ii. I am the Light of the World

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: John 8:12

Late September 1991 the fishing boat Andrea Gail sailed from Gloucester, Massachusetts some 600kms into the Atlantic Ocean.  A cold front moving down from Canada combined with a large pressure system from the west together with the aftermath of hurricane Grace in the south east created the perfect storm.  Ferocious winds and huge waves reduced the boat to matchwood and the six crew members were lost at sea.  No doubt there had been prior perfect storms, but this was made famous by the book and film of the same title. 

Two thousand years ago Jesus faced his own perfect storm as various pressures from a human perspective converged on Jerusalem of his day.  The westerly gale was the new superpower Rome.  Julius Caesar had centralized power.  After his assassination he was divinised and his successors declared son of God and assumed the role of pontifex maximus (high priest).  Augustus Caesar ruled from 31BC to AD14.  After his death he too was declared divine and his successor Tiberius took the same titles.  The job of the Roman governor in Palestine was to keep the peace, administer justice, collect taxes and supress unrest.  This was the westerly gale, the first element in the perfect storm confronting Jesus.