A Light to lighten all

John 8:1 “But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.”
John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."”

OK, maybe you are wondering, what’s so special about verse 1. I asked the same when I started reading John 8 today. The word “But” had me looking back to chapter 7, where everyone went home. Jesus opted instead to go to a place where He would retreat to pray. Jesus was tired after a full day of teaching and deflecting challenge after challenge, and He prayed, readying Himself for another day of much of the same.

My main focus of this chapter then fell to verse 12. When I was in 8th grade, as part of a protestant church, we went through what is known as Confirmation, a ceremony that marked my entrance into church membership by way of a two-year-long process of education in that particular denominational faith. I can separately discuss why this is not the biblical manner of joining a church, why salvation and church membership is never a “process”, and yet that is not the point here. When young people are “confirmed” they are given a bible verse of the pastor’s choosing, to hold close to them.

Truth be told, other than remembering this verse as that of my confirmation, John 8:12 never did have particular meaning until I personally accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Up till then, I just felt good about the verse reference. Now, when Jesus says He is the Light, and when He says that by following that Light I will not walk in darkness, what tremendous meaning that takes on! Just like having a flashlight in a dark room, knowing Christ and having Him as a guide in this dark world brings everything into a bright perspective.

Believers, we have the Light of life. We have the Spirit of the Living God living in each of us. Wow! And note, Jesus said the he who follows Him WILL NOT walk in the darkness. He could have said, “might not”, or “can avoid the darkness”, but He does not. He says WILL NOT.

So are we truly following Him? Do we ever feel as if the darkness is overwhelming, that we suddenly cannot “see” well? If we follow that Light, truly walk as Christ would have us walk, the darkness need not affect us.