Xboxes and iPods and all those other gadgets that kids seem to have today.
We had to invent our own entertainment, which I think was far more exciting.
My friends had organised a sleepover, so we'd all headed over to his house,
and the plan was that when the parents were sleeping,
we would sneak out of the house and go for a night walk.
That was our entertainment.
So about one or two in the morning, when the parents were fast asleep,
we snuck out of the house, we left the lights of the neighbourhood behind, and we headed out.
It was all a bit of fun, and everything was going really well until we found ourselves in this field.
And very soon we discovered that we weren't actually alone in this field.
There were also animals in this field.
And to this day, I still don't know what they were.
Were they horses or cows? I haven't a clue.
But although we couldn't see them, we could hear them.
And they started to run towards us.
So in absolute terror, with kind of a hill like this, we took off down the hill, running as fast as possible.
And one by one, we all ran headfirst into this huge hedge full of briars and nettles and every other stinging plant and prickly bush.
Because of the dark, we simply couldn't see where we were going.
It all started out as a bit of fun and games, but then it got quite scary and dangerous.
If only we had a little bit of light, a little torch or something, and we would have been okay.
You see, being in the light is much safer than being in the darkness.
Did you see what Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 12?
He says,
Now, I don't think Jesus was kind of giving a little hint for naughty boys who wanted to sneak out the house and run around at night time.
Now, I don't think it's literal that Jesus is some kind of massive big torch in times of difficulty.
It's using concepts like light and darkness to explain a deeper meaning and truth.
So what does it mean when Jesus says, I am the light?
And what's it talking about when it says, walking in darkness?
Well, to help us understand this, we're going to ask ourselves three questions.
And the first question is this.
What is the light?
You see, when Jesus talks about light, it's full of significance.
And we can find the reason for why he uses light by going back to chapter 7.
This is all one big long story and we follow the context.
Look at verse 14 of chapter 7.
It says there that not until halfway through the feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and began to teach.
So Jesus is in Jerusalem at the time of a great feast, a particular celebration, which we know is called the Feast of Tabernacles.
So when we get to chapter 8, verse 12, and it says Jesus spoke again to the people,
he's speaking during the time of this great feast.
Every year towards the end of harvest, when all the crops had been gathered in,
all the Jewish people would head up to Jerusalem for a weeks-long celebration, a great big party.
We're going to read about what that celebration was like.
We can go back to Leviticus, which is right at the front of your Bible, Leviticus chapter 23.
So keep a finger in John chapter 8 and go to Leviticus.
I haven't got a page number. Has somebody got a page number?
1, 2, 6. It's on page 1, 2, 6.
Leviticus is a strange book. It's got all kinds of different laws and things.
And one of them it tells us about the different feasts that the Jewish people celebrated.
And that feast that Jesus was at is explained here.
So Leviticus chapter 23, verse 33.
The Lord said to Moses, say to the Israelites, on the 15th day of the seven months,
the Lord's Feast of Tabernacles begins.
And it's to last for seven days.
Verse 39.
So beginning with the 15th day of the seventh month,
after you've gathered the crops of the land,
celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days.
But it was more than just a harvest festival.
It was primarily a celebration of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt.
Look at verse 42.
During this celebration, he says, verse 42,
to live in booths or tabernacles.
That's like little shelters.
We might call them tents.
So live in shelters for seven days.
All the native-born Israelites are to live in shelters
so that your descendants will know
that I made the Israelites live in shelters
when I brought them out of Egypt,
when I rescued them out of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God.
So, while it was all about harvest,
it was also a festival celebrating
and remembering God's great rescue,
his salvation of bringing them out of slavery
to a new land to have a fresh start,
a new beginning.
So we can imagine,
as Jesus has gone up to Jerusalem with everybody else
for this festival,
we can imagine all the families traveling up,
building their little makeshift huts and tents.
Even the people who lived there
would have built little huts and tents on top of their roofs.
Others would have been doing it out on the street.
And all the families,
all the kids getting ever so excited
for this week-long celebration of camping out.
Because everybody likes to camp out.
And whenever the children would ask mum or dad,
why are we camping out?
What's all this about?
They would be able to tell them,
long, long ago,
that God had rescued their people.
And during that rescue,
on their way out,
they would live in little shelters
as God was bringing them to a new place to live.
So it was a huge, big party,
a great, big celebration.
But there was something more significant about this feast.
On the first day of this particular feast,
huge metal bowls,
all the way around the temple,
would be filled with olive oil,
and then they would put cloth inside it,
which would act like a wick.
Basically, they were giant-sized candles,
or nightlights, if you like.
All the way around the temple.
And at night,
these candles would be lit,
and they would be so bright,
that the light would shine up,
and illuminate the whole city.
Now, for us,
in a day where we've got electricity,
and just a simple switch,
light bulbs,
and street lights,
it doesn't seem much.
But back then,
when there were no lights,
when it got dark,
it got dark.
You couldn't see anything.
So here you could imagine this great big city,
that didn't have lights,
all these bowls being lit.
