I AM - The Light of the World
Yahoo! It is Sunday again and our second Feast Day!! On this Lord’s Day, enjoy worshiping with your church family, through songs and hymns, through the reading and teaching of God’s Word, through giving cheerfully, and enjoying the blessed gift of food, chocolate, social media, or anything you may have set aside for your Lenten promise.
The Seven I AM’s
Each Sunday of #LentenDaily 2026 we will focus on a specific I AM statement made by Jesus to His followers. Jesus’ I AM statements would have particular significance to the first-century Jewish listener. Just as God had revealed Himself to Moses as the “I AM” when calling him to return to Egypt and lead His people out of slavery, Jesus used the same words to describe Himself throughout His ministry, as recorded by John. More specifically, “I AM WHO I AM” (Hebrew: Ehyeh asher ehyeh) is a profound declaration from Exodus 3:14, where God reveals His name to Moses as the self-existent, eternal, and faithful Deliverer. It signifies that God is not dependent on anything else for existence and is present with His people. It represents an immutable, self-sufficient, and ever-present being. When “God replied to Moses, “‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.’” (Ex 3:14) He was revealing Himself as the eternal, invincible, covenant-keeping God that He was, is and always will be.
Today we will take a look at the second of Jesus’ I AM claims, I AM the Light of the World.
Read John 8:12-29
One week from today, March 8, 2026, at 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, Daylight Saving Time officially begins! I can hardly wait! I look forward all winter to longer days, when we can go for walks after supper or even a boat ride. The cold darkness of winter that has kept us inside for months is almost over. But really, the shorter days and longer nights of winter aren’t the only forms of darkness that I dislike and try to avoid. And I imagine it’s the same for you. We can all acknowledge that we’re not strangers to the darkness. It permeates every day and every season. It settles on us through our conflicts, our diagnoses, our best intentions misunderstood, our hurt feelings. Maybe the darkness of winter feels harder because it’s a stark visual reflection of our sinful reality: a people wandering in darkness (Is 9:2), bumping into all manner of hurtful things and one another, afraid of never seeing light again.
And while that image of our sin-soaked souls is important for us to see and sit with, that’s not the end of Isaiah’s observation and prophecy: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.” (Is 9:2-3) We see God fulfill and personify this prophecy through an everlasting image of redemption and hope in His Son, Jesus in the Gospel of John. “Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.’” (Jn 8:12)
Perhaps a little bit of context would be helpful here: Jesus is speaking to a crowd that included a group of religious leaders. They are in the temple complex during the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jewish leaders have already been growing more and more combative because of the miracles people have seen and reported. Now Jesus gives them one more outrageous statement to debate, “I am the light of the world.” (v 12) Light was an especially important symbol in the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles because it signified the pillar of fire given to Israel during the Exodus and in the wilderness. It represented Yahweh’s presence with His people as He rescued them from captivity in Egypt. And here Jesus is saying that He Himself is the light given to God’s children, His very presence with them and illuminating the way to their eternal rescue. Amazing…
His declaration of presence and rescue is for us as well. He is our light in this dark life and our eternal salvation, our stronghold in the face of all fear and dread. Let’s “walk in the light as he himself is in the light, having fellowship with one another, with the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
Lastly, please enjoy this catchy song by Ellie Holcomb, “Light’s Always Stronger.” Written by Ellie in 2018 for her Children’s EP, Sing: Creation Songs, I predict you’ll be singing or humming all week, “The light’s always stronger than the dark.”
“Light’s Always Stronger” | Ellie Holcomb | OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO
Jesus is the light of the world
He’s the light of the world
And He shines brighter than the sun
So when we are lost in the night
When we’re lost in the night
We have to remember the morning will come
‘Cause the light is strong
Nothing can keep it from shining
Woah oh ohh, oh ohh, woah oh ohh
Even here, here in the darkest night
No matter what
Nothing can keep it from shining
Woah oh ohh, oh ohh, woah oh ohh
No matter how scared we are
The light’s always stronger
The light’s always stronger than the dark
Oh ooh oh, oh ooh ohh
Oh ooh oh ooh, oh ooh ohh
There’s hope in our hearts
It’ll never stop shining
A hope in our hearts
And it’s brighter than the lightning
There’s a hope in our hearts
That we’re gonna keep finding
The light of the world
He is living inside us
