The Christ Of Calvary
By Woodrow Kroll
John 8:12-32
"The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:2). That's what the prophets foretold. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as this light, the Light of the World who came to give life eternal to all mankind. Amazingly, even those who looked directly at the Light didn't always recognize Him for what He was. Do you know Jesus as the Light of the World? You see, it matters what you know about Jesus--about who He was, why He came, and what He did. He came to be the Light of the World, to expose the darkness and to bring life to us.
John chapter 8 tells a great story, because in the beginning verses of John chapter 8 there is a story about the woman taken in adultery. And Jesus deals with the Pharisees in a way they never expected. They came with their heads held high; they went away with their tails between their legs. Because Jesus embarrassed them, given what He told them they should do--"He who is without sin cast the first stone."
Now, right on the heels of this incident there is an incredible passage that talks about how to know the Christ of Calvary, and the passage begins actually at verse 12. Let's pick up the story right there. 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.'"
Now, I want to stop right there because this is another one of those "I AM" passages. Jesus was famous for introducing Himself in the "I AM" mode. I want to talk a little bit more about that today. But now He is revealing Himself as the Light of the World.
I want you to think with me about the power of light, what light can do that other things cannot do. This is a repeated theme (Jesus being the Light of the World), back, actually ahead, in John 9:5 He also says that He is the Light of the World. But notice he says in verse 8:13, "The Pharisees therefore said to Him, 'You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.' Jesus answered and said to them, 'Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I'" here's our word know, K-N-O-W, "'I know where I come from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.'"
Now, as I said, this is a repeated theme, not only the theme of Jesus being the Light of the World but how many times in our study together have we seen Jesus say to them, "Look, I know where I'm from, you don't know where I am from. I know who I am, you don't know who I am." And it is absolutely deadly, friends, not to know who Jesus is.
See, here He presents Himself to the world as the Light of the World. Now, light shines in darkness. Light is best seen in darkness, isn't that true? And light does a lot of things for darkness. A light exposes the darkness. Put your hand in there, John chapter 8, actually this passage begins in John chapter 1. John chapter 1 talks about the Light of the World, Jesus being the Light of the World, and Life for those [in the world].
John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him" that's the word--Jesus--"was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
Now that word comprehend means, "did not apprehend it, did not latch onto it." He came and He presented Himself to the world, and the world did not latch onto Him. They did not apprehend Him.
"He came to His own and His own received Him not. But to as many as received Him, to them gave He the right [or the power, or the authority] to become the children of God" (vs. 11). Now, the Light came, but people did not latch onto the Light. And one of the reasons that's true is because when you are living in darkness and you're sinful in your lifestyle, you don't want light shining on your life.
We have a house out in the country. And we have about five acres out there. And we actually have a ravine in our yard, which is quite unique for Nebraska, to have a canyon in the yard. We have trees, and it's just lovely. But, when you live out in the country like that, you also have bugs. And you have critters. And we can hear the coyotes howl at night and we see deer often, and it's a delightful place to live.
But we have bulkhead doors. You know, the kind of doors that go outside, you lift up...every time I open those bulkhead doors, the light from the sun shines in the darkness of that stairway and I see little critters scurry here and there every time I open the door. Now, I'm not mean-spirited, I just love closing and opening that door! It doesn't take a lot to entertain some people, and watching these bugs run hither and thither just gives me great delight. But it reminds me, every time when I watch these bugs go, that that's exactly what light does.
Light shines on the darkness, and when it shines on the darkness it shows what is hidden in the darkness. Most of us do not want light shining in our lives. And yet, Jesus came to be the Light of life. And the Bible often talks about Jesus being the Light, shining in and showing everything that's true in our lives. Psalm 90:8 for example, "Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance." See, Jesus is the Light. And the reason the world is not too enamored with Jesus is Jesus' life shows light on the world, and the world knows that it's a sinner.
Now, when the Lord Jesus comes, He not only shines light on the world, He also removes the darkness by shining His light. Verse 12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness." When Jesus brings light to your life, darkness is no longer there. And it's only when you get away from the light that you get back into the darkness. So if you and I imbibe the light, if you and I have the light as a part of our lifestyle, there is no reason for us ever to walk in darkness again.
