The Claims of Jesus Christ
4 - The Light and the Door
We are thinking of Jesus’ claim to be the “Light of the World.” Light is needed for guidance, to find the way. In the dark we get lost; we cannot find the way or even know which way to go. We need the Light of the World to show us the way to heaven, the way to God. We so often need to know what is right and what is wrong. We need this light to show us the kind of life we ought to live, and the kind of friends we ought to have. How can we know all this? Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8 verse 12), and later on said, “Walk in the Light while you have it” (John 12 verse 35).
God has given us His word, the Bible, and if we read and study it regularly, we will find in it all we need to know: the right way to go and the right thing to do. God will let His light shine upon the words of the Bible so that we can understand it.
There is another important point, though. Jesus also said that we, his followers who believe in Him and love Him, are also to be the Light of the World (Matthew 5:14). The verse reads like this, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” You see, if His light has shone on us, revealing our uncleanness and bringing life, cleansing, warmth and comfort, then that light must shine through us to others. We are to be lights in the world as well. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus continued, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The light that has shined into us must shine out again. We have to let others see how much they need the light and that Jesus is ready to give it to them. We have a responsibility to others. I wonder whether the light is shining through you. Do the people with whom you live and work know you that belong to Jesus and do they know about His love in dying for them?
How can you do this and be light in this way? You can do it in two ways. First, by talking to others about Jesus and his dying for them whenever you have a chance to do so. You can tell what He has done for you in forgiving your sins and changing your life. Tell how He has saved you from the sins that once held you captive you and gave you eternal life. But there is something else. It is no use just talking about Jesus unless you live like Jesus. If the Light of the World is to shine through you, the love of Jesus must be seen in you, and His joy and peace too. Jesus must be so real in your life that others will want to know Him and have Him in their lives too.
Now let us move on to the next claim that Jesus made about Himself. You will find it John’s Gospel chapter 10. If you can, read this chapter through for yourself, up to verse 30 . He says, “I am the door of the sheep” (verse 7). He goes on to say in verse 9, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.”
Doors are useful things, though sometimes they can be a nuisance. I don’t know what doors are like where you are. In the towns and cities they are probably much the same everywhere. In villages they may be different in different parts of the world. Even so they are just as necessary and useful. Jesus is talking in these verses in John 10 of a shepherd and his sheep. Often in Israel the shepherds would use themselves as doors by lying across the opening of the sheepfold at night. They would guard the sheep themselves; their own bodies would be the protection. Jesus is just like that. He himself is our protection.
He says something more here. He says that the sheep go in and out to find pasture and that reminds us what a door is for. It is the way out and the way in. We can think of a door as a way of escape and a way of entry. We shall think this time of the door as a way of escape. How glad we would be if we were in real danger, say in a fire, to find a way of escape through a door.
The Bible shows us that we are in real danger if we do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Apart from Him, we all stand condemned before God as guilty sinners. We are under the judgement of God and are on the way to a lost eternity, which means to be cut off from God in the awfulness of hell for ever. But Jesus is our door of escape because He bore our sins in His own body on the cross. He died the perfect one for we who are so imperfect; the just one for we who are unjust. Because of his great love for us God in Christ took our punishment for us. Because Jesus died and carried our sin, we can be acquitted and counted as if we had not sinned. In other words we are justified in the sight of God who is utterly holy.
So there is a way of escape from God’s righteous judgement for our sins. Jesus is that doorway of escape. To escape from a danger we have to take the way of escape. There may be a door to safety, but if we do not go through it we will be lost. To know about an escape route and not to take it is the height of folly, for such knowledge without action is useless. I am sure you will see that is true. Have you seen the danger you are in if you have not acknowledged your sin to God and accepted his Son as your Saviour? Christ is the door by whom we can enter in to forgiveness and eternal life. “I am the door,” Jesus said, “If any man enters in he shall be saved.” He is the only way into the blessings that God has for all who will believe.
The doors into some houses are plain and simple; others are ornate and grand. As the door into God’s kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ is unique. In Acts 4 verse 12 we read these words; “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” So we have discovered that as the Light of the World the Lord Jesus is the only one who can show us the way to heaven, and as the “Door” he is the only way back into fellowship with God. We will continue to think about Jesus as the “Door” in the next study because there is much more valuable truth to be discovered in this passage in John’s Gospel chapter 10.