John  8:12  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.”

The Feast of Tabernacles had just concluded or it was almost over and Jesus was again teaching in the Temple’s outer court. Jesus pronounces another one of His great “I am” statements:  “I am the light of the world.” It is an echo of John’s introduction where he says (of Jesus), “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:4-5 NIV).

During the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a great Menorah in the Temple (the large, branching candlestick with seven candles) that remained lit during the entire festival. It would have cast its light over the whole Temple court, including the area where Jesus was teaching the people. At the conclusion of the feast, it would be extinguished.

Jesus claimed to be the genuine light by which one would be able to tell truth from falsehood. Following Jesus was the key to staying ‘in the light’. He would not ever lead His followers into darkness – Jesus guaranteed that His hearers would be led to the Truth as long as they continued to go where He led them.

The light from the menorah might be put out at the end of the feast, but the light which was Jesus, the light which would show them the Truth and expose all falsehood and lies, the light that was their inexhaustible source of life eternal, would never go out.

Isaiah the prophet wrote, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:2 KJV).

There’s an old hymn that says:

The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin;
The Light of the world is Jesus;
Like sunshine at noonday his glory shone in,
The Light of the world is Jesus.

Come to the Light, 'tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me;
Once I was blind, but now I can see;
The Light of the world is Jesus.

It’s the only light that leads the soul to safety and will never go out!

just a thought,

jack

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