Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying on Your own behalf; Your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, My judgement is valid; for it is not I alone Who judge, but I and the Father Who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on My own behalf, and the Father who sent Me testifies on My behalf.” Then they said to Him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” He spoke these words while He was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20)

 

 

     I enjoy star-gazing. I'm not a big time astronomer. In fact, I don't even own a telescope. There was a time, though. When I was a kid I had a telescope, and the night sky fascinated me. I looked at the moon and the planets and the stars. Now that I've learned a little more about astronomy over the course of my life, I've come to understand that some of the “stars” I was looking at were actually distant galaxies. The night sky is fascinating. In fact, it was learning about the universe that was at least a part of my coming to faith as a young adult. As mysterious as the universe is in many ways, there's an order and a precision to it that finally convinced me that it couldn't have just come into being with nothing behind it. I came to the conclusion that there must have been a sentient and creative force; and that early stirring eventually led me to God. It's not enough evidence for a lot of people; I understand that. But for me, the very nature of the universe was and is compelling evidence of the existence of God. The universe still fascinates me when I sometimes take a few minutes outside after dark, especially if I've just come home and I'm walking from the garage into the house, and I'm delighted that as I make that walk my daughter likes looking at the stars with me and often points things out to me that I hadn't noticed before. Like the earliest humans, I suppose, I find myself looking at the stars, transfixed by the light coming from them. The universe is vast. Space is incomprehensibly large. I was reading not long ago that astronomers had discovered the most distant galaxy known to us. It's been named Abell2744 Y1 (because astronomers are romantics!) and it's about 13.7 billion light years away from earth. That means that light from this distant galaxy has travelled 13.7 billion years before reaching earth – and yet its light can still be seen after all that time and all that distance. It seems that light never dies. It's always there. We can make the conscious decision not to look at the night sky, or we can allow the artificial lights of the big city to drown out the lights of the night sky, but the light is still there. We just have to open our eyes and be able to see it.

 

     Astronomers tell us that the light from that distant galaxy is the oldest thing we can possibly see. To look at it is to not only look 13.7 billion light years into space; it's to look 13.7 billion years back in time – to a point, we're told, when the universe was in its infancy; when creation  was – in cosmic terms – perhaps just a fraction of a second old; just moments after the beginning of both time and space. In a way, you might say that looking at that galaxy is a little bit like looking at the earliest work of God, Whose first act of creation according to the account of creation in the Book of Genesis was “let there be light.” Perhaps it was the light of this distant galaxy just recently discovered! As we look at it, we almost see eternity – almost, but not quite. Because the light of that galaxy wasn't the first light that existed.

 

     “I am the light of the world,” Jesus said. Frankly, Jesus is a light more powerful than even the light of the most distant galaxy that can travel through the vastness of space for 13.7 billion years and still be seen. Light can be dimmed; light can be distorted. Sometimes darkness seems to win out. But light always continues to shine – somehow and in some way. Such is certainly the case with Jesus. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus said, in John's Gospel. Those words are included in a collection of sayings by Jesus called the “I Am” sayings, in which Jesus declares Himself to be many things – living bread, from above, the door, the good shepherd, the true vine, the way, the truth and the life, the true vine, the resurrection and the life. Jesus declared Himself to be all these things – as well as the light of the world. The “I Am” sayings declare the power of Jesus and reveal to us the nature of Jesus. “I Am” is traditionally seen as the name of God, taken from the story in the Book of Exodus when Moses encounters the burning bush, and God speaks from it instructing him to go to the people and speak for God, and Moses asks God's name, because the people will want to know. “I Am That I Am” God replies. “Tell them that 'I Am' has sent you.” “I Am.” Two tiny words say a lot. The very nature of God is life itself; God is existence; to God all things that exist owe their existence. And Jesus claims that name for Himself, making a powerful statement of His one-ness with the divine; His unity with God. And that helps us understand perhaps what Jesus meant when He said “I am the light of the world.”

