"Light of the World"
#92-29Presented on The Lutheran Hour on March 16, 2025
By Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Lutheran Hour Speaker
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries
No bonus material MP3
Text: John 8:12
Jesus of Nazareth continues to be the most controversial, most discussed, most name-dropped, most written-about, and arguably most significant human in history.i But who would have predicted it? He did, actually. He said, "I am the Light of the world," which means, on one level, that while every generation's stars and celebrities come and go, Jesus' light, for 60 or 70 generations now, has outshone them all.
But what does that mean for you, today?
After Jesus made that statement, "I am the Light of the world," as it's recorded in the Gospel of John 8:12, He went on to say, "Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." So, what matters, according to Jesus, is not just that you're aware of Him, not just that you know another famous luminary from history, but that you follow Him, that you come into His light, stay in His light, walk in His light.
But what does that mean, to walk in Jesus' light? Maybe, like me, you want to answer this question because you've been trying to walk in His light, but the world seems to be getting darker, and you're seeing less and less of the light of Jesus. Or maybe you haven't been following Him, or never followed Him, but you know what it's like to live in darkness, to sit in darkness, to feel darkness inside you, and you want out of it. And maybe Jesus can help? So, let's talk about it. Let's talk about what it means to walk in the light of Jesus.
First, we've got to say what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that a 100-watt spotlight flips on and shines down from the clouds on you from heaven day and night. It'd be really difficult to sleep if it did. No, Jesus is talking about light figuratively. It's a metaphor. It's a word picture. And if you want to understand a metaphor, you try to understand the context in which it was spoken. Jesus' context at the time was both Jewish and Greek, ancient Greek.
Let's talk about the Greek context first. Jesus wasn't the first person to talk about light in this figurative way. The ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, born about 400 years before Jesus, also spoke of light in one of his famous parables, or allegories. It's in his book, The Republic. Plato, speaking through his teacher, Socrates, tells a parable about a cave. There are all these people, see. And they're in this cave underground. It's dark. Damp. Musty. And they're all chained up. They can't move. They can't even turn their heads around because of these iron collars clasped around their necks. And the only light they can see comes from behind them—from a bonfire in the back of the cave that casts its light on the wall that they're facing. In between the bonfire and the prisoners, there's a road. And on the road there are people going back and forth, carrying objects, various shapes and sizes. The objects cast shadows on the wall that's lit up by the bonfire. And these shadows in that flickering, underground firelight, that's all the prisoners can see. So they talk about them, laugh about them, and develop theories, argue and make jokes about them. The shadows are their whole world.
But then, someone unchains one of these prisoners, grabs him by the hand, turns him around, and leads him out of the cave. And at first, he doesn't want to go. Because the sunlight, it's too bright for him. It hurts his eyes. So, he shuts his eyes. Covers his face. Digs his heels in. He doesn't want to leave! But they drag him out, out into the blinding light. After some temporary pain and flash blindness, his eyes adjust. He starts to see the bigger world. He says, "Huh, those shadows on the wall—they weren't the whole picture." This firelight, it wasn't the only light. There's a bigger, brighter world outside the cave.
Then Plato puts the question to us: "What if our sun—the flaming ball of gas up in the sky—what if it's sort of like that bonfire in the back of the cave? What if there's a greater light, a spiritual light that's the source of this material world. And the reason we can't see it yet is because our eyes aren't adjusted yet, and we've chained ourselves to the belief that the material world is all there is.
Okay, so that's the Greek context that goes with Jesus' statement: "I am the Light of the world." What about the Jewish context? There were Jews in Jesus' day who were familiar with Greek philosophy. And if they had heard that allegory about the cave, they probably would have said, "Amen" to a couple of points at least. They would have said, "Yeah! Amen! The material world isn't all there is. There's a greater spiritual reality that we have to reckon with. And yeah! Amen! That other light, the spiritual light, it is so bright, so blinding, so holy, when our ancestors saw it, they were afraid; they dug their heels in, they turned away from it" (see Exodus 20:18).
