Picture by Caprice Miller
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ‘ – John 8:12
What an interesting picture. In the forefront you have the big tree with all the branches. (It could be kind of creepy without its pretty leaves.) But through those branches you see the light of the full moon. But the light coming from the moon isn’t really its own light. That light is actually the reflected light from the Sun, bouncing off the moon which acts like a mirror. That reflection is a beautiful sight on a clear night. It is also very welcomed when you are out in the darkness of night and need that reflection from the Sun to light your path so you can find your way.
As you might expect, there’s a message here. The verse above tells us one of the ways Jesus identified himself – “…..light of the world…”. On this occasion Jesus had just dismissed the accusers of a woman who was about to be stoned because she had been found in the act of adultery. They were not dismissed because they were mistaken about her sin. She had been found in the act. (Apparently they forgot to bring the guy along too in this case.) No, they weren’t mistaken in their accusation. The crowd of accusers wanted to shine their own light on this situation. They wanted to publicly shame this adulterous woman and at the same time attempt to find fault with Jesus. Would he obey the Law of Moses and stone her like it said to or would he continue on this path of mercy he had a reputation for?
Imagine the woman in the center of this dark and angry crowd with a single spotlight on her and her alone. Her accusers are all still in the darkness of the shadows pointing their fingers at her. And then Jesus flips the switch and turns the house lights on as he stands and says in John 8:7 “…Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And like predators do when caught in the light, they each dropped their stone and walked back into their darkness leaving just the woman and Jesus. Then he turns to her and asks,
“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord.” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” – John 8:10-11.
There is something that happens when we have the light of Jesus casts upon us. It exposes the hidden darkness - the sin - that we ALL have in our lives. (Romans 3:23) It’s not a pretty sight. That’s why we would prefer to keep it in the dark. But when we do encounter that light, we have a choice of our response to it. We either allow ourselves to be drawn to its powerful grace that forgives and saves or we run from it because of the pain it causes as it exposes the hidden darkness we are holding on to. When we allow the light of Jesus to expose the darkness in our lives it is then that only He can clean what is exposed. Sure, it may be a painful process; no one wants to deal with that ugliness. But imagine the freedom of being able to live inside that light instead of lurking in the shadows of the darkness fearing exposure if you step into the light.
The crowd that accused this woman tried to hide in their own darkness. They tried to turn the light on someone who they deemed “more sinful” or “more recently sinful”. But Jesus knew better. He also knows when we try to do the same today. It is easier to pick up a stone of condemnation to throw at someone else instead of allowing our own darkness to be exposed. It’s time to put down the stone of condemnation, but don’t walk away. Come further into the light. And as we experience the forgiveness and grace that only the light of Jesus can bring, we will discover something else too. Like the moon reflects the light of the Sun, we will reflect the light of THE SON. We will drop our stones of condemnation and offer compassion instead as we point others to The Light Of The World.
Be a Son Reflector. Drop the stone of condemnation and offer compassion, grace and forgiveness instead.
