Editor’s Note: For the next several days members of our congregation will reflect on how they have been impacted by reading and studying the Gospel of John. We will conclude the reading program this weekend.
“The Beauty of the Living Word“
(Amanda Moore)
John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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I love to learn. I often read several books at a time and supplement those with podcasts and sermons. Daily readings, weekly sermons, and a Sunday School class with our very own New Testament professor and Johannine scholar is right up my alley—and it did not disappoint. I learned a lot and had the opportunity to engage with many friends, from thought-provoking discussions in Sunday School to a week of listening to sermons on John 2 with a friend.
One of the downfalls of my active mind, though, is that it can be hard for me to slow down. I am good at listening to and reading what others have said about Scripture, but I struggle with meditating on small sections of Scripture and allowing the Lord to capture my imagination.
Thankfully, the Lord is stronger than my weaknesses. Over the past few months, He has given me a few familiar passages of Scripture that take on new meaning, capture my imagination, and inspire awe—so much so that I can’t help but slow down and appreciate how beautiful and creative the Lord is, and how kind He is to share a living and active word with us.
In the book of John, that familiar passage is found in chapter 8, when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” In the third week of Sunday School, Josiah’s goal for the class was to consider how John’s spatial and temporal settings influence how we read John’s Gospel and our perception of Jesus’s significance. (He also posted about this on Day 21.) I learned that this “I am” statement came just after the Feast of Tabernacles, and that later rabbinic sources reveal that one of the rituals associated with this festival involved lighting massive lanterns in the Temple’s court for women and allowing them to burn all night. The lanterns were there to remind the worshippers of God’s presence with Israel in the wilderness. Imagine that: Jesus stood there—the Word made flesh, sent by their Father—the God who accompanied them in the wilderness was right there with them! The light of the world, shining in the darkness, proclaimed to the crowd, “I am the light of the world,” far surpassing any beautiful lanterns. Isn’t that beautiful?