John 8:12-13 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.”
The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid” (NIV).
There is a distinct line between being relentless in pursuing goodness and being ruthless in going against the will of God.
Jesus was relentless in His mission to preach and teach. After the huge confrontation with the “teachers of the law” and the Pharisees after they seized a woman who had committed adultery, Jesus continued on with His mission.
And what He proclaimed here was likewise radical. Jesus declared He is the light of the world. Jesus called for people to follow Him.
I discussed in my piece at the beginning of the month of how the Pharisees ignored a prophecy from Isaiah chapter 9:1-2. How incredible that in this passage Jesus made a statement which identifies Himself as the fulfillment of that prophecy. Jesus is revealing what those Pharisees were ignorant of, or more likely, what those Pharisees where ignoring.
But those Pharisees were ruthless in their mission to stop Jesus from preaching and teaching. Rather than becoming humble after what Jesus taught when they seized that woman to trap Him, those Pharisees continued to work hard to stop Him.
Rather than discussing the claim by Jesus, the Pharisees changed the subject and challenged Him as being a sole witness for Himself. Their evil mode continued.
The encouraging message: Jesus not only claimed to be the light of the world, Jesus showed it. The light had dawned since the Messiah had arrived. And Jesus was determined to let His light shine so the darkness of the Pharisees would be exposed. Standing His ground in the face of the opposition of the Pharisees, Jesus ended up giving a pinnacle revelation. I encourage you to read the rest of this chapter when you have a desire to do so.
Looking back to when I was a young Christian, the aggressive opposition of the Pharisees sometimes distracted me from the messages which Jesus conveyed. It is worth the work to avoid the distraction of the Pharisees. Fruit comes from carefully listening to the messages of Jesus.
So let us hear again what Jesus stated here: “…Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Do you follow Jesus? If you do not, wild enough, this declaration and invitation by Jesus about 2000 years ago still stands today. Jesus, who was resurrected and who ascended into heaven, is still inviting you to follow Him.
Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death in h-ll. Then Jesus was resurrected.
If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life. And as Jesus proclaimed, you will never walk in darkness, praise be to God since darkness always stifles love. Rather you will have the light of life, who is Jesus, the loving Savior of the world.
Hunter Irvine
Scripture Love Blog
