“Then Jesus spoke out again, ‘I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” —John 8:12
For the moral and spiritual darkness which covers the earth, for the darkness plaguing humankind, Jesus declares He is the only remedy—He is the true Light that breaks the darkest and strongest chains of sin and depravity. Just as one sun is the sufficient visible light for the whole world, so too there is one Savior—and there need be no more. Isaiah prophesizes regarding our Messiah:
“The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness.” —Isaiah 9:2
In our verse for today, Jesus says that He came not only for a few but for the benefit of all. And yet sadly, some choose not to use or value His light, preferring to wallow in the darkness. Jesus had made this same point earlier in the book of John:
“Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.”—John 3:19–21
Our love of darkness stems from an innate love of what is all around us over a love for God. We worship and serve created things rather than the Creator. The darkness disguises our misplaced love, but nothing is hidden from God’s sight. We read in God’s Word:
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” —Romans 1:25
“And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” —Hebrews 4:13
It is not enough to simply marvel at the light of Jesus from a distance—the promise is for those who are willing to follow. Just as we are not swimming when we simply gaze at a pool, nor are not actually eating chocolate when we simply look at it, we are not experiencing God’s light when we are looking at Jesus. We are swimming when we jump in, the wonderful taste of chocolate comes to us when we place it in our mouths. Jesus requires of us our commitment and submission to His leading; following is the act of believing. As we follow Christ, His promise is that we will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. We will neither be left in ignorance nor grope around in uncertainty—our conscience and our understanding will be flooded with light that can never be totally quenched.
David proclaims his confidence in the Lord as being his light—and it is this confidence that takes away his fear:
“The LORD delivers and vindicates me! I fear no one! The LORD protects my life! I am afraid of no one!” —Psalm 27:1
Jesus’ provisions for His followers are salvation and strength, joy and understanding, life, and strength.
Become More
“With every revelation there is obligation. With every blessing there is responsibility. It is not enough for us to receive the gift of salvation or to be blessed of God. We must commit our way to the Lord and heed His Word.” —Dr. Michael Youssef
Further Reflections
“Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: He is our light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us … He, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his possession.” —C.H. Spurgeon
“The word translated ‘follow’ is from the Greek word akoloutheo meaning: “attendant on a way, road, path. The individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship … cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience …. following His leading and acting according to His example … hence the constant stress of the Lord Jesus on self-denial and fellowship with Himself in the cross … following Jesus therefore denotes a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly, but outwardly if necessary.” —Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids