Light In The Shadows

A scandal in the temple courts, stones in ready hands, and a single sentence that resets the room: I am the light of the world. From that turning point, we lead you through the tension between law and mercy, appearance and truth, and why Jesus’ light exposes more than guilt—it reveals a path back to life. We revisit Deuteronomy’s standard of witnesses, question the credibility of the trap, and face the uncomfortable possibility that the accusers’ zeal masked collusion. When the rocks fall silent, a better Teacher steps forward.

We connect this moment to the Psalms and the Feast of Tabernacles, where a pillar of fire once guided a wandering people. Jesus claims that same role in the present tense, not as a metaphor but as reality: the Word who illuminates, corrects, and leads. When challenged on testimony and judgment, he anchors the argument in John 3—he did not come to condemn but to save, and the crisis is this: light has come, and people loved darkness. That diagnosis exposes our own motives. Do we approach Scripture to change us or to justify us?

Along the way, we trace the thread of Jesus’ unity with the Father and the courage of Gethsemane, where surrender—not my will, yours be done—becomes a human pattern for divine life. We talk timing in the temple treasury, why no one could seize him before his hour, and how even human schemes served a larger rescue. Many in the crowd believe while the experts stall, and that contrast raises a practical challenge: humility sees what pride refuses. If you’re longing for a faith that is honest, luminous, and grounded, this conversation will help you step toward the light with both mind and heart engaged.

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Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

Setting The Theme Of Example

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Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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As a man, not only did he take our place and become the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, but he was also our example. This is what I intended for mankind to be. One that lays down his own agenda and seeks after God's agenda. And yes, I am God, but I am also man. I have come and identified with you.

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Remember Bob Ross, the guy with the big curly hair who used to do painting demonstrations on TV? He'd show you how to paint a picture step by step so that you paint along with him. He gave instructions and examples so that by the end of the show, you could have a painting that looked just like his. In today's teaching, Pastor Carl encourages you to look to Jesus as the example of perfection. How does your life measure up to his? Will you heed his word and allow it to shape who you are? And now, here's Pastor Carl.