That's what Jesus does. The revealing power of light shows us where to walk, shows us how to walk, shows us what's good for us, shows us what God wants for us, shows us how to have joy on the journey and how to end this journey in heaven with God. That all comes, friends, because of light.
Now, the world doesn't like this light, but you and I ought to love this light. Not only because it shines light in our darkness, but because light and life are always linked together. Now, I want you to think about this. Genesis 1:3 says that God created light on the first day. You and I, as the human species, were not created until the sixth day, Genesis 1:27; and the animals, the other creatures, verses 24, 25, 26, and 27 in Genesis chapter 1. Before there could be life on this planet, there had to be light on this planet.
And you remove the light from this planet, you also remove the life from this planet. So, light and life are inextricably bound together in the great plan of God. That's why Psalm 27:1 says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Jesus comes to identify Himself as the Light of the World.
Now the problem is this. People don't want light; they want darkness because their deeds are evil. And when Jesus presents Himself to the people here as the Light of the World, the same old failure comes up that we've seen so many times in our study. Look at verse 19. "Then they said to Him, 'Where is Your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know"--here it is--"You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.'"
Same old problem. Jesus says to them, "You do not know Me, because you do not know My Father. Now what you know of Me is, you know I'm a Nazarene, you know I come from the city of Nazareth. You know my mother and my father here on earth. What you don't know is where I have come from. What you don't know is that I am God. What you don't know is that I have come from heaven. What you don't know is who My Father is. If you had known Me, you would know My Father."
They ask Him, "Who is your father?" And this same repeated theme of not knowing Jesus--and, therefore, not knowing the Father--comes up again and again. But, you know what, folks? Not knowing Jesus is a death sentence in this world. Now, I know that's a fact because of the next several verses.
Look at verse 21. "Then Jesus said to them again, 'I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.'" Now, do you know why He said that? He said that because they do not know Him, K-N-O-W. They do not know Him in a personal way, the way the woman from the well in Samaria came to know Him, the way the people of Samaria came to know Him. They do not know Him intimately and personally. And He says, "If you don't know Me--and, therefore, you don't know the Father--without knowing Me, you will die in your sin. Now, I don't know how to make that any plainer than what Jesus said.
See, you and I are alive physically, but we're born dead spiritually. We're spiritually stillborn. Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. And while you may be here today and look very much alive, if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior you are already under the death sentence of sin. And what Jesus does is, He comes to you and He presents Himself to you as the light and the life of heaven, as God in the flesh. And He says, "Without knowing Me, you will die in your sin." That's God's Word. And that's exactly what it means.
And then He asks this question. And it's the question that each of us must answer correctly or we die in our sins. Look at verse 25. "Then they said to Him, 'Who are You?'" I mean, these people can't get over all the things Jesus says, the outrageous claims that He makes we looked at that the other day. The fact that He says, "I am the Bread of Life. I am the Good Shepherd." We looked at that the other day.
And now He says, "I am the Light of the World and you're going to die if you don't get to know Me intimately and personally, if you don't trust Me as your Savior and only Me as your Savior you're going to die." And finally the people say to Him, "Who are You?" And look at His response. "And Jesus said to them, 'Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.'"
Have you asked yourself the question yet, "Who is Jesus?" I mean, if you don't ask that question and answer it in a correct way, you can miss eternity. You can miss eternity in heaven. When this question was asked of Jesus in Matthew chapter 16, He asked His disciples and He said, "Who do men say that I am?" And they said, "Well some say You're Elijah, and some say You're the Prophet." And then He said, "Wait a minute. That's not what I asked. Who do you say that I am? That's what I mean, who do you say that I am?"
Remember what Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16). See, Peter demonstrated the fact that He knew Jesus as more than a carpenter. He knew Jesus as more than an ethical teacher. He knew Jesus in a personal way. He knew He was the Christ from God, the Son of God.
And here the same question is being asked. And you and I have to ask the same question today of Jesus, "Who are You?" And, my friend, be so very careful how you answer that question. Because the knowledge of who He is, knowing Jesus, it really does matter what you know about Jesus. Because if you don't know Him as Savior--if you only know Him as a person, as human being, as a teacher, as a person who lived 2000 years ago--you don't really know Him. And that's what He says to these people, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you'd really known Me, you would know God."
