Just a thought as I’m reading my Bible this morning. Luke, in the passages of 1:79 and 2:32, hints at an underlying belief many Jews held. The Law of God is the light of God. God’s Law enlightens the conscience of men and gives them the ability to reason against the depravity of self-worshipping darkness. (Also see Proverbs 6:23-26, Psalms 119:105, Isaiah 51:4, John 3:20 to clarify this comparison)

We can appreciate this tenant of the moral Law being a light in Jesus’ declaration in John 8:12. He reveals Himself to be greater than the judgment of Moses’ Law when He declares, “I am the light of the world.” When He wrote into the stone floor, he made a God-revealing claim to be the One who wrote the Ten Commandments. Jesus is claiming here that He is the author of the Law.

Though many images and films portray Jesus writing in the sand, this misunderstanding detracts from the impact of this miracle. In engraving words into the stone ground of the temple, Jesus identifies as the One whose fingers inscribed the Law given to Moses. As He wrote, He revealed that He knew all who violated His Law and that He could forgive all who are condemned by it.

As John indicates, the older men realized the bold claim of Jesus, and then the lightbulb of revelation worked its way down to the younger men. Jesus is the light of the world, the Law of God, and those who do not believe this walk in moral darkness. (John 1:8-9)