I AM the LIGHT
Disappointed
What do you do when you’re disappointed?
One of my family’s favorite Christmas movies growing up was Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase.
When I was growing up, we had the TV version of the movie recorded on a VHS. It wasn’t until years later when we bought the DVD that I realized there were a few scenes that were a bit inappropriate!
We loved to watch Clark Grizwald and his family driving into the country to find the perfect family Christmas tree singing Christmas carols all the way. We loved the scene with cousin Eddie parking his RV, uninvited, in front of their house.
One of our favorite scenes was when Clark had spent all this time putting thousands of lights on his house and in his yard, the whole family is out front to watch as he plugs in the lights for this awe inspiring Christmas moment… and when he does, nothing happens!
All this time… All this work… and nothing!
He looks over at his son who had unwillingly helped him with the lights and asks him if he had checked all the bulbs. “Um, yea… sure dad!”
Nothing to Cheer For
How many times have you felt that kind of crescendo disappointment? All that time… All that work… and NOTHING! How many times have you been excited for something you worked so hard for and then been so incredibly disappointed?
The job falls through. We didn’t get a spot on the team. The pregnancy didn’t happen. The proposal never came. The Christmas bonus didn’t come. The raise didn’t happen. The house fell through. The treatment didn’t work. What we worked so hard for and waited so long for didn’t happen and we were left with disappointment.
Like Clark Griswold standing in front of a majestic house with 10,000 twinkle lights, the family there ready to applaud, yet… there’s nothing to cheer about, nothing to see, all that work, all that waiting, all that hoping, and nothing.
Waiting for Messiah
If you’ve ever felt that way, even a little, then you have a sense of what it must have been like for the people of God some 2000 years ago. They were hanging all their hopes and dreams on God’s Messiah.
From time to time someone would come, a leader, a strong contender for the title Messiah… but as quickly as they came they would go. Some would rally around them thinking… this is the one! We have found the Messiah! Only to realize they were standing out in the cold and there was nothing to see. Disappointed.
All that changed when Jesus arrived on the scene in Jerusalem. John sets the scene for us in John 7.2.
“…it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters…”
Other translations might say Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles. This was an annual Jewish feast, kind of like a Jewish Thanksgiving, where everyone came to Jerusalem for 7-8 days to celebrate the gathering of the harvest. And during this holiday, this feast, this festival, they lived in small shelters, or booths, or tents.
Feast of Booths or Tabernacles
They built these small shelters out of branches from 4 different types of trees and the rule was you had to leave a small opening in the roof so you could at least see one star at night.
They built these tents and lived in these tents in Jerusalem during this feast to remind them of the days after the Exodus when they lived in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. They wanted to remember that during this time, while living in these tents, God provided for them.
God provided bread from Heaven, manna, that they could eat each day. He provided water when they needed it, like the time he brought water from a Rock and gave them something to drink in the desert when they were thirsty. And he gave them a cloud by day and a pillar of fire, a light in the night, to give them direction and lead them to the promised land.
It was during this feast each year that they would light large bowls of oil, 16 candles, on huge candle stands in the temple court to remind them of the light of God that led them here to this place.
And it was during this feast that Jesus should have gone to Jerusalem with his brothers to celebrate. In fact, it was required by law that he go. But he told his brothers he didn’t want to go, that they should go without him.
But John writes that Jesus went to Jerusalem, first in secret, but then, about half way through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach.
Could Jesus be the One?
People started to wonder… could this Jesus be the long awaited Messiah? The one we’ve been hoping for? Preparing for? Waiting for? Then…
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” – John 7.37-38
Remember… during this festival they remember the water that God provided in the wilderness when they were delivered from Egypt and were on the way to the Promised land. Jesus says here, on the last day of this festival, that HE is the SOURCE of living water. That anyone who is THIRSTY should come to him to drink!
When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” So the crowd was divided about him. Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him. – John 7.40-44
A Crescendo Moment, almost.
It’s the holiday season in Israel. Jerusalem is FULL of people. For years and years they’ve been singing the song… “O come, O come, Emmanuel. And rescue captive Israel!” The temple courts have been lit up… not with Christmas lights, but with large candles. Jesus has demonstrated his power by healing the sick and walking on water. He’s already said, “I AM the bread of Life.” And, “I AM the source of Living Water!”
You can feel everything in this story working towards a crescendo moment.
And then… in your scripture, you have this little note in brackets.
