2nd Intro to John 8:12-21

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/28/2016 8:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-2 Introduction to John 8:12-21

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 8:12-21

            Message of the verses:  “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." 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16  "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17  "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 “I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." 19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." 20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.  21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."”

            We have just looked at Zechariah 4:6 in our study of the book of Zechariah, and the entire 4^th chapter of Zechariah speaks of Israel being the light of the world, something that will surely happen during the millennial kingdom, and now we are studying John 8:12-21 where Jesus tells us that He, Israel’s Messiah is the Light of the world, and in our Sunday school this week we will be looking at the 49^th chapter of Isaiah where in verse six of that chapter and also in Isaiah 42:6 we read of the prophecies of the Messiah being the Light, so as we move forward in this study of John in this portion we will understand that the Pharisees and also the Scribes knew that Jesus was indeed claiming to be the Messiah, and also the very Son of God.

            Now the idea of Jesus being light is not something knew found in the gospel of John for we read the following from chapter one “4  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:4-5).”  The question is why do we need light?  Well we need light to overcome the darkness, and how is darkness described in the Word of God:  “From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;” “The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble (Proverbs 2:13 & 4:19).”  Let’s look at Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”  Ok we get the idea that in the Word of God darkness is a metaphor for sin and light for righteousness.  We also know that if you are in a pitch black, dark room and you light a very small candle that the light will always overcome the darkness and that in a nutshell is how a person is saved from their sins as the Light of the gospel shines on our dark souls and we understand that we have lived in the darkness of sin and desire to have the Light brought into our lives so we can be saved from the darkness we have been living in. 

            “Into the sin-darkened world came Jesus Christ as ‘the Light [that] shines in the darkness’ (1:5); ‘the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man’ (v.9)” writes John MacArthur.

            As we go through the verses we will be looking at “the area in which the conflict took place, the Lord’s assertion, the leader’s accusation, the Lord’s answer to that accusation, and His announcement of their impending judgment.”  Chapter eight, the entire chapter has much conflict that will take place and this is just the beginning of that conflict.

5/28/2016 11:37 AM:  Time out for a soccer game with the grandson.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I realize that I, too must be a light in the dark place that I live, and by the power of the Holy Spirit tell others about embracing the true Light.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to see me through the battles that the enemy tries to cause me to fall into.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Corinthians 12:7-8 “7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from exalting myself.  8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He caused it to float.”  (2 Kings 6:1-6).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who as a spectacle unto the world?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/28/2016 11:43 AM