“The Light of the World”
John 8:12 :: December 15, 2024
Week #3: “The Light of Guidance”
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
As we light each Advent Candle, we are focusing on the many beautiful ways that Jesus is “The Light of the World.” In chapter 8 verse 12 of the Gospel According to John, we read this:
[READ JOHN 8:12.]
Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
Jesus stepped into the gloomy despair of our shadowy world and proclaimed that the darkness would not last. Because Jesus has come, hope has arrived.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our second candle was a candle of purity. As “Love’s pure light,” Jesus has no darkness in Him, and He gave Himself up for us so that we can walk in the light of holiness.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
Our third candle is a candle of direction and guidance.
In the darkness, we can easily stumble, lose our way, and become lost.
God, however, does not leave His people in the dark. Long ago, He promised through the Prophet Isaiah to send His Servant to take hold of His people and guide them to salvation. He said, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (See Isaiah 42:16.) Jesus came to show us which way to go.
As the carol sings:
"Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
and when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.” (“As With Gladness Men of Old,” William Dix.)
Jesus is the Light of the World.
***
Photo credit: Jonas Von Werne.
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