[Brackets]
[The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.]
What happens next in John 8 is by far one of my most favorite stories in the entire Bible. But in the most ancient copies of scripture that we have, this story isn’t present. It seems to have been added later.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean it isn’t true or that it isn’t reliable or that what it teaches us about Jesus isn’t true… it just means its not found in the most ancient MSS we have.
I share that for one reason… if you take that part out, what happens next makes a lot of sense.
The Rest of the Story…
We move from Jesus in the temple court teaching and declaring that he is the source of Living Water… and then we immediately read this in John 8.12…
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
If you ask me… Jesus is still standing in the Temple Courts when he said this. This is a continuation of what we just read at the end of John 7.
If that’s true, then Jesus spoke these words on the LAST DAY, the LAST NIGHT of the Feast of Booths. And on the last night of the Feast of Booths, the flames that had been lit all week in that temple court where Jesus stood and Jesus was speaking, the torches that were set ablaze every night reminding the people of the light of God that led them in the Exodus, on that last night they were not lit! They had been put out.
Against the darkness of that night, in the middle of the Temple court where light had shined all week, where people had come to see and remember the light of God all week… there was only darkness. And against the canvas of that darkness Jesus says to all of Jerusalem, to all who are gathered in the temple court…
“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Excitement and Disappointment
It’s as if everyone has gathered to SEE the LIGHT and there stands before them only ONE LIGHT. JESUS.
And in that moment, it’s my guess that some people were EXCITED!
Some people heard the drum roll and when they saw THE LIGHT, their heart skipped a beat. They were overjoyed and overcome that the long awaited Messiah was finally here! What they had been waiting for, longing for, hoping for had finally come.
And in that moment, it’s my guess that some people were DISAPPOINTED.
The Light of the World was standing before them but as far as they could tell, it was still dark. They didn’t believe. They couldn’t see. All they could see was the darkness.
And my guess is that some of you may feel that way today, too.
Still waiting
Maybe you’ve been waiting on Jesus to come through for you, to arrive, to deliver, to make good on a promise, to do what only Jesus can do… only, you’re still waiting. You’re still hoping. You’re still longing. Against the darkness of the night that you’re going through right now you’re looking for light, you may even be looking for the Light, but you don’t see it, you don’t see Him.
You’re waiting. But you’re losing hope. You’re waiting. But you’re confidence is fading.
What do you do when you’re disappointed with God?
Clark
It’s no comparison… but Clark Griswold was so incredibly frustrated that His Christmas lights were not working. He did everything in his power to get the lights to come on and nothing he did seemed to matter, to make a difference.
But then, something happened. He didn’t know what happened. He didn’t know what he did. But the lights came on. Clark went from DISAPPOINTED to OVERJOYED! All 10,000 twinkle lights came on! And it was miraculous! Glorious! Awesome! Amazing!
But he didn’t do anything to get the lights on. If you’ve seen the movie, then you know he had about 100 plugs plugged into one outlet in their utility room. A real fire hazard!
His wife went to make sure everything was plugged in and when she did she turned on the light in that room. Well, that light switch powered that outlet. When she turned the light switch on, the lights came on. And it was MAGNIFICENT!
Flip the Switch
I wish I could flip a switch and help you see the LIGHT of the World. I wish I could flip a switch and help you see hope in the darkness. Because Jesus… Jesus is glorious. Jesus if full of hope. Jesus is your light in the darkness.
These people in Jerusalem, they had been searching for the light of God again. They had been lighting candles in Jerusalem every year waiting for the day the LIGHT that Isaiah had spoken about would come. Waiting for the day the LIGHT of God would lead them again, deliver them again, give them hope again. And there was Jesus, the LIGHT of GOD, the LIGHT of the WORLD, standing in front of them and many of them couldn’t see it.
Maybe you have been looking for a light as well. Looking for something to help you, to deliver you, to heal you, to set you free, to give you hope, to give you guidance, to lead you home… If that’s you, can I suggest you take another look at Jesus.
Because…
Jesus is the Light you’re looking for.
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
What are you waiting on? What are you hoping for? What do you need to be delivered from? What problem do you need solved? What or who do you need healed?
It’s easy to be discouraged in the darkness. We’re often blinded by the darkness and can’t see what God is doing. But can I urge you in the middle of your darkness to fix your eyes on Jesus? Because Jesus is the Light you’re looking for.
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