Submitted by Rob on March 19, 2008 - 10:06am.

Today we read the statements as Jesus claims “I am the light of the world.”
John 8:12 – Jesus spoke to them, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
John 9:5 – “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

There is a lot of darkness in our world. You can choose to live in the darkness or instead choose to walk in the light. When I share this many people respond, “Where is this light?” or worse “There is no light.” I believe the light is in the world because Jesus is still in the world at the churches that offer this light. However, there are churches that concentrate on pointing at the darkness and in doing so cast a shadow so the person who really needs the light doesn’t cannot receive it. Two answers to this, read more. . .

First Jesus speaks against concentrating on the darkness in the summary he shares in about what it means to be the light of the world in chapter 12, “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me." John 12:46-50 

Second and I believe more importantly we need to shine the light of Christ in the world. I love the Spirit Garage song “Waiting for the Son” as we sing the chorus, “There’s a little bit of John the Baptist in all of us.” Jesus light will only shine in this world if we choose to let it shine in our thoughts, words, and actions. This means offering light and not condemning with darkness. As Jesus said himself, “I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them.” Why should we?

In closing, I invite you to read the first chapter of John as your mission and purpose in this world, sharing the Light that came into the world in Jesus and continues to shine through us.  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-14.

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