It was something spectacular,
something wonderful.
Light,
all around the city would shine.
Now,
we can begin to see the significance,
of what Jesus said,
can't we?
When Jesus said,
at the end of the feast,
when the lights were extinguished,
Jesus announces to everybody,
I am the light of the world.
He was making an extraordinary claim,
that I am the true means of rescue,
and salvation,
and deliverance.
I bring a new beginning,
releasing you,
and freeing you.
But it's not just for the Jewish people,
it wasn't just for that culture.
Look at what it says in verse 12.
He says,
I am the light of the world.
Jesus is salvation for everybody,
whatever race,
or culture,
or religious background you may come from,
whether you go to church,
and read your Bible,
or whether you don't.
Jesus is saying,
that I have come,
to give life,
in all its fullness.
Look at what it says,
at the end of verse 12,
whoever follows me,
will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.
You see,
when the Israelites,
were coming out of Egypt,
and making their way,
to the promised land,
it would be a life,
of prosperity,
and peace,
and fullness,
and completeness.
Now Jesus comes,
announcing to everybody,
that he offers,
the light of life,
eternal life.
The promise,
of a new beginning today,
not of wealth,
and money,
and materialism,
but a new beginning,
of sins forgiven,
not of success,
and health,
but of guilt,
being removed,
and the guaranteed,
hope,
of the ultimate,
promised land,
paradise,
heaven,
itself.
So Jesus,
came announcing,
to the world,
that I,
am the true light,
the means of salvation,
the way of rescue,
the way of deliverance,
the way of a new beginning.
So that's the first question,
what is the light?
Well it is life,
for the world.
The second question,
we need to ask is,
well,
why do we need,
this light?
That's fair enough,
Jesus is the light,
but why do,
I need the light?
Well if you can remember,
back to the story,
I said at the beginning,
being in the dark,
and running around,
in fields at night time,
can be pretty dangerous.
You don't know,
where you're going to end up.
Well look back,
at the beginning,
of this gospel,
Joe read it to us,
earlier on.
John,
chapter 1,
verse 3.
Light is a big theme,
in John's gospel,
and right at the very beginning,
he starts talking about it,
wanting us to know,
what it's all about.
John,
chapter 1,
verse 3.
Through him,
that's through Jesus,
all things were made.
Without him,
nothing was made,
that has been made.
In Jesus,
was life,
and that life,
was the light of people.
The light shines,
in the darkness,
but the darkness,
has not understood it.
So it's telling us,
very clearly,
that Jesus,
who is the light,
has come into the world,
and the world there,
is described as darkness.
But what is this darkness?
Why is the world,
described as darkness?
Well,
as we read through the book,
we get all kinds of hints,
and it's explained for us.
Let me show you one,
in chapter 3.
Flick over the page,
chapter 3,
verse 19.
This is the verdict.
Light has come into the world,
it's talking about Jesus,
but people love darkness,
instead of light,
because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil,
hates the light,
doesn't like Jesus,
darkness,
and will not come into the light,
for fear,
that their deeds will be shown up.
You see,
darkness,
in John's gospel,
is not just physical,
it's not just talking about night time.
It's primarily a picture,
of our spiritual rebellion,
against God.
Now,
you don't have to be religious,
to think about the word,
dark.
We often use the word,
dark,
to describe,
the world we live in,
that it's a very dark place,
at times.
Think of all the wars going on,
the murders,
the rape,
the child trafficking,
the ruthless regimes,
the greedy dictators.
It's very dark.
But even our own lives,
have dark times.
We get annoyed.
We tell lies.
We start shouting,
even parents,
I'm a parent,
we start shouting,
and we shouldn't.
We get greedy.
We all have dark times.
You see,
the world,
and its people,
people like you and me,
is saying,
it's full of darkness.
We all do,
evil things.
We all do wrong things.
Whoever we are,
it doesn't matter who we are,
we want to live our own life.
We don't want anybody telling us what to do.
And that's what it's saying in verse 20.
We don't want to kind of come out towards Jesus,
because then he'll show us up for what we're really like.
We like to stay in the dark,
and live our own lives the way we want to.
So whether our name is Johnny Grant,
or Gaddafi,
we all want to be in charge of our own lives.
We all want to live our own way.
And that's incredibly dangerous,
to be in the dark.
Look at chapter 3,
verse 36.
It says there,
whoever believes in the Son,
in Jesus,
has eternal life.
So that's to go the way of the light.
But whoever rejects the Son,
whoever rejects Jesus,
will not see life.
For God's wrath,
his judgment,
remains on him.
So throughout the Gospel,
John is saying,
being in the darkness
is a dangerous place to be.
And while it reflects our own rebellion against God,
it also pictures the consequences
of that rebellion.
Now when we read our verse in chapter 8,
verse 12,
it helps us to better understand now,
what it means when Jesus talks about,
walking in darkness.
But let's see the great promise of this verse.
Jesus says,
I'm the light of the world,
whoever follows me,
will never walk in darkness.
Jesus is promising to come to lead us out of the darkness,
to show us a new way,
to live a different way.
