This Little Light of Mine

Have you ever been wrong and didn't realize it? Have you ever been wrong and completely aware of it? Sometimes we find ourselves where we aren't supposed to be, other times we head across the line knowingly. Regardless of how you arrived there, when your wrong doing is made known...what is your reaction? My kids have a cycle that they go through without fail. First up is "Huh?" If I pretend like I don't know what your talking about, it will fool you. This is very close to the toddler that hides by closing his eyes. Next up is, "Not Me!" When they are "made aware" of the wrong doing that took place, they looked shocked at the notion of anyone doing something so heinous and deny any involvement. Most of the time this is followed closely by, "It was HIM!" Looking shocked and innocent didn't work, so now we need to misdirect the attention onto someone else. My youngest has actually blamed his brother for using the bathroom in his Pull-Up! After this comes the back track. Once they discover that the scrutiny hasn't shifted, they go back to "Not Me!", but this time it is accompanied by nervous twitches. They won't look at me, they can't stand still, or they can't stop moving their hands. They know they are running out of options and they are starting to get worried. Finally we get to the last evasion in the series, "Silence." Deep down they know they are caught, but they can't own up to it. All it takes is one more push though, because they've reached the end of the road and they know it. They stand at the brink and look over the edge into the fog shrouded crevasse. They have no idea what is coming next and it is terrifying. Deep down they know they did wrong and they know they deserve punishment.

Since my three little ones are all preschoolers, their punishment is very shallow except in the most extreme cases. 99% of the time it is a little pop on the hand accompanied by the usual parental guilt/love. But that's only if they willingly confess at some point along this route. If they persevere all the way to the final step of silence, then the punishment gets more "severe" and I try to explain that to them. "You're getting your hand popped for throwing the metal trivet across the room for the hundredth time. You're not getting any dessert because you lied to me." (My grandmother HATES the word lie. "Call it telling a story!" Nope...they lied!) Now the waterworks start. "But I don't want my hand popped!" "I'm sorry, but you know that we don't throw the metal trivet across the room." But soon, they get over the physical punishment. It didn't really hurt, it just stung a little. I also try to deflect them after a few minutes so they don't cry through supper. But when the food is eaten, and it's time for dessert...and they don't get any...the fireworks are epic! They'll look over at their siblings eating a piece of cake or a cookie and will come unhinged. It's almost like those old cartoons where the tears actually fly out of the eye. I calmly remind them, "I gave you a chance to tell me the truth and you didn't do it. Since you lied to me, you don't get dessert. I'm sorry." Then they just sit and wallow in their loss. Here's my point, we adults aren't much different when it comes to our own choices. We know something is wrong, but that's not enough to keep us from doing it. The Bible alludes to this numerous times as our "flesh". As we are, we cannot keep from doing wrong. It takes something more than us. Today we'll be looking at Jesus' next "I Am" statement, and  the events that lead up to it.

Before we start, here's a little back story. The day before, Jesus had also been teaching at the temple. Some of the crowd accused Him of being demon possessed, but many started murmuring that He must be the Christ. When the Pharisees heard about this, they sent temple guards to have Jesus arrested. The Pharisees were a philosophical party that had become a political entity. Many of the people in power were Pharisees. Their basic doctrine was to follow God's law to the Nth degree to remain pure and holy. However, the temple guards didn't arrest Him. They told the Pharisees that they had never heard anyone speak like Jesus did. This angered the Pharisees, who viewed themselves as a step above everyone else. They felt that their power was threatened, so here we find them trying to trap Jesus. Let's start in John 8:1-11.

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 
11 "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
 
Putting everything else aside for a moment, let's step into the shoes of this woman. For whatever reason, she has decided to break either her marriage vow or her betrothal vow and have sex with another man. By the Pharisees' statement, she was caught in the act. No other witnesses are needed, no proof has to be shown to a jury. The Pharisees grab her and drag her to the temple. For her, death was imminent. Today, she would have been hooked up to an electric chair, strapped to a lethal injection table, or been standing in front of a firing squad. With one word, everyone would pick up a heavy stone and throw it at her until she died. She is surrounded by a group of men whose zeal for the law of God is uncompromising. The only thing keeping her alive is the fact that they hate Jesus more. She is about to die and she knows it. Notice though, she doesn't say a word. She's not hollering out excuses or trying to say that she was taken advantage of. If this could be proven, then she would be released. It seems that she is aware that she did wrong and is accepting the punishment.

No one knows what Jesus wrote on the ground. Some scholars propose that He was writing the names of the Pharisees who had also committed adultery but not been caught. Others give the idea that He was writing out the secret sins  of the Pharisees who were accusing her. What ever it was, it stopped them. Not only them, the crowd that was standing there did not take up their cry to stone the woman. It is my belief that what was written in the dirt was nowhere near as important as Jesus' next words. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." Why is this so important, let's look at the next verse.

12 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." 

