I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (2 OF 7)
by Jim Perdue
Scripture: John 8:12, John 9:5
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I Am the Light of the World (2 of 7)
Series: I Am
Jim Perdue
John 8:12, 9:5
There are seven sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John that are known as the ''I am'' statements of the Lord. This phrase, ''I am'' is very significant biblically. When God appeared to Moses in the book of Exodus He appeared in a burning bush and commanded Moses to deliver His people from Egyptian slavery. READ Exodus 3:13-14
''And God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.'' One author writes, ''This signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that He is the Being of beings; also it denotes His eternity and immutability, and His constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come; and the sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.''
It's no wonder that the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus when he said, ''Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!'' John 8:58 (ON SCREEN) Clearly, they recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God. And every one of these seven ''I am'' statements from Jesus Christ are a claim to deity. Today, we see Christ saying, I Am the Light of the World: READ John 8:12, 9:5
*Jesus already has been described as light in John's Gospel. In the opening chapter John wrote, READ John 1:4 He spoke of the light six times in that context. In chapter 3 there is a similar reference. John said, READ 3:19 This verse and those immediately following refer to light five times in reference to Jesus. In each of these cases the image is in John's words only, however. So we read these verses and, if we have not read further, we find ourselves asking, ''But why does John refer to Jesus in this way? Where did he get this image? How did he develop this idea?'' It is only when we get to our present text that we discover the answer. John refers to Jesus as the light because Jesus referred to Himself as the light.*
Jesus ...
Series: I Am
Jim Perdue
John 8:12, 9:5
There are seven sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John that are known as the ''I am'' statements of the Lord. This phrase, ''I am'' is very significant biblically. When God appeared to Moses in the book of Exodus He appeared in a burning bush and commanded Moses to deliver His people from Egyptian slavery. READ Exodus 3:13-14
''And God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.'' One author writes, ''This signifies the real being of God, his self-existence, and that He is the Being of beings; also it denotes His eternity and immutability, and His constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and to come; and the sense is, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.''
It's no wonder that the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus when he said, ''Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!'' John 8:58 (ON SCREEN) Clearly, they recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God. And every one of these seven ''I am'' statements from Jesus Christ are a claim to deity. Today, we see Christ saying, I Am the Light of the World: READ John 8:12, 9:5
*Jesus already has been described as light in John's Gospel. In the opening chapter John wrote, READ John 1:4 He spoke of the light six times in that context. In chapter 3 there is a similar reference. John said, READ 3:19 This verse and those immediately following refer to light five times in reference to Jesus. In each of these cases the image is in John's words only, however. So we read these verses and, if we have not read further, we find ourselves asking, ''But why does John refer to Jesus in this way? Where did he get this image? How did he develop this idea?'' It is only when we get to our present text that we discover the answer. John refers to Jesus as the light because Jesus referred to Himself as the light.*
Jesus ...
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