What did Jesus mean when He said, “I am the light of the world”? (John 8:12)

“I am the light of the world” is one of the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus Christ. Christ was revealing more of His identity and deity to His disciples.
John 8:12 reads: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In the Bible, darkness is used as a metaphor or symbol to represent the following: wickedness, fear, death, ignorance, deception, false ideologies, the demonic and a life of separation from God.
Therefore a world without God, or an individual living without Jesus Christ is said to be walking in darkness. A lifestyle of embracing sin and ungodliness is also likened to walking in darkness or in spiritual blindness.

John 3:19-20 says: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  20  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

We learn from John 3:19-20 that there are people who love walking in darkness rather than walking in the light. This means that these people choose the dark culture and lifestyles of the world instead of Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world.
Morally and spiritually the world is getting worse. Society continues to love, embrace and normalize all kinds of wickedness and sinful pleasures. So the more depraved the world becomes, the darker the world becomes in terms of its moral and spiritual state. However, embracing the darkness of the world has grave consequences.

Imagine you’re walking along an unknown path in total natural darkness. As you walk in darkness you could trip or fall; you could get lost; you could get easily robbed or killed. Furthermore in natural darkness, your sense of awareness regarding your surroundings is limited; you can become disoriented; your sense of fear, doubt and anxiety increases because of the fact that you walk in darkness.
Therefore to reduce or totally eliminate the pitfalls of walking in darkness, you require a light source like a torch or lamp to help you on your journey.
So if walking in natural darkness has dangers and pitfalls, then walking in spiritual darkness also has devastating consequences.

Therefore Christ presents Himself to be the Light of the world and that it is He alone who can free us from the darkness of the world.
In John 12:46 Jesus says: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”

Since we live in a fallen world Jesus reveal Himself as the only answer to a world that is walking in spiritual darkness.
As the Light of the world, Jesus is the source of true illumination and reality in all aspects of life. Christ helps us to perceive the world and our life through the eyes of God.
Through a relationship with Jesus Christ we become capable of discerning between good and evil; we become empowered to discern danger and deception; our understanding of God begins to grow and become clearer; we begin to walk on God’s righteous path in our daily life.
So Christ alone is able to remove us from a state of confusion and into a state of godly understanding. By following Jesus, all the dark areas and aspects of our lives are removed and replaced with His teachings and His presence in our life.
The presence of Jesus in our life combined with our obedience will ensure that we walk on the path of Biblical truth instead of worldly deception.

Conclusion

Jesus is the Light of the world. We can only experience the light of Jesus Christ through salvation and relationship with Christ. By following Christ and following His teachings we expose ourselves to His light and avoid walking in darkness. His word is also a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).

1 John 1:5-6 says: This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth

God’s very nature is that He is Light and there is no darkness in Him. True light is personified in the Person of Jesus Christ. Therefore by fellowshipping with Him and by obeying His word, then we too will walk in His light.