But the ancient Jews would have said more. They would have said that the true Light of the world, the Source of this creation, is the Creator, the personal Creator who gives us eyes to see. And He didn't stay in the clouds, waiting for us to be enlightened. No, He came down into history. He found us in that cave. He set us free. He broke our chains—not just metaphorical chains, but cold, heavy, iron ones. The Jewish people would have looked back to the exodus, when they were living in slavery, under forced labor, under the Pharoah in Egypt. But God, the Creator, broke Pharoah's power, led them out of that darkness with real, visible light. Remember? A pillar of shining cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
The Jews would have said "Amen!" with the Greeks that there is a spiritual reality, a greater reality that we have to reckon with. But they would have said more, because God—the great I AM, who said to them, I AM WHO I AM—that God had come down to set them free, so that they could walk in His light and be a light for all the people of the world.
So again, we're considering the context, just before the moment when Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world." Now the Jewish crowd in Jerusalem that day who heard Him say it—what pictures were in their minds? One picture may have included that famous allegory of the cave from Plato, but it would have been way in the back, tucked behind some boxes in the corner. But, at the forefront, out on center stage, was the exodus event. Because when Jesus made His famous statement, it was fall in Jerusalem, mid-October maybe, during the great feast of Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles. It happened every year, Jews from all around the Mediterranean world traveled into Jerusalem for a week-long feast to commemorate the exodus, how God led them out of slavery by the light—that visible pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And to remember that light, there in Jerusalem in the temple, they constructed enormous torches, torches so tall they needed to climb ladders to light them, burning so bright that they needed liters of oil to keep them lit, casting so much light that all Jerusalem was awash in the glow while the people danced with burning torches in their hands while singing in the temple courts.ii Man, it would have been a sight to see. And that's the scene when this Jewish carpenter from Nazareth stands up in the temple and says what He said—I am the Light of the world. It would have been like dropping a platter of porcelain plates in a crowed dining room.
What did He say? What? Because—I don't care who you are—Jew or Greek, whatever, if what He said isn't true, that's the craziest, most ridiculous, most dangerous thing that's ever been said. But if it's true, then we should all fall down and worship Him, and get up and follow Him, and never leave His side.
So, which is it? I can't answer that for you. But you can step into the light and see what happens. Listen to what happened, as it's recorded in John 8, beginning at verse 12:
Jesus said to the people, "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life." The Pharisees [the religious leaders] said, "You are serving as Your own witness. Your testimony is not valid." Jesus answered them, "Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and I know where I am going. You, however, do not know where I come from or where I am going. You are judging by the flesh, you are judging by human standards. I am judging no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, because I do not judge on my own, but I and the Father who sent me. And it is written in your law, in the Torah, that the testimony of two people is true. I am one who testifies for myself. My other witness is the Father who sent me."
So, they started saying to Him, "Where is your father? Where is he?" Jesus answered, "You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father, also." These things He was saying, teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury (where the offerings were taken) but no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come.
So Jesus continued, saying to them, "I am going away. And you will look for me. And you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews there said, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, 'Where I am going you cannot come'? But He said to them, "You all are from below. I am from above. You all are of this world. I am not of this world. So, I told you that you would die in your sins. If you do not trust that I am—if you don't trust that I am He, you will die in your sins."
"Who are you?" they said. Jesus answered them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say to you and much to judge. But the One who sent me is true. And what I have heard from Him—this is what I am speaking to the world." They did not know that He was telling them about His Father. So, Jesus to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own, but I am speaking just what the Father taught me. And the One who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." Even as He was saying these things, many put their trust in Him.
That's from John 8. Earlier in John, we hear some people say of Jesus, "No one ever spoke like this man does. No one." No one ever spoke with such confidence about who He is and where He's headed. No one ever spoke with such confrontation and compassion for those who would hear Him. No one ever spoke like Him, and when I hear Him, I want to put my trust in Him. I want to walk in His light. What about you?
But what does it mean to walk in His light? So far, we said that we shouldn't expect a spotlight from heaven. That's not what Jesus means. But it's not just a metaphor; it's not just a theory, because God has acted in history, visibly: The exodus, for one, and ultimately in Jesus—a real, visible physical human, God become human, who lived, who was crucified, who was bodily resurrected from the dead, who appeared to His disciples and then returned to His Father in heaven and founded a visible community, people you can still see today, and promised one day to visibly return to raise the dead and make all things new.
But where is His light now? Why can't we see Him? A spotlight from heaven sure would be convincing. The Bible says at least two things on this: first, hold on, because the day will come when all will see—the curtain will be pulled back, and Jesus will outshine all the shadows of this dark world and make it new again. But second, for some, for those who do not trust in Him, that day will be unbearable judgment, holy, blinding, burning light. You heard Jesus' warning: "If you do not trust that I am who I am, you will die in your sins."