Do you remember the account of creation?
Let me read it to you,
from Genesis chapter 1.
There's no need to look it up.
I'll just read it to you.
Genesis chapter 1.
It says,
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 God said,
Let there be light.
And there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
And he separated the light from the darkness.
So Jesus has come to do exactly the same.
Not just physically,
like in creation,
but spiritually,
as in salvation.
The light shines in the darkness.
Jesus has come to be the light of life
in the darkness of this world.
And he's come to dispel the darkness,
to separate the light from the darkness.
And that ultimately happened
when Jesus died on the cross.
We know that when Jesus died on the cross,
from 12 noon till 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
it says it went completely dark.
The whole land was covered in darkness.
A sign that God's judgment was falling on Jesus
instead of us.
He died for our rebellion.
And now through Jesus,
the darkness has been dispeled.
Death and despair are gone.
Now there is light and life.
And so it is time to celebrate
this wonderful feast.
So that's the second question.
First, what is the light?
The second question,
why we need the light?
And the third question is,
well, okay,
that sounds all great.
But how can I have this light?
Well, if we had had some light
when we were running about in the field,
we would have been fine.
A little torch or something,
and it would have saved so much trouble.
Well, we've seen that Jesus is the light,
and we're in the darkness.
So what are we to do?
Well, look at the verse,
chapter 8, verse 12,
it tells us.
It says,
whoever follows me
will never walk in darkness.
The invitation is to follow the light,
to walk with the light.
Whenever we picked ourselves out of the hedge,
and all those thorns and everything else,
we came to the conclusion
that we just needed to get back home.
And getting back home was easy,
because we just followed the light
in the distance.
And the closer we got,
the brighter it became.
At last, we were back home again
in the safety and the security
of a house,
falling into a nice, warm, soft,
not a prickly bed.
I don't think we ever went on a night walk again
after that.
But you see how we're called
to follow the light of Christ?
To follow His way, His path?
But that following
is a life of commitment
and a life of trust.
Have a look at John's Gospel, chapter 12.
This is what Amy read for us.
John's Gospel, chapter 12, verse 35.
This explains what it means
to follow the light.
John 12, verse 35.
Jesus told them,
He's speaking about Himself,
you are going to have the light
just a little while longer.
walk while you have the light
before darkness overtakes you.
The person who walks in the dark
does not know where he is going.
Put your trust in the light
while you have it
so that you may become
children of light.
So Jesus is saying,
we are to entrust ourselves
into the care of His light.
That means we are to accept
that Jesus took the darkness
of our lives on Himself.
But not only that,
it says if we trust in Him,
we become children of light.
Jesus takes our darkness,
our sin,
our rebellion,
and in its place
He gives us His light,
His purity,
and His goodness.
It's a complete exchange.
So we're no longer treated
as people in the darkness,
as enemies,
but we are now loved
and treasured
and accepted and welcomed
as His own children.
That means we're brothers and sisters
with the Lord Jesus.
We have the same Father God.
It's a wonderful invitation
to follow the light.
But this also confronts us
with a choice.
There's no dusk here.
There's no mention of dawn,
kind of like an in-between
darkness and light.
He just talks in simple terms.
Light or darkness.
And so we need to ask ourselves,
am I in the darkness
or am I in the light?
You know the feast
that we talked about
at the very beginning
that Jesus went to
was a week-long celebration.
People came to party
and enjoy themselves.
They really knew how to party
in those days.
We're going to have a party
in a little while.
It'll only last for a couple of hours.
This went on for a whole week,
seven days.
People would walk around the city
with torches at night,
big flaming torches,
singing and dancing.
There'd be huge,
big orchestras
and there'd be beating drums
and playing harps
and lyres
and clashing cymbals,
celebrating the salvation
that God had done
in the past.
Well, Jesus comes
then to center stage
and he says,
I am the light of the world.
And he's inviting us all
to enjoy his salvation,
to join in the greatest celebration.
He's inviting us
to an eternal feast.
The feast of heaven
where there will be
no more darkness,
where there's no more death,
no more despair.
It's completely dispelled.
It's gone.
And so he's inviting us
to trust Jesus, the light,
and to walk with him,
to celebrate
in that eternal feast.
Let me read to you
in closing
something that John said
in another book.
It comes at the very end
of the Bible in Revelation
and he pictures
what that's going to be like.
And this is what he says
No longer will there be
any curse.
There will be no more night.
We will not need
the light of a lamp
or the light of a sun
for the Lord God
will give them light
and they will reign
forever
and forever.
If we follow the light
of Jesus Christ,
we will celebrate
with him forever
in the greatest feast
eternal life
with God.
Let's pray together.
our Father God,
we thank you so much
that you are so clearly
the light to this world,
shining a path
for us to follow,
showing us that Jesus
is the way.
Help us to trust him
with our lives.
Help him to enjoy
the salvation
that he has come
to give,
to celebrate with him
and to look forward
to that eternal feast,
heaven itself.
So we thank you
for Jesus.
Amen.