When our lives are confusing, lack direction, or are filled with fear, we need Jesus, the light of the world, to lighten our path. The gift of the first Christmas, Jesus, is that light. Further understanding comes by considering the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, the adulteress woman, and the blind man.
Nicodemus
John writes of Nicodemus, the Jewish official, who came at night to speak to Jesus. He had seen miracles, impossible apart from God. Jesus confounded him further with strange concepts about a birth of the Spirit, and how His descent from heaven equipped Him to speak of heavenly things.
Jesus told him that believers were not condemned, but those who preferred to stay in the darkness if it meant exposing their evil ways. “He who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been of God,” Jesus said.
The Adulteress
Then, in John 8, Jesus speaks to the woman condemned by the scribes and pharisees. “Where are your accusers?” he asked as they dissipated. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more,” Jesus said. But how could she? By believing Him when He said to her, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
The Blind Man
Further along, in John 9, the religious leaders looked on a blind man and discussed whose sin caused it. Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then He made clay with His saliva, put it on his eyes, and told him to go and wash. Amid the uproar, Jesus not only healed the man physically, but also spiritually. Jesus taught him that blindness was more about refusing to see than acknowledging one’s need.
By considering the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, the adulteress woman and the blind man we are exposed once more to the Light which entered the world on that first Christmas.