You want to get to know God today? You want to get to know Him in a dynamic way, have a personal relationship with God? You only can do that by getting to know Jesus, by coming to Jesus and trusting Him as your Savior.
Now, look at the sure sign of Jesus' identity. He wants to kind of round this out here and help them to understand who exactly He is. Verse 28, "Then Jesus said to them, 'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know [K-N-O-W] that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."
Now, let me stop there because this represents for us the essentiality of the cross, the fact that the cross is absolutely essential in getting to know who Jesus is. See, you don't get to know Jesus by discovering a historical figure. The way you get to know Jesus is through the cross of Calvary. And He says to them, "When the Son of Man is lifted up--when I am placed upon the cross, hanging between heaven and earth, when I am there dying for the sins of the world--that's where you will get to know Me intimately and personally."
Until you come to know Jesus as the sacrifice, until you come to know the blood of Jesus as the only way to atone for your sins, until Jesus is lifted up on the cross and the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to your life--you really don't know who Jesus is. And so, Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter again. He says, "Until I am lifted up, you will not know Me."
But He's said this before, hasn't he, John chapter 3? "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus didn't come into this world to condemn this world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
See the point of John 3:18 is, if you don't believe in Jesus, you don't have to do anything else to be condemned for your sin. You're condemned already. It's knowing who Jesus is and trusting what He's done on the cross that separates us from the condemnation of our sin and allows us to go to heaven when we die.
Now, Jesus is very interested in our understanding that, and He's also very interested in [us] knowing that it takes a heart-belief in what He did at Calvary or we can never truly know Him. Now, if you look at the next several verses, you'll see the heart-belief. Look down at verse 30. And "As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.'"
See, a heart-belief is one in which you not only express what you feel, but you continue to express what you feel. You don't only trust Jesus now and then abandon Him tomorrow. "If you abide," He says. "If you abide in My word, that is proof that you are My disciples. If you turn your back on the darkness and walk in the light, if you live in obedience and do the Word of God, that's what proves that you really have a heart belief in who I am." And the only way you can know for sure, whether or not you know for sure that Jesus is your Savior, is to check out how you're living.
Do you know there are 20 places in the First Epistle of John, the little epistle at the end of the Bible, there are 20 places it tells you, "if you do this, you know you're born again." I mean, that's knowledge, friend. That's the kind of knowledge that matters. And Jesus wants us to have that kind of assurance, so He says you need the essentiality of the cross, you need the essentiality of a heart-belief in Me.
And then one other thing, verse 32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Now remember, He's speaking to a Jewish audience of the first century. But it's just as if He was speaking to you and me today. In fact, He is. Because when you know the truth about Jesus, when you come to know--K-N-O-W, boy, you can't escape that word in this Gospel, can you--when you come to know the truth, you are set free from the bondage of sin and darkness.
And the only way, my friend, the only way you can be set free from the bondage of sin on your life, from the plague of sin, and from the penalty of sin on your life--which is eternal death--the only way you can be set free from that is to know the truth.
And the truth is presented right here in God's Word. I speak to you today, the truth of God's Word. And if you trust Jesus as your Savior...see, these Jews, they knew some truth. They knew the truth of the Old Testament. But they were in terrible bondage. They were in bondage to ignorance. They were in bondage to error. They were in bondage to superstition. They were in bondage to sin. They were in bondage to the Law. And Jesus speaks directly to them, and He says, "If you know Me--and, therefore, know My Father--you are freed from all that bondage."
The greatest thing about being a Christian is not the future we have in heaven, it's the freedom we have in Christ right now. And if you're not experiencing that freedom, you can--simply by getting to know Jesus in a personal way. That's what He says.
Romans 8:1-2 tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.... For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death." When you come to Jesus Christ as Savior, when you get to know Him that way, my friends, all the guilt is set aside. All the bondage is set aside. All the penalty for your sin is set aside. And for the very first time in your life, you discover what it's like to be really free.
Are you living today in the freedom that only Jesus Christ can give? And if you live in the freedom today that only Jesus Christ can give, you'll know that you're living in freedom, because you'll know the One who set you free. His name is Jesus. Let Him set you free today.
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