This Bible verse of the day is a scripture on grace and hope
Again, therefore, Jesus 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.”
In John’s Gospel Chapter 8, the stage is set for an amazing showdown between Jesus and the religious people who contended with him. They were always looking for ways to catch him and trap him into saying the wrong thing. However, not once did Jesus ever say something that was not a great truth.
Imaging the scenario, a woman is brought to Jesus who has been caught committing adultery (the man she was apparently caught in the act with is not mentioned). Under the strict Law of Moses she should have been stoned to death. The scribes and Pharisees (religious class of the day), pressed Jesus to comment as this woman was brought to him. Notice that in John 8 verse 6 Jesus is stooped down writing on the ground with his finger. There is nothing insignificant recorded in the Bible. Why was this gesture by Jesus recorded? Jesus then raised himself up and said, ‘let him who is without sin among you throw a stone at her’. He then continued writing on the ground. After that statement, each one was conscience-stricken and one by one, beginning with the eldest, they departed.
Jesus then addressed the woman and said to her, ‘Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you? …. I do not condemn you either – go on your way, and from now on sin no more’.
The next statement Jesus made was, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).
When Jesus was stooping down writing on the ground with his finger – it was the same finger that wrote the Law on the tablets of stone handed to Moses! When the Jews were in the wilderness, after their exodus from Egypt they gave a startling boast. They said that they could keep every law that was given them by Moses. The first Passover had just occurred (when the blood of a lamb was put on the doorframe of their houses, so death passed over them in Egypt). They were effectively saying that they did not need grace but they could do anything that was asked of them by God by their own self-effort. Also, they had not seen the mystery of the blood of the Lamb covering their sins and the curse of death.
Later Jesus said to the religious onlookers, ‘You set yourself up to judge according to the flesh – by what you see; you condemn by external human standards’ (John 8:15 Amplified Bible). How many of those onlookers were also guilty of adultery just by their thoughts?
We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but Jesus is saying that not only is he not condemning us but that He is the light of the world and if we follow Him we will not follow the dark ways of sin and death. How else could he say to the woman, ‘go and sin no more’? He was the answer to adultery – he is the answer to every human sinful condition.
What a wonderful Saviour we have in Jesus.
Prayer
Father, I know that I cannot do anything by my own self-effort. I need your light to light my way and lead me into life and freedom from sin and guilt. Forgive me when I have failed in thought or in deed. I receive your grace and mercy in every area of my life in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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