John 8:12-20
Dinner: 5:30p

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.

Each passage we read is filled to overflowing with insight, wisdom, and wonder. Sometimes the wonder is the strongest component because ‘we wonder what this is all about’ when we read portions of the testimony.

In this passage we have one of the powerful “I am” descriptions that Jesus uses to describe his own life and mission. In the opening verse we read, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” We might ‘wonder’ what that means on the deepest theological levels but we can also easily see the image he is presenting. Jesus, by his very inner nature, helps people move from dark to light. It actually is one of John’s favorite images to describe the activity and ministry of Jesus. It is all about shifting from darkness into the light of Christ.

It is true; we could ponder this and stir it around with the desire to gain understanding and deep insight. Or we could simply let it speak to our own lives today. Would you do something for me, please? Would you take a moment of prayer and just ask God, through Jesus, to show you where darkness has been dominate in your life and to demonstrate the abundance of light for your path? Go ahead, just ask.

Perhaps your area of ‘light’ will be in one of the key stewardship and discipleship areas that we have been exploring. Maybe it will be light that will allow you to gain clarity about how and where you can serve others. Maybe it will be light that will illume your path of prayer, or enlarge your spirit of generosity, or even give you strength to build something special through your commitment of generosity. Who knows?
God knows!