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.”

You often hear Christians say, “We live in a dark world”. Have you ever really thought about that statement? What is a ‘dark world’? All darkness is, is the absence of light. In this case, it is the absence of spiritual light. Jesus said that He is the light of the world. While He was present on earth, everywhere He went the light shined. It was shining through His words and shining through His actions. The light shone when He declared “I am the light of the world”. This radiant light maybe shined its brightest as He prayed on the cross, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do”. When He multiplied the bread and fish, opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, and when the lame danced for joy; His light was piercing the darkness. Here are some thoughts from Tyndale’s Commentary on today’s verse.

“Jesus presented himself as the light of the world at the Feast of Tabernacles; a festival during which great candles lit up the courtyards of Jerusalem every night. However, Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world contained more than allusions to the great illuminations of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus promised, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Those who followed him by accepting his teaching would no longer walk in the darkness of ignorance under the power of the evil one. As the apostle Paul said, ‘he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves’. As life in the darkness culminates in death, life in the light of Christ culminates in eternal life; it is ‘the light of life’. In the Prologue the evangelist said of the Logos, ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of men’. To come to Christ means coming to the one in whom is found the life of God, and that life is the light of men, the light of life.”

Today that light shines through the faces of His sons and daughters. We are now the light of the world. He shines through our words and our actions. As we walk with Him, His love penetrates the world we live in. You effect your world more than you know.