The Light of the World; The Good Shepherd

Seven times in the Gospel of John, our Lord Jesus Christ talked about "I AM." And He compared Himself with important objects that teach us what He is like and what God is like. We've already discovered in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life." When you're hungry, Jesus Christ is the one who gives you spiritual nourishment.

And now in John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

The background of this statement given in John 8:1-11 is that early morning scene in the temple. It was the Feast of Tabernacles, you'll recall, and the Jewish leaders had tried to arrest Jesus, but it didn't work out at all; they were unable to arrest Him, His time, His hour, had not yet come.

Well, they thought they would trick Him, and so while He was teaching in the temple early in the morning, the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been taken in the act of adultery. But the whole thing was a plot, and the Lord Jesus, of course, did not condemn the woman.

Rather He said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one. And Jesus was left alone with that woman, and He was able to lead her into salvation. He said, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?" and she said, "No man, Lord." And Jesus said unto her, and what wonderful words these are, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

Well, those who were standing by and some who came back must have resented that. Who is He to say to someone, "Neither do I condemn thee"? The Lord Jesus Christ here is claiming to be God; only God can forgive sin. Well, Jesus replied to the attitudes of the people by saying, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." So as we look at John 8:12, let's focus on the three persons who are involved here.

Let's begin with the sinner. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness." Our Lord Jesus is picturing lost people as those who are walking in darkness. And of course, they're walking in the wrong direction; they're on that broad road that leads to destruction. They've turned their back on the light, and the farther they walk, the darker it gets.

You see, in the Bible, sin is pictured in many different ways. It's pictured as dirt. Sin is pictured as death; in Ephesians 2:1, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." But so often sin is pictured as darkness.

There's mental darkness. Unsaved people have a darkness in their mind. 2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that the god of this age—that's Satan—has blinded the minds of them that believe not. So if you don't know Jesus as your Savior, you are walking in darkness because your mind is darkened; you can't think God's thoughts.

There's moral darkness. When your mind is in the dark, then before long, you start loving the dark. Now here's this woman who was caught in adultery. I think the whole thing was a plot, it was a put-up job, and they drag her before the Lord Jesus early in the morning.

And all right, she was a sinner; she was immoral, she had yielded to the flesh, her sin had been found out. But what about the man who was involved? Why wasn't he found out? He was just as much a sinner. You see, you and I think that because we haven't been found out, we aren't sinners. But here was a woman who was caught, but God knew about the man.

And here were the Pharisees. These Pharisees were so moral on the outside, and oh, how harsh they were to this woman. They were so pious and so religious, but when God put His light upon their hearts, their conscience bothered them. Jesus said, "If you're without sin, you throw the first stone," and they couldn't say they were without sin. Y

ou see, there are sinners who are guilty of sins of the flesh like this woman. There are sinners who are guilty of sins of the spirit—the awful attitudes of the heart like these Pharisees. And then there were the spectators standing watching, and they didn't feel much conviction at all themselves. All the world is walking in darkness if you don't know Jesus as your Savior. So there's the sinner walking in darkness, heading toward eternal darkness where the light of life never will shine.

Now the second person involved here, and of course the most important person, is the Lord Jesus. He says, "I am the light of the world." And we need to notice what kind of a light He is. I would suggest to you that Jesus Christ is the supreme light.

When you read the first eleven verses, you see a number of different lights, don't you? It was early in the morning, so the sun was coming up. Here's the light of creation. There are those who say, "Well, we'll study creation, we'll look at nature." Oh no, you can't have your sins forgiven by looking at nature. Jesus Christ is the supreme light; He shines brighter than the light of nature.

And we have the light of the commandments here. John 8:5: "Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned." And this is true; the law was a light, a lamp that was given to show the way for the people of Israel. And God's holy law is still a light to us, but the law can't save anybody. The law is a schoolmaster to bring people to Christ. And interestingly enough, the law brought this woman to the Lord Jesus.

