start up the car in a brightly lit parking lot where not having my headlights on was not even noticeable.  If you’ve found yourself in that situation, you know it doesn’t take long before you realize you’re driving without your lights on.  Either someone else will flash his headlights at you to let you know, or you’ll quickly become aware of a lack of visibility as you leave the well-lit area and find yourself increasingly surrounded by darkness.

Now driving in a well-lit parking lot at night without your headlights on probably won’t do you much harm; there’s enough other light to see clearly what is going on all around you.  But once you leave the well-lit area and the absence of light makes visibility challenging, that’s when you run the risk of a serious accident that could harm you or someone else.

And spiritually speaking, far too many in this world right now are driving around at night without their lights on.  The inevitable result of such a reality will be much worse than just a spiritual fender-bender; it will be a massive pile-up of carnage and crushed metal that will leave staggering numbers of eternal fatalities in its wake.  It is undeniable.  It is unavoidable.  Those trying to maneuver around in the dark without any light will be lost forever in the most terrifying way imaginable – separated from the grace of God in a state of timeless torment.

But, as Jesus’ words this morning assure us, it doesn’t have to be that way.  No, not for anyone does it have to be that way, for Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (v.12).  Jesus’ words to us and to all people this morning give us supreme comfort and confidence that no one needs to remain in the darkness and damnation of unbelief, for he is the light.  And no, his is not some promise that he is the light of success, or the light of perpetual happiness, or the light of loving tolerance, but the light of life – life to the fullest here on earth, but more than that, life eternally in his presence.

One of the things a light provides is an awareness of our surroundings.  It shows us where we are.  Without light, we would not know where we are standing.  The importance of light was impressed on me repeatedly while growing up and going on camping trips.  Depending on how late in the day we’d arrive at our campsite, one of the first things we’d do is get the fire started.  Not only would it provide the heat to cook with, but it also provided light in the event that we ran out of daylight and still needed to set things up in camp.  The light from the fire would show us where we were and where everything else was as well. 

As the light of the world, one of Jesus’ roles is to show people where they stand.  That was what brought him to the temple courts.  As he taught, the light of his law was intended to show people where they stood, including people like the teachers of the law and the Pharisees.

Granted, the teachers of the law and Pharisees didn’t show up that morning because they were all that interested in having someone else – certainly not Jesus – point out where they stood.  They had their own purposes in mind, sinister purposes of trying to trap Jesus – the very kind of plans we’d expect from those walking in darkness.  Right before them, front and center for all to see, they placed a women who had been caught in adultery.  What course of action would Jesus recommend?  Would he agree with the Old Testament law and demand that she be stoned, ignoring that only the Roman government had the authority to put to death?  Or, would he disregard the Old Testament law and defer her case to the civil authority, siding with the Roman government?  How does the Light of the world respond to their efforts at trapping him?     

He sheds the light of his law on the Pharisees and the teachers of the law to show them where they stand.  The real issue at hand, as Jesus’ words pointed out, was not whether or not what the woman did was wrong; the real issue was the attitude with which the teachers and Pharisees approached her situation.  Jesus told them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.7).  Now Jesus’ point was not that there was no place for pointing out sin, as so many today like to misquote this verse as saying, but his issue was the judgmental heart with which they did so.  The number one concern of the Pharisees was not seeing that justice was carried out; but rather that as others are torn down in sin, the Pharisees’ reputations might be elevated all the more in the eyes of others.  Whenever others were accused and found guilty of wrongdoing, the Pharisees by default were elevated in their righteousness, at least in their own minds.  Jesus shined the light of his law by showing that the problem wasn’t only with the adulterous woman, but with their pride-filled, pietistic hearts.

You’ll notice that wasn’t the only place the light of his law shone.  The adulterous woman saw it, too.  It would be difficult to imagine that the law wasn’t working remorse and guilt through her conscience as she stood shamefully in front of everyone, unable to deny that she had been caught in the act.  Jesus also acknowledged her sin later on with the words, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (v.11).  The Light of the world made it clear where she stood.  She had sinned, and to live in and remain in that sin wouldn’t cut it.

In that regard, we are no different than the religious leaders or the woman herself – we too need to see where we stand.  If the law’s light doesn’t shine to show us where we stand, then we’re unaware of the danger we’re in.  We’re driving around with our headlights off, unable to see the road in front of us or the dangers that lurk in the darkness all around us.  It means nothing to speak of Jesus as the light of the world until we know the darkness in which we dwell without him.

And that is what the law does for us.  It shows us the scary reality of where we stand.  It shows us that we stand side-by-side with the pride-filled, pietistic Pharisees, the adulterous woman, and all sinners. 

Then, listen to what Jesus says to that shameful bunch of sinners, the bunch that includes you and me.  He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (v.12).  Jesus is not interested in showing us where we stand so that we remain lost in the dark, but so that he can shine his saving light for all to see.  And look what assurance he gives to those in his light: never again will you be in the dark with me, but instead will have the light of life to rescue you, to redeem you, to guide you, to direct you, to show you the only way to heaven through Jesus.

What have you done, what could you do, that would hide you from that light?  Jesus’ answer to you is, “nothing.”  Whether caught in the act, like the adulterer, or carrying the hidden guilt of some sin in your heart, Jesus says that those who are in him do not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.  The light of life that Jesus beams into the hearts of his people is not a faint light.  It isn’t dim.  It isn’t flickering.  It is a floodlight of grace, shining with a brightness that leaves no sin to hide and fester in the dark, for in Christ all sin has been exposed, forgiven, and paid for. 

Can we help but think of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection as we consider the theme of darkness and light?  The pitch black darkness of sin had left its mark on Good Friday when it dealt its crushing blow upon our Savior at his death.  Sin had unrelentingly done its worst.  It didn’t hold back.  The damage was done.  But our Savior wasn’t.

Fast forward to the Sunday morning sunrise.  The darkness could not help but give way to the stripes of light that rose with the sun.  And sin could not help but give way to the Light of the world that rose from the tomb.  Death was doomed.  Sin’s stain was removed.  The devil was stripped of what he thought was a sure victory.  So common was the theme of light that even the angels at Jesus’ resurrection dazzled with brilliant light! 

Because of Jesus’ triumphant resurrection, he was able to speak what we can only imagine must have been the single most comforting phrase the woman would hear in her lifetime: “Then neither do I condemn you” (v.11).  When Jesus promises that those who follow him “will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life,” what he means is embodied in those words, “neither do I condemn you.”  The light of Jesus’ forgiveness shines over the darkness of our sin, allowing him to promise us the peace that comes from those words, “neither do I condemn you.” 

Throughout our lives, the devil will continue to play the same role as those teachers of the law and Pharisees, accusing us and threatening punishment for the sins of which each of us are all too well aware.  When he does, hear the words your Savior spoke to the adulterous woman, only picture him facing you as he speaks them.  “I didn’t come into the world to condemn you, but to redeem you; to buy you back and rescue you from the darkness of sin and unbelief.”  “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (v.12).  Amen.

                                                              

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)