Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The Word of God contains words inspired by God and it is His vehicle to help us understand His Son, and His ways, and our place in His plans for the everlasting kingdom. Let’s dissect the above passage carefully for their meaning.
Note who the speaker is. It is “Jesus” the Christ, the Son of God made flesh, and who makes covenants with His people, of law then of grace. He is the express image of God, so to see His life is to know the person of the living God. He is the King of kings, and to Him all humanity will bend the knew as Lord and Ruler of all. He is the Creator, the one who made the worlds, who said, “Let there be light,” and light shined at His word.
What did He do in this instance? He “spoke.” He who made human beings to know, to hear and understand, used those very capacities to communicate with His highest creation. He who spoke creation into existence speaks to the listening hearers, and His words have the capacity to form new life, new desire, new resolve, in the attentive hearts.
He forgave a woman who was taken in sin. He spoke with words of explanation, clarifying the truth behind His action: God is love; He forgives; He speaks with sinners. God came to save humanity, male and female, one at a time, to redeem them back to Himself, that they may take their rightful place at His side as mature children of God.
He spoke. What is the natural response to someone who speaks? We listen. We consider what to do with the words we heard. We may respond; we might not. We may listen; we might shut down. But His words are written down for posterity that we may review them again and again. Though they are written, yet we hear His voice when we read His written words, and the living Word speaks.
Jesus spoke “to them.” He spoke to men who would aggressively and mercilessly apply the law to a woman who was taken in sin. He spoke, and shined light into the accusers’ hearts. Their vehemence fell, stones thudded, and the equally guilty dropped out.
We think God wants nothing to do with us. That He wound up the cosmos and left it to wind down. Actually, He created human beings as a separate act of creation, unevolved and unconnected to the animals created the previous days. He created us to have fellowship with Him, and has a plan to bring us to Himself.
To those who do not know they are sinners, He comes and speaks, close enough to them to knock on the door of their hearts and address them, with the hope that they would listen and open the door and have a meal with Him. God goes out to sinners, but the self-righteous and self-satisfied will so often turn a deaf ear to Him. As it was then, so it is today.
What He spoke “to them” speaks to all of us. We don’t limit the sayings to a particular tribe, to the highly intelligent, the wealthy and respected. To the poor in spirit who hears and recognizes their need He comes and speaks and enriches their souls.
He spoke to them “again.” He did not repeat His words, but added meaning to meaning. He spoke again, adding His own self to the previous words, imprinting the divine signature onto the conversation. He is the light of the world.
Speaking again through the written Word that we study daily, He can fill our understand with the second and third hearing, and fill our hearts with the spiritual food we crave.
He spoke again; and continued the conversation that was broken off when the Fall dropped a veil between God and mankind. He spoke the never-ending story of God’s love, and extended words of peace on earth to all who were trapped by the Fall.
He speaks again and again, that His words may trickle through the cracks in the armor of our heart, the rifts in the walls of our soul, the tears in the facade of the mind. His words herald the presence of the Speaker who desires to speak with us as He did with Moses, face to face, as He taught His disciples, as the Spirit of Christ directed the apostles.
And He speaks to us all again: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