He is supreme over the light of conscience. In John 8:9: "being convicted by their own conscience." Conscience is that inward judge that accuses us when we've done wrong and commends us when we've done right. Someone says, "Well, I let conscience be my guide." Well, conscience can be defiled, conscience can be seared. Hebrews 10:22 talks about an evil conscience. Conscience cannot forgive sin; it can convict, but it cannot forgive.

Then, of course, there's the light of ceremony. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, and every night out in the temple courts, the priests lit the four huge candlesticks that reminded them of the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness.

Well, the Old Testament religion was a great religion, but it doesn't save anybody. And all the ceremonies they could go through at the Feast of Tabernacles couldn't take away sin. Here stands this woman: caught, convicted, condemned. And nature can't save her, and the law can't save her, and conscience can't save her, and religious ceremony can't save her. Only Jesus can save her. He is the supreme light.

Secondly, He is the sufficient light. He says, "I am the light of the world," not just the light of Israel, not just the light of a few people. And that light shines in grace. Just like the sun was coming up—the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings, in His rays—Jesus Christ is the sufficient light. He is sufficient for the sins of the whole world because He died for the sins of the whole world.

And thirdly, I notice that Jesus Christ is the saving light. "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Now, if the light goes out, we don't have any life. All life depends upon the light of the sun. And spiritual life depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thirty-six times in the Gospel of John, you find the word "life"; it's one of the key words in the Gospel of John. He is the saving light, and Jesus Christ can shine into your heart and save you. But remember, He had to go through the darkness of Calvary before He could save us and bring to the world the light of life.

Well, the sinner, and then the Savior, and then the believer. What happens when you trust Jesus Christ? Well, you start following Him, and you experience the light of life. "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." First, you come to the light.

Now, of course, that exposes your sin, but you don't argue about it; you just simply trust Him, you believe Jesus Christ. And then you receive the light down inside. That light just shines into your heart. You see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and it's marvelous that the light just shines in. You trust Jesus and you receive the light, and then you start to follow the light.

"The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." That's Proverbs 4:18. And then you become the light. Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world." As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world, but He's gone back to heaven; now we are the light of the world. And so you come to the light, and you trust the light, and then you receive the light, and then you follow the light, and you become the light. "He that followeth me shall have the light of life."

We open the Word of God to John 10 as we consider another of our Lord's "I AM" statements. He tells us in John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." You find a great many shepherds in the Old Testament, don't you? Abel, the first martyr, was a shepherd. The patriarchs were shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses served as a shepherd, and David was a shepherd. And now we have the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, coming and saying, "I am the good shepherd."

That word "good" carries the idea of blameless, noble. It could be translated "beautiful"; I am the beautiful shepherd. Because in the Old Testament, you're going to find some false shepherds. You're going to find leaders who were supposed to help the people, and instead, they hurt the people, they harmed them.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. Now, as the good shepherd, He has a threefold relationship to His sheep. And this threefold relationship is spelled out to us in John 10. It is a loving relationship: He dies for the sheep. It is a living relationship: He lives for the sheep, cares for them. And it is a lasting relationship: He keeps the sheep.

Let's take this first relationship. It's a loving relationship; He dies for the sheep. Look at John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." John 10:15: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:17: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." John 10:18: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power or authority to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." Over and over again, our Lord emphasizes the fact that He dies for the sheep. He is the substitute.

When you read John 10, you discover a great many persons are involved. The drama of John 10 involves a number of characters. For example, in John 10:10, our Lord talks about the thief. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Now, who is that thief? Well, it's Satan.

And down in John 10:12, He talks about a hireling, and He talks about the wolf coming. Unfortunately, there are many religious hirelings. There are people who profess to be spiritual leaders, but they're doing it only for what they can get out of it, and when difficulty and trouble come, they run away.

Now a shepherd doesn't do that. A hireling has no real concern for the sheep; he only thinks about himself. But the shepherd is greatly concerned for the sheep.