Jesus is definitely speaking to the crowd, but I believe He is also speaking directly to this woman. I believe, beyond a shadow of doubt, that she is relieved and profoundly confused. The questions running through her mind are most likely, "Why am I still alive?", followed closely by, "Why does He not condemn me?" Jesus saves this woman's life, but now He gives her the chance to save her soul.

Let's look in depth at verse 12. In the Greek: 

-"I am" is only used when the speaker is being emphatic.
-"the" is a definite article used to be specific.
-"follows" groups the ideas of  "union" with "road" meaning you walk the same road, or possibly walk the road together.
-"walk" literally means to tread all around or trample in
-"will have" relates to possession of and/or relation to

Jesus is saying that He is the only light that shines on the world. Then He says that His light brings life. If you let him lead and walk with Him, you will have possession of the light that brings life. The side effect is, if you possess this light you will not walk in darkness. The unspoken statement here is this, if you stay in darkness you will not have the light of life which will lead to your death. To help us understand how all this works, let's go back to John 1:1-14.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I underlined the key verses that will help fit all the pieces together. Before we dive in, read verses 1,2 & 14. The "Word" the writer is talking about is obviously Jesus. Here's what the first underlined section tells us about the Word:

-Verse 3 - Everything that was made in creation, from archangel to grain of sand, was made through Jesus.

-Verse 4 - Not only did He make us, but He is the reason we are alive. This life is the light we've been talking about. It is the unseen hand of God in everything that keeps it all going.

-Verse 5 - "The light shines in the darkness," This part of God that gives us life also directs us in what is right and wrong. It shines on the darkness in our hearts, in our mind, and in our world and shows us that it is wrong. "but the darkness has not understood it." Even though we have this piece of God that gives us life and shows us right from wrong, we cannot embrace it. We choose to live in darkness. By doing this we lose the life we were given.

These three verses sum up the story of creation. How we are made, that we know right from wrong, and the fact that we can't get out of the darkness on our own. The next three underlined verses show us God's solution to our problem.

-Verse 9 - The one who breathed life into us, Jesus, is coming to us.

-Verse 12 - If anyone receives Him, then they will become children of God.

-Verse 13 - There is no basis for this other than belief in His name. It doesn't matter who you are, all you have to do is believe.

Verse 12 is a great verse. God doesn't just fix us, and put us back. God makes us His children. We are heirs to the throne. We have the same rights as a prince does in his father's kingdom. We, who were wallowing in darkness and death, have been given life and the eternal reward of being God's child. All we have to do is what Jesus instructed,

 "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  

Why did Jesus not condemn this woman? It's not in the scripture, but my personal belief is that He knew she would follow Him. What we do know is the response of the other Pharisees that were there. If you keep reading the rest of the chapter, you can watch them fight tooth and nail against everything Jesus is saying. Their arguments range from judicial procedures, to Jesus being suicidal, to him being demon possessed. The argument goes on for a while, but Jesus' response in John8:42-47 wraps it all up nicely.

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." 

The older I get, the more I understand some of Jesus' feelings this day. He showed extreme mercy and grace upon a woman who deserved nothing. But for the religious leaders he shows no leniency. He calls them children of the devil. As I grow in my faith, I begin to see the world around me through His eyes. I don't see a defiant sinner that is mocking God, I see a person who hasn't heard the message of Christ and is lost. I see a child without a Father; a child who doesn't know any better. My heart goes out to these. I want to help them, to show them what God has to offer.

Then there are those that know who God is but still cause strife and disharmony: the selfish church people who can't be pleased, the uptight church people who expect the church and its members to be a certain way, the knowledgeable church people who get enraged over the tiniest nuances of some obscure teaching...these people frustrate me. There are men, women, and children who are lost in darkness and these followers of Christ do nothing but get in the way. They actually drive people away from Jesus while they claim to be following Him. I have no doubt that they are Christians and will be in Heaven one day. But you can still walk in darkness if you stop following. Even though you are one of God's children, you can step off the path and let darkness taint your life.

For both groups, the answer to finding yourself in darkness is the same, "Go now and leave your life of sin."  When you can't see the light...find the sin in your life and leave it. Find the path that Jesus walked and you will find the darkness slips away. The sad part is, some people never embrace the light. Just like with my children, if you wait until you are standing on the brink to finally admit you were wrong, the punishment is much more severe. Many people go through the same cycle that my kids do. They act like nothing is wrong, they shift blame to someone else, and they ignore the Light. Getting a hand popped by God does sting, but if you try to lie your way out of it dessert gets taken away. If you convince yourself of the lie that God isn't real or that good enough is good enough, then one day you will find yourself standing on the brink. Going without dessert in the spiritual realm is horrible. In reality, it's not a punishment. It is God allowing you to continue your choices here on Earth into eternity.

We have been blessed by God to be offered such a wonderful gift. Don't turn away from it. If you've accepted it, don't wander off the path.Remember that not only is He the Light of the world, He is also the Bread of Life that sustains us on our journey.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

All scripture taken from the New International Version