Lesson 10 - John 8:12, 15-18, 23-27, 42-47 - I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in John 7:14-18, 25-31, 33-36, we encountered Jesus back in Jerusalem, teaching in the Temple during the Feast of Booths. His knowledge of Scripture amazed everyone who heard Him, because they knew He had no formal (rabbinic) education. He explained that His teaching not only came to Him directly from God, but was proven by the example of His obedience to the will of God. The truth we learned was that people reject Jesus in spite of who He is because they refuse to obey God's will, and God's will is that we believe in Jesus. We also learned that incomplete belief in who Jesus is far better than no belief at all, since God is faithful to deepen our faith as we come to understand more and more about Him. Finally, we learned that the most important truth in this life is to believe In Jesus as Lord while we still have the opportunity. The alternative is eternity in hell.
This week, in John 8:12, 15-18, 23-27, 42-47, we take up where we left off last week with Jesus still in Jerusalem. We'll skip a majority of the verses in this chapter in order to focus on the texts that express the fundamental truths about who Jesus is and why God sent Him. The major theme of the lesson comes from Jesus' pronouncement in v. 12 that He is "the Light of the world." You should note that Chap. 7, verse 53 to Chap. 8, verse 11, are in brackets because they aren't in earlier manuscripts. Most scholars believe they were added later by someone other than John.
Read John 8:12 - HE WHO FOLLOWS ME WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
v. 12a: "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying," - The context for this text continues to be the Temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths. Jesus' audience were Jews who had assembled there, some from Jerusalem and others pilgrims from places outside of Palestine.
v. 12b: "I am the Light of the world;" - This is the second (see, John 6:35) of Jesus' "I am" claims. In Scripture, the metaphor of light represents that which dispels the darkness of ignorance and death.
v. 12c: "he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." - In the OT, light was symbolic of God's presence; and as the "Light of the world," Jesus was claiming that whoever believes in Him will enjoy the light that comes from God's presence and produces life. Indeed, the prophet Isaiah predicted that the Servant of the Lord would be a light to the nations (Isa. 49:6). The Jews considered the OT and their rabbinic traditions as authoritative revelation; however, Jesus challenged that authority by claiming to be God's true and final revelation (Heb. 1:1-3), and like the ancient Israelites who followed God's pillar of fire in the wilderness (Ex. 13:21-22), Jesus now invites the Jews to "follow" Him as the true light.
Read John 8:15-18 - MY JUDGMENT IS TRUE
15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me."
v. 15: "You judge according to the flesh;" - The Pharisees were examining Jesus on the basis of the external facