103. Beginner Bible Course: "I am the Light of the World" / "Before Abraham was, I AM"

EPISODE 103   a simple Bible overview of...I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, AND, BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM

...on a visit to my in-laws. I decided to be a great son-in-law and mow their yard. I was going to bag it. I put all the clippings into their 50 gallon trash can in the front yard. When I was just about done with the yard, they decided to reward this great son-in-law and his family by buying us dinner. When we came back from the restaurant, a couple of hours later, I saw a rather stunning act of nature in the front yard there around that 50 gallon trash can was the biggest cloud of wasps. I had ever seen 10,000 of them. At least they were dive bombing. The garbage can. I mean, it was a cloud wisely. We all entered through the back door.

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00:00:45

It was pretty clear. I'd set that garbage can over the hole to their colony in the front yard. While I was inside on the couch, wondering how on earth I was going to resolve this problem? My father-in-law led out the family <inaudible> because nature was calling. It never dawned on us. The visible would go all the way up to the front yard, but she did about one minute later, we saw the <inaudible> standing at the back door waiting to get in it wasn't until she stumbled inside. We noticed there were at least 60 or 70 wasps angrily burrowing into the fur to sting her. I'll save my father-in-law the hero side of this story for another word, picture that imagery of the cloud of bees.

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00:01:28

And later those individual bees burrowing into Mali <inaudible> come to mind. As I read the story of Jesus in John chapter seven and eight in his previous visits, Jesus had stirred up the Hornet nest after Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, they had decided to kill Jesus. And during Jesus' two years in Galilee, a few of these leaders swarmed him there with questions and accusations. But in John chapter seven and eight, Jesus goes directly into the nest. And by the time we get to the end of John chapter eight Jesus situation as much like Molly at the back door waiting to get back in.

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00:02:09

John tells us what happened. We learned in the last episode, Jesus waited until the middle of the festival in Jerusalem to arrive secretly. That festival was the feast of tents or booths. An eight day festival. God had commanded in the old Testament. The place was swarming. As people came in from all over for those first few days, Jesus was quite the topic. Some in the crowd, murmured, he is a good man. Others claimed he was dangerous. A Wolf in sheep's clothing, as it were in the middle of the festival, Jesus pops up in the temple and just starts teaching. Jesus starts with a question I'm just doing what pleases my father.

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00:02:51

Why are you trying to kill me? Anyway, the response from the crowd is you have a demon who seeking to kill you. This is complete denial. Jesus reminds them of his last visit to Jerusalem. I made that guy from the pool. Well, on the Sabbath, there's not a person in this crowd who wouldn't bring their little eight day old boy here to be circumcised on the Sabbath. That's right. Isn't it. You don't think that's violating God's rules for the Sabbath, but I make an entire man whole and you want to kill me for it? Think about this. People wake up again. The crowd starts to talk among themselves. Some say, do you think this really is the Messiah?

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00:03:32

The leaders aren't shutting him down. Maybe he is. Others are saying this one's from Galilee. Come on. We know Micah said the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Meanwhile, the religious leaders were swarming seeking to dive bomb Jesus. But the crowd was so favorable toward him that they were afraid they would be torn apart. Jesus then disses the religious leaders some more. I'll only be here a little while longer. Then I'm going to leave and you won't find me and where I'm going. You can't even come. The religious leaders have no clue what he's talking about. They think maybe he is going to leave the area and take his little preaching show to the Greek areas.

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00:04:14

At the last day of this festival day eight, Jesus stood up and said, if anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. If you believe in me, rivers of living water will come out of your inner most parts, thirsty rivers of living water. At least some of the religious leaders and people in the crowd would have thought of the children of Israel in the wilderness on several occasions when they were thirsty and couldn't find an Oasis. God had provided a river coming out of a rock. What they were thinking was unclear. But what Jesus meant is very clear. John and apparent thetical comments as what Jesus was referring to is the Holy spirit who had not yet come in the future.

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00:04:56

John realizes Jesus is saying, believe in me and the Holy spirit will do something in your inner most parts. This gets people jabbering. Even more people began to cluster more into camps. Is he the Messiah or the prophet or something despicable and dangerous. We've learned before it was at this time, the religious leaders sent officers to arrest Jesus. Those officers come back empty handed. And when challenged by the religious authorities for failing on their mission, they said, you don't understand. There's never been anyone who teaches like this guy, have you listened to him? The religious leaders are not impressed. This is also the place, the Nicodemus who we looked at in episode 92 speaks up.

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00:05:40

That's the end of chapter seven in chapter eight, the frenzy gets worse. Speaking of chapter eight, your Bible will probably show the first 11 verses in brackets. The text may even be italicized and a good study. Bible will have a footnote that says these verses were not found in many of the earliest manuscripts that should flag you. This was likely not in John's original writing of the gospel as he was carried along by the Holy spirit. Personally, it sounds quite authentic. This sounds like something the Pharisees would have done judgmentally drag, a woman who had been caught in sin before Jesus, the rabbi to test him and Jesus shrewd response in graciousness to the woman also sounds legitimate, but I would be careful to preach on this passage or to treat it as authoritative, like the rest of the gospel of John.

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00:06:35

There are many other areas in the gospels that you can pick up on the attitude of the Pharisees and Jesus' mercy towards sinners. Other than the first 11 verses of John chapter eight. It's also a little out of sync with his public addressing of the Pharisees and Sadducees in the temple during this feast of booths or tents. And I'm also wondering with Jesus having stirred up the hornet's nest so much with the Pharisees and Sadducees would these religious leaders really shrink away when Jesus said whoever is sinless cast, the first stone, I just don't see those stirred up Hornets. Having the humility to realize they were flawed and slip away.

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00:07:16

It makes more sense that verse 12 would continue Jesus' conversation in chapter seven in verse 12, Jesus says another startling statement. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. There's so much packed into that statement. I really can't unpack it for you coming up in John nine, he's going to give a physical sight to a man born blind in a moment, he'll go from complete darkness to light, but here Jesus is referring to a different kind of world, not a physical world, but a spiritual one spiritually speaking.

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00:07:57

We're all in complete darkness. We're all men born blind. Jesus says, I'm the one who brings spiritual light. And once in that spiritual light, you'll never walk in darkness. Again. This is the second time Jesus has used one of these. I am statements. The first one was in the define the relationship statement at the sea of Galilee. I am the bread of life. Whoever has this bread will never hunger again. Now Jesus says, I am the light of the world. If you follow me as your light, you'll never walk in darkness. Again. The religious leaders can't let this one go on challenged. You can say that all you like, but you're a liar. Your testimony.

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00:08:38

Isn't true. Jesus responds. If you knew where I came from, you'd know that my testimony is true. Our law says that every fact is established by two witnesses. So I'm calling my father to testify on my behalf. And just who is your father? I don't know. Probably that voice that spoke over him at his baptism. Perhaps Jesus answers. When you lift up the son of man, you'll have your answer. The crowds are listening in to this back and forth. And John reports more believe in Jesus. Jesus then turns to these believers and says, if you do my will you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free from behind him.

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00:09:20

The religious leaders say we've never been enslaved to anyone. If this was a TV program, you'd hear a laugh track right there. That's all the Jews had been enslaved currently by the Romans, before that the Greeks, before that, the Mito Persians, before that Babylon and before that bullied by a Syria. But Jesus, isn't talking about political oppression. Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin your slaves to sin. And God has sent his son to make you a son no longer a slave. And if the son sets you free from sin, you'll be really free right now.

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00:10:00

You're slaves of your father. Jesus has already said their father is the devil. The religious leaders reply. Abraham is our father. And that's odd. Jesus said, you're not doing the deeds of your father. Abraham. Of course the main deed Abraham did was believing in God, Jesus critics up the ante, doing the deeds of our father. God, that's odd. God, where your father you'd love me, his son. Cause I came from him. It seems like that's pretty simple to understand why don't you understand that? Oh, I know it's because you speak the language of the devil and your default behavior is devil behavior.

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00:10:41

Like father, like son, they then reply URS, Samaritan devil. I think they'd been saving that one for a special occasion like this. Jesus doesn't seem to take that real personally. He said, God will sort this out. Trust me. He'll demonstrate if I'm the son by glorifying me, then perhaps turning to the believers in the crowd. He says, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death leaders sneer. Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, the prophets died. Surely you're not greater than Abraham. And the profits who died at this, Jesus feels it's time to wrap up this conversation.

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00:11:21

Your father, Abraham, he rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Jesus seems to be saying way back there 2000 years before Abraham strained on his tip toes for the very day, Jesus, the son of Abraham, the son of David, the Messiah would be standing in this temple, having this conversation. Jesus critic, snapback. You're not even 50 years old. And you say, you've seen Abraham. Jesus says truly, truly I say to you before Abraham was, I am. We need only look at the reaction of the religious leaders to know what Jesus meant. They picked up stones to stone, him blasphemy.

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00:12:04

He had claimed to be the eternal one. He'd use the exact words of God in the burning Bush. I am who I am the most Holy name of God. In the mind of the stone holders, Jesus had just committed the ultimate blasphemy. He had called himself the eternal covenant keeping God John tells us Jesus simply slipped away, but he certainly didn't slip out of town. Jesus is nowhere near done. Poking a stick into this hornet's nest. He's got several more. I am statements to unleash and we'll look at those statements in our next wordpicture.