Have you ever found yourself caught between a rock and a hard place, unsure of what to do? If so, I have good news for you: Jesus faced a similar situation once! He overcame it by drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit and the prophetic nature of God, revealed in the statement, “I Am the Light of the World.”
Before we delve into the challenging situation Jesus encountered and how He overcame it, let’s first examine John 7 to provide some context.
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a week-long festival when Jewish people were required to come to Jerusalem and build shelters/booths, to commemorate the 40-year journey of the Israelites in the wilderness. During this journey, God led them with a fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
During the Feast, there was a significant ceremony called the “Illumination of the Temple,” which involved lighting massive candelabras that were 75 feet high in the Temple courtyard. The Jews poured oil into these candelabras to keep them lit. This ceremony served as a reminder to the people of the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night that guided Israel in the wilderness. The light shone all night bringing light to the entire city.
This was the context Jesus entered at the beginning of John 8:
2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
It appeared that the Pharisees had trapped Jesus. If Jesus said, “Let her go,” they could accuse Him of disregarding the law. If He said to stone her, He would likely lose the favor of the people who had followed Him because He had portrayed God as a God of mercy and grace. He seemed to be stuck either way. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place!
Look at what happened next, however.
6 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.
The Pharisees continued asking,, “What are you going to do?” How often has the devil done that to you? He puts you in a pressured situation, offering two bad choices, and asks, “What are you gonna do? Hurry up, you need to make a decision! What are you gonna do?”
This is where we must learn from Jesus and not respond to questions until we have the right answer. Jesus didn’t respond immediately; He simply knelt down and began to write. There has been much speculation about what He wrote over the years, but there is little historical evidence to clarify this, so I will not attempt to answer that question. What stands out is that Jesus did not respond until He had the right answer. He drew the power of the Holy Spirit and declared, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
Some might argue, “Of course Jesus knew what to do; He was God.” While it’s true that He was God, He lived in a human body with the same limitations that we all face. Although He was spiritually perfect and sinless, He still experienced physical constraints. This is why He said that He only did what He saw His Father doing. Everything Jesus accomplished, He did in partnership and relationship with the Holy Spirit and His Father. With that brief overview of the Trinity complete, let’s return to the topic at hand.
The Pharisees had no answer for Jesus’s response. The wisdom that came from God was brilliant, and they all left, from the oldest to the youngest. After they left, Jesus addressed the woman, telling her to go and sin no more. He then made this statement in verse 12:
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.’
This statement harkens back to the Jewish tradition of lighting the candelabras in the temple, which illuminated the city. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Man, in all his efforts, can barely light up a city. You think that’s something? I possess so much wisdom that I light up the whole world! Even better, He said that those who follow Him would not walk in darkness, but would walk in light!” This means we have access to the same wisdom!
How do we access this wisdom? We spend time in the Word and in prayer. By doing this, we learn about who God is and how He operates. As we immerse ourselves in this practice, our understanding of His nature and ways will deepen. Then, when we find ourselves in difficult situations where we can’t find a specific chapter and verse to guide us, we can draw on God’s character and nature to make our decisions.
In other words, as we spend time in the Word and in prayer, God’s character and nature become ingrained in us, making us more sensitive to His wisdom within us. 1 Corinthians 1:30 states we are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. Jesus is the wisdom (light) of God. And where does He reside today? Inside our hearts. When we are born again, Jesus comes to live within us and speaks to our hearts.
We often struggle to hear His voice because of the cares of this world, the pressures of everyday life, and the demands of others for immediate answers. However, when we take the time to be still and listen, we will know what to do in any challenging situation. So, next time you find yourself caught between a rock and a hard place, don’t rush to respond. Instead, take a moment to listen, and the Light of the World who resides within you will guide you on what to do!
I hope this article has been encouraging to you. If you’d like to learn more, check out this message I taught at Grace Life Church. Additionally, if you would like to read last week’s article on “What God is Really Like,” you can find it here.
