In my first blog post in this series, The Bread of Life, I talked about Jesus's statement that He is the bread of life for us. In this post, I will be talking about how Jesus said He was the light of the world. My next blog posts are about how Jesus is the Gate and Good Shepherd and The Ressurection and Life and the Way the Truth and the Life.

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.”

John 8:12

Festival of Tabernacles

Jesus picked a very opportune time to make this bold statement. It was at the end of the Festival of Tabernacles. The Festival of Tabernacles was a celebration that God had instituted in Exodus 23. Here He lays out this joyous celebration for the Israelites. He created this festival to be a wonderful time of honor and remembrance. It was to honor God who had provided for the Israelites in the desert while they were heading to the Promised Land. God had provided protection and sustenance. Patience and guidance. There are 3 main components to the festival:

• First, there was a procession of palms

• Next, the Israelites observed the priests as they poured water from the fountain of Siloam onto the altar. This occurred each day after the morning sacrifice.

• Finally, each evening the celebration would be illuminated by 4 large menorahs in the temple courts. This was followed by a torch dance that would last till dawn.

To begin with Jesus sends His disciples off to the festival without Him.

You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

John 7:8-10

Jesus had a plan that required the right timing and He also needed to go on His own. He spent time waiting in the background out of sight before He went up to start teaching. He gave the crowd a powerful message during this time.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

John 7:37-39

Jesus makes another bold statement here, where He tells the crowd that He is living water. This is so important for us to remember. He can quench any thirst that our soul has.

Jesus continues to speak and cause a stir.

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.”

John 8:12

History of Light Throughout the Bible

There is a rich history within the Bible of referring to light. Light is the first thing God speaks into existence.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Genesis 1:1-5

Jesus literally provides light to the blind in the ninth chapter of John.

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

John 9:6-7

When God restores creation and we are finally with Him, we will no longer need the sun. God will be our source of light.

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.

Revelation 22:5

Jesus Lights Our Path

In our daily lives, Jesus is a light unto our path.

Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105

Jesus sheds light on the darkness around us. This darkness hides our sin and the evil surrounding us. Light exposes the sin in our lives, causing us to make corrections in our path. If we want to change our path for the better, we must expose the darkness to light. Jesus will expose what we need to repent of. This isn't a condemnation of us but is used to free us from the darkness that we are hiding our sins in. We cannot walk freely in the light if we are hiding parts of our lives in darkness. To expose these areas can take time and effort. But it means freedom in the end. No more guilt over what we have done. No more shame for our actions and words. God wants us to bring this all out into the light, sometimes by asking for forgiveness of those we have hurt, sometimes, just by making a change in our actions and paths. It can be very painful to expose our sins. Just like ripping off a bandaid. Well, let's be honest, it will hurt a lot more than that. But once we are free of those things, we can move forward and away from the darkness. We will never be free from sin, which is why we need to reach out to Jesus every day. Pray about and ask for forgiveness whenever we can. Getting into Heaven is not dependant on it, only accepting Jesus as our savior gets us into Heaven, but living this life on earth while we are here is so much easier when we aren't adding the pain and suffering that living in the darkness can add.

Satan Tries to Distract and Trick Us

Satan uses the concept of light to his advantage, so be weary.

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:14

We must be in the Word of God, constantly checking to make sure that something we are thinking or doing aligns with it. So many times, we think something seems right. It is so close to right we struggle to see the difference. This is satan trying to get us slightly further away from God. At first, it's a little of this, then we add a little of that and before we know it, we can be walking miles away from God's will for our lives. Satan has had centuries to perfect his schemes and ploys. Don't beat yourself up if you find you've been duped. Just go back to God, ask for forgiveness and move forward on God's path. Staying in the true light.

What Does True Light Provide?

True light cannot only expose our sins and Satan's schemes, but it also provides the following:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

The unfolding of your words gives light;

    it gives understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119:130

The sun will no more be your light by day,

    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

    and your God will be your glory.

Your sun will never set again,

    and your moon will wane no more;

the Lord will be your everlasting light,

    and your days of sorrow will end.

Isaiah 60:19-20

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John 3:17-21

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

We can get a lot from staying in the Word of God. It's when we try to do all this on our own, thinking we know better or even that we think we know what God wants, that we get into trouble. God shows us what we need to know, when we need to know it, but only if we are paying attention.

I'd love for you to check out my first post about The Bread of Life, and my next posts about The Gate and Good Shepherd and The Ressurection and Life and the Way the Truth and the Life as well.