Now the thief, Satan, wants to come and steal and kill and destroy. He's talking there about the fact that there are people who follow a false shepherd, who would listen to Satan, and they would end up in eternal destruction. Jesus Christ the good shepherd gave His life for us.

In the Old Testament, the sheep used to die for the shepherd, but in the New Testament, the shepherd dies for the sheep. And He died voluntarily. I doubt that any sheep in the Old Testament volunteered to die. He said, "I have the authority to lay it down; I lay down my life. Nobody murdered Me; nobody took My life from Me. Voluntarily I died." That certainly shows His love to us, doesn't it? That He would come where we are and die for our sins.

A voluntary sacrifice, a finished sacrifice: He laid down His life and He took it up again. His death, burial, and resurrection—that's the Gospel. The Gospel says that Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, and He was seen of witnesses.

A voluntary sacrifice, a finished sacrifice, a victorious sacrifice. Oh, how wonderful it is to know this wonderful shepherd, the good shepherd, and His loving relationship: He dies for the sheep.

But it doesn't stop there. Not only is it a loving relationship, but I read it is a living relationship: He lives for the sheep. You see, the Jewish flocks were not kept for slaughter. It was most unusual for the shepherd to slaughter the sheep. They were kept for milk, for reproduction, and for the wool. And the shepherd over the years would get to know his sheep. He lived with them and He lived for them. There was a very personal relationship.

For example, our Lord says this, John 10:12: "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep."

You see, it's a living relationship. He knows our names. John 10:27: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them." Now, He knows your name. He knows who you are, He knows what you are, He knows your nature, He knows all about you.

These shepherds would know those sheep that were prone to wander. And you know, it's the nature of a sheep to need a shepherd. That's why the shepherd has to live for the sheep and live with the sheep. Jesus said, "I put forth My sheep and I go before them, and I give them eternal life." And so when you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, there's that living relationship.

You are defenseless; sheep just cannot defend themselves, but the shepherd will do it. As sheep, we're so ignorant; we can't find our own pasture, we're so prone to wander away. But the shepherd can guide us. That's what Psalm 23 is all about. Psalm 22 describes the loving relationship where Jesus dies for the sheep, and Psalm 23 describes that living relationship where the Lord Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, lives for His sheep.

How does the good shepherd guide His sheep? Through His Word. If you're one of His sheep, you'll hear His voice. And when you hear the voice of a stranger or a hireling or a thief, you'll know the difference. Something in your heart, the Holy Spirit, will tell you that there is a difference. True sheep will know the voice of the shepherd through His Word.

It's a loving relationship: He dies for the sheep. And it's a living relationship: He lives for the sheep, cares for them all day long. And finally, it is a lasting relationship: He keeps the sheep. John 10:27, John 10:28, and John 10:29.

Listen to them now: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

I don't know where you're going to find better security than that. You see, the hireling runs away when there's trouble, but not the good shepherd; He has a lasting relationship with His sheep. The thief comes to destroy, but not the good shepherd; He keeps His sheep. Our Lord is telling us here that no true believer is ever lost.

Now He describes the true believers in John 10:27: they hear His voice, He knows them, they follow Him. Just because someone raises his hand in a service or signs a card or even goes down an aisle doesn't mean he's one of the true sheep. There are those who are not the true sheep who think they are.

A true sheep hears the voice of God; the Word of God speaks to him. He follows the voice of God. He does what God tells him to do. Doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally stumble, but it means that he follows the voice as given to him in the Word. So it's a lasting relationship; He keeps the sheep.

You see, He gives us eternal life, not temporary life. It's eternal, it's God's life. And He gives it to us; it's all by grace. This wonderful grace of Jesus that has been manifested to us on the cross.

My friend, do you know this shepherd? "All we like sheep have gone astray," says Isaiah 53:6. "We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him Jesus the iniquity of us all." You walk into the beginning of that verse lost; you walk out of the end of that verse saved. Would you trust the shepherd? He is such a loving, wonderful shepherd, and He'll give to you eternal life and abundant life and guide you all the day long.