But God, the Bible says, God doesn't delight in the death of anyone (see Ezekiel 18:32). God wants all to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4). So now is the time when Jesus disguises His light. Now is the time, before He comes in final judgment, when He lets our eyes adjust, so that more would trust in Him. Now is the time when He lets His light shine through His Word, through Baptism, through His body and blood that His people share in Communion, disguised in, with, and under bread and wine. Before He flips the switch for final judgment, He keeps His light out of the visible range.
Just because you can't see light, you know, it doesn't mean that it's not there. Take ultraviolet light, for example. Ultra-violet means "beyond violet," that is, off the scale of the visible spectrum of light. Sometimes it's called "black light." It's light in disguise. Maybe you've seen someone stand under a blacklight at a party. What happens? It transforms them, right? They start to glow, don't they? But ultraviolet lights, they're not just party favors. They detect hidden stains and cracks. They show the difference between something genuine and something counterfeit. They're used to kill germs and cleanse surfaces. They can help your skin make Vitamin D; they make some things glow, because ultraviolet light is disguised light that lights up what it touches.iii You can't see it, but it changes what you see.
So also, as we wait for that burning, cleansing light of Jesus' final judgment, His light is disguised now in us and among us, temporarily kept out of the visual range. Light you can't see, but changes what you see. Light that works under the cover of darkness. Light that shows the cracks and stains we try to hide. Light that exposes the counterfeits and the fakes. Disguised light that sets prisoners free and lights up all it touches.
It's the light from Jesus Who was crucified in the darkness to save us from the darkness. Jesus said that the hour when He was lifted up on the cross—that was His glory. That was His shining moment, His disguised light: God's love shining on you, exposing you, cleansing you, transforming you to be a light for others.
I recently went back to my old Greek philosophy textbook from college and re-read Plato's allegory about the cave. And I discovered something that I hadn't noticed before, or I don't remember reading when I first read it. See, the parable about the cave is set in a larger work. It's a discussion about how to raise up good leaders for local communities. The best leaders, Plato says, through the dialogues, will be the ones that we've educated, the ones who've "seen the light," have come out of the cave, so to speak. And while Plato advocates education, he also says that there is one thing that must not be permitted. When someone's been set free from those chains and transformed by the light, when they're brought out of the cave to stand in the light, there is one thing that should not be permitted, that ought never be permitted.
"What's that?" someone asks. That they remain there—that they be unwilling to go back down again among those still in the dark to share their labors, honors, to share their joy and trouble, to be a light in a dark place.iv
I once heard a story about an atheist who attended a lecture. The lecturer was giving proofs for the existence of God. At the end of the lecture, the atheist told the lecturer that he was not persuaded by any of the arguments. So, the lecturer said, "Try this. For the next week, treat everyone you meet like they are Jesus in disguise." And for some reason, he tried it. He came back a week later and said that doing so had transformed his life. If seeing Jesus in disguise, everywhere and in everyone, if that's transformative for an atheist, what would it be like for us who trust in Him, who want to walk in His light?
Now, if you give this a try and if you're like me, you'll probably feel the magic of it for a little while—until you run into someone you really just don't like who just really bothers you. And there's no way you'll be able to imagine Jesus disguised in them. So then, let Jesus be disguised in you. See what He does. See how He changes what you see.
And pray with me: Dear Jesus, by Your light we see light. Shine on me and in me and through me this week. Amen.
i For example, https://ideas.time.com/2013/12/10/whos-biggest-the-100-most-significant-figures-in-history/
ii See Mishna, Sukkah 5.1-5, https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Sukkah.5.2?lang=bi
iii See Mark Chervenka, The Black Light Book (Philadelphia, 2007).
iv Plato, The Republic, Book VII, para. 519d.
Reflections for March 16, 2025
Title: Light of the World
No reflection segment this week.
Music Selections for this program:
"A Mighty Fortress" arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
"You Are the Way; Through You Alone" arr. Peter Prochnow, performed by Khristian Dentley. Used by permission.
"Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies" by Charles Wesley, arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
"Crucifer" by Sydney H. Nicholson, arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
"Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart" From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.