Law, Witnesses, And The Trap

Hypocrisy Exposed And Motives

I Am The Light Of The World

Psalms, Tabernacles, And Guidance

Challenged By Pharisees On Witness

Judgment, Light, And John 3

The Father’s Witness And Timing

You Will Die In Your Sins

I Am He And Unbelief

Gethsemane And True Submission

Many Believe; Childlike Faith

Prayer For Transformation And Mission

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In Deuteronomy 17, verses 6 and 7, it says this: Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of just one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. So in light of that prescription, Jesus said, All right, the first one that's innocent, implying the first one who was the first witness to this situation, you be the one that throws the first rock. And they were convicted and walked away, which it doesn't say it, but you just as you try to figure out what's going on, putting yourself in this situation, there must have been something else going on. First of all, they only brought the woman instead of the man and the woman. Second, how do you witness somebody having an adulterous affair in the act? I mean, most of the time when people do that sort of thing, it's very much in a private area where nobody else sees. So did somebody just stumble upon them? But then it would be one person that stumbled upon them. And when they bring another witness, they're not doing anymore, so the other person can't say, Well, I didn't see them doing that. You see how it gets kind of wishy-washy here? Then could you even go as far as because they were so intent of trapping Jesus that they would do whatever it took to create a situation that he would have to get trapped in. So I hesitate this, but could it have been that maybe this might have been a oh, who was the guy with Gomer? Hosea and Gomer. Gomer was a prostitute, and Hosea was told to marry a prostitute because she represented Israel and she represents those who have committed spiritual adultery against the Lord. Could it be that this woman was a prostitute and married? And so it'd be very easy to trap her in something. All the guys needed to do was to find a guy that would be willing to do that, and they'd be waiting and trap him. And so that just takes it to another angle. They participated in the sin of trying to trap Jesus and this woman. And so when they're cut to the heart, they realize, well, I can't, I've got, I was a participant in this. I should be stoned as well. You see, the the situation just got very strange all of a sudden. And it's because they're not seeking the Lord. They're seeking how to destroy the Lord. And when our perception and our agenda becomes more important than the Lord's agenda, we we tend to twist and turn Scripture to work in our behalf, but it it violates the whole spirit of what God intended from the beginning. Wouldn't it be so much better for us to seek the Lord, his heart, to allow him to convict us and to change us from the inside out, rather than finding ways to make ourselves look better and to nullify the words that he says because they're just too inconvenient for us to say the least. Well, after that was done, everybody that was accusing the woman was gone, and so Jesus got back to the business of why he was there. He started teaching again. He says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life. Interesting when he says this, because it's right after the Pharisees came with this furious accusation for this woman, this whole scene that just there were a lot of question marks and something's fishy going on here. They were operating in the darkness. They were operating in lies and deceit, thinking that they were doing something noble, something right. And Jesus says, Look, I am the light of the world. I have come to bring light into the darkness. And you know what it is. If you know your scriptures, he's telling the crowd, you know what I'm talking about. And there are just a couple of places I want to bring up in the book of Psalms where he talks about the light. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. We need the light of the Lord. His word, the scriptures, illuminate the truth before us. And of course, John declared that Jesus Christ is the word. So he is the light. And then in Psalm 43, uh an appeal to the Lord, oh, send out your light and your truth, let them lead me. Do we have that heart? Lord, I'm in darkness, and I need you to lead me. You are the light of the world. And of course, this is day eight of the Feast of Tabernacles, and they're wrapping things up. But all throughout the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the things that they did was to look back at what the Lord did amongst the Israelites in the wilderness. And one of the things that God did was to lead them, right? By a smoke pillar during the day and a pillar of fire at night. The light would guide them. And Jesus is saying, I'm the light. I was that light that was burning in the wilderness. And now I'm amongst you. And I'm declaring the truth. I'm declaring why I'm here, who has sent me, and I'm bringing salvation to anyone who would listen, anyone who would believe, anyone who would follow. Well, after that, another group of Pharisees come out, it seems like, and they say to him, You bear witness of yourself, yet your witness is not true. He is saying he is the light of the world. And of course, he's not on trial, he's not being convicted of a crime. He doesn't need two or three witnesses, like that verse we just looked at, like the other group of Pharisees that came before, where are your witnesses? Where's the other guy? And now they're trying to corner him and trap him. Jesus answered and said to them, Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. You see, I am a man, but I became a man. I'm the incarnation of God, the Creator. I cannot speak untruth. Because I am God, I am faithful. There is no darkness or shadow or turning in me. My witness is true, for I know where I came from and I know where I'm going. He came from heaven, and he humbled himself to become one of us. A helpless babe born in a barn and placed in a manger, a feeding trough. But you do not know where I come from and where I am going. I mean, he said something similar in the last chapter, and they don't seem to be wanting to study, but they try to figure out what it is. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. This is an interesting phrase. First part we we totally understand. You judge according to the flesh. You're not using the mind of God in your judgments. You're coming up with your own reasoning, just like any good worldly person would do. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. But your thoughts are not my thoughts. Your ways are not my ways, says the Lord. The Lord in his grace reveals his heart and his mind to us through his word. Are we willing to come and be changed by it? Or do we come with our own preconceived notions to justify our sin and to explain away where we are? And then he says, I judge no one. And I find that interesting because isn't he the one that the Father commits all judgment to? And is that an apparent contradiction? Well, we need scripture to interpret scripture. And if we go back to chapter 3 of John, we realize what he's talking about. He's talking, Jesus is talking with Nicodemus right now. This was after the John 3.16 verse. John 3.17 says, For God did not send his son into this world to condemn the world. His son was not sent this first time to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He's come to pay the price for our sin, to bring salvation to the world. And he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. We are all born unto condemnation until we hear the gospel, until we believe. Then we are saved. And this is the condemnation, that light, there it is, he's the light of the world. The light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Again, being exposed. It's uncomfortable. We don't like it. But if we want healing, we need to be exposed before the Lord, right? He who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. If I love the light, I come to the light to find mercy, to find forgiveness, to find new life. Then, as Jesus says, we become the light of the world. You are the light of the world. Go shine your light before men so that they can give glory to God, because the things that they see you doing are not the things that you're doing. They're the things that I'm doing in and through you. And don't we need the Lord to work in and through us today? So I believe that's where he was going when he said, I judge no one. So back in our study, verse 16, yet if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. And it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me. And he can say this because he is the one who's created all things. He is the fulfillment of the law. But do they see it? They don't see it. The Pharisees are not seeing it. They answered and then they said to him, Where is your father? Trying to trap him again. Jesus answered, You know neither me nor my father. And he's he said this before, and he's saying it again. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. These words Jesus spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one laid hands on him, for his hour had not yet come. The treasury was the most exposed area in the temple. He was there where everybody could see him. And the rulers had a chance to seize him, but it wasn't his time. Who crucified the Lord? Rome crucified him? The Jews crucify him. Jesus says, I laid down my own life, and I will pick it up again. He utilized the sin of mankind, he utilized what their motivations were to get him crucified, but he willingly went to the cross. And they could not catch him before his time. And at this point, it was not yet his time. His hour had not yet come. Then Jesus said to them, I'm going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin, because where I go you cannot come. And a lot of implications because you haven't listened to anything that I've said, because you do not believe. So the Jews says, Will he kill himself? Because he says, Where I go, you cannot come. Human logic. The way he's talking, I think he's going to kill himself because we can't go to the grave with him. May we seek the Lord and find his truth. May we seek the Lord and find his mind. He said to them, You are from beneath and I'm from above. You're of this world, and I'm not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sin, for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. Again, we're born into sin thanks to Adam and Eve. And the only way we can turn this around is by believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is what it's all about. I can do all the things that I think are good in this world, and yet because I'm born into this world, I'm a son of Adam and Eve, I'm born into sin. And that means I'm hell-bound, except for God. But God. He intervened. He made a way where there is no way. And we can find that freedom. We can find that way. We can find that forgiveness. We can find our way to heaven if we believe that He is. Interesting, he says, I am again. I am He. I am He, who is He? The creator, the Savior, the Prophet. All these things that the Old Testament had prophesied about. I am the one you've been waiting for. Do you believe? Then they said to him, Who are you? And I could just hear Jesus saying, Oive. Have you heard that term? Oive. I can't believe this. Are you really? That kind of expression. Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I've been declaring who I am over and over and over again. I haven't changed in what I've said. I haven't changed in what I've done. I haven't changed in who I am. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. As a man, not only did he take our place and become the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, but he was also our example. This is what I intended for mankind to be. One that lays down his own agenda and seeks after God's agenda. And yes, I am God, but I am also man. I have come and identified with you. And I walk in this submitted to the Father. A great example of this is at the Garden of Gethsemane, the day before he got crucified. He's saying, Father, if there's any way, may this cup pass from me, but not my will, yours be done. He never sinned. But he had human emotions where like I'm not excited about what I'm about to do here. He has frustrations as well. Just I've been talking to you from the beginning. I haven't told you anything new. Do you not hear me? Can you hear the angst in his voice? It's not a faithless, but it's more of a I can't believe it. I absolutely need to go to the cross and pay the price for this group. And they did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father. They thought they knew the Father, but they didn't really know the Father. Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, a glimpse to the cross, then you will know that I am He. That I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And he who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for I always do the things that please him. Which y'all ought to do too is an implication there, too. You Pharisees are representatives of God to mankind. And you don't even know God the Father. You think you know him, but but you've turned it into some sort of religious powerhouse thing here. Seek after me, find me, be changed by me. And verse 30 says, And as he spoke these words, many believed in him. Many of the crowd that was listening to this interchange with the Pharisees, they got it. The simple people got it. But the real smart, informed, holy people didn't get it. What's up with that? Lord says, make yourself as a child to be saved. Which means you simply believe. But that doesn't mean it's an empty believism. That doesn't mean there's no there's no thought put into it. There are plenty of evidences that show us that Jesus is who he says he is. The Bible is designed to challenge our thinking, but more so challenge our hearts to convict us and to bring us back to Him. Lord, you are good. Lord, we praise you that while we were still sinners, you died for us. You didn't wait for us to do the right things or say the right things or to believe you, to do the work that needed to be done to make us right with you. You made the way where there was no way. And we thank you for that. Lord, we understand your body was broken for us and your blood was shed for us, and we believe the gospel, and we've been changed by you, and yet we realize there's so much more there that we don't recognize. Father, we pray that you would help us to grow in the gospel, to continually be changed by you, continue your work of conforming us to your image, making us the light of the world. And Lord, give us a new vision for those out there that need to hear the truth of your gospel, that need to be changed, that need forgiven. Because their sin has been paid for. They just need to believe. Lord, guide us and direct us, give us boldness in these last days to stand up for righteousness, not to force people to do right, but to help people to realize that they cannot do right without you. And that you change hearts and minds and lives. Use us, Lord, in mighty ways, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Donate And Service Invitation

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You've been listening to the teaching of Pastor Carl from the Mountain Cross on Come On Up. We're in the Gospel of John, and there's much to explore in this exciting book of the Bible. Jesus does all kinds of miracles in the book of John, such as turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead. These were signs that he was far more than human. He's God. However, Jesus didn't shy away from expressing his humanity on earth either. When his friend had died, he was sad and he cried. He experienced righteous anger, seeing people abusing and defiling the temple while taking advantage of the poor. He cleared out the temple area with a cord of whips and showed his authority. But he was also tender with children and compassionate to those who were considered outcasts. This is the juxtaposition of the book of John. Jesus was both God and man, and you get to fully appreciate it more and more by reading this rich book of the Bible. If you're enjoying the teaching on Come On Up, would you consider helping us get the word out to others? Simply visit themountaincross.com/slash donate. It's a safe and secure way for you to give online. The Mountain Cross meets Sunday mornings at 10 at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, North Carolina. If you are nearby and don't have a church home, we'd be delighted to have you join us this weekend. And be sure to come on up to the mountain with us next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.