 

     In a spiritual sense, what is light? Light is that which reveals God to us. Light is that which gives us knowledge of God and which makes us aware of the presence of God. Jesus did that, which is why one of the names we use for Him is “Emmanuel – God With Us.” In Jesus, we see God; in the life of Jesus we see a perfect human life lived and perfectly attuned to God's will. The life of Jesus is a light that reveals to us Who God is and what God wants us to be. Without that light, we would find ourselves consumed by darkness, lost and unable to find our way. But that light is there to nourish our spirits and keep us close to God, because Jesus is the light of the world. But Jesus lived 2000 years ago. Is Jesus still with us? Is Jesus still the light of the world? Let's be honest – the world can seem to be a dark place at times. And yet, still, that light shines.

 

     If we take a detour for a moment into the other Gospels, we find another “I Am” statement by Jesus. Gathered with His disciples, Who have already seen Him do great and even miraculous things, Jesus finally looks at them and challenges them with the words, “Who do people say that I am?” “I Am.” There's those two little words again. The disciples hemmed and hawed a bit, as if they knew where Jesus was going with the question. He was challenging them to a faith deeper than they had ever thought possible. Perhaps the light that was right in front of them had been obscured by the interminable debates and discussions of those who had encountered Jesus but didn't know what to make of Him. They were reluctant to make the commitment Jesus asked for. Then, Jesus challenged them directly. “What about you? Who do you say I am?” “I Am.” There's those two little words again. And, finally, Peter chose to open His eyes to the light right in front of Him and boldly said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter finally understood the almost impossibly intimate relationship between the Father and the Son; between God and Jesus. Perhaps here was where the movement that would become the church was truly born. The first real confession of faith about Jesus. Because light finally shone through to Peter.

 

     But, some would say, that was then; this is now. Jesus is dead. Jesus is gone. Some would say even that Jesus never existed. Perhaps the light that's right in front of us has been obscured by the interminable debates and discussions of those who have encountered Jesus but don't know what to make of Him. Well, my faith guides me. Do I still see light shining? The light of Christ? The light of God? Is Jesus as much the light of the world today as He was 2000 years ago. I say yes! I see lives changed by Jesus; I see people transformed by Jesus. I see the poor being cared for and the outcast being made insiders. At least I see it at the best of times. As with all light, the light of Jesus can be obscured by the false gods among us – and there are many. Money that tells us that it's all about me; power that tells me I'm allowed to use people; sex that tells me that whatever feels good must be good; the entertainment industry that tells me that if I'm not beautiful I'm worthless, fear that too easily leads to hatred. These things (and so many more) that are so prevalent in our society obscure the light of Jesus; they blind some people to the light of Jesus – but it doesn't stop the light of Jesus from shining. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” That's another way of saying that Jesus Christ is “I Am.” That Jesus is Himself the eternal one. When Jesus said “I am the light of the world,” He didn't just mean for that moment in time 2000 years ago. That's a statement of His eternal nature. That light doesn't stop shining. We may choose not to see it, or we may let it be dimmed by all the things that can so easily dazzle us, but just as the light from a galaxy 13.7 billion light years away can still be seen, so is the eternal light of Jesus still present with us. After all, Jesus said “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

     Remember that Jesus said not only “I am the light of the world.” He also said to His disciples (including us) “you are the light of the world.” I've read that vision is a strange thing. That we don't really “see” any of the things we think we see – what we see is the light being reflected off them. The light of Jesus is still shining for all the world to see today – but it's being reflected off we who claim to be His disciples. We keep the light of Jesus shining. And the light of Jesus is still seen when we see acts of compassion extended to those whom society deems unworthy of compassion. We still see the light of Jesus shining when we see love offered in situations where hate would be easier. We still see the light of Jesus shining whenever judgement is set aside and we see the grace of God being extended always outward to the other. It was always others that Jesus was concerned with – the feeding of the poor, the empowerment of the marginalized, the welcoming of the outcast, a talk with a Samaritan woman. In all these ways, Jesus taught us how to be His body and how to shine with His light and how to ensure that His light would remain the light of the world. And that light of the world is in fact there for all to see, even though there are so many things around us that threaten to drown it out.

 

     Jesus is the light of the world – yesterday, today and forever. For now, His light shines through us. May we, as His church and as His body, shine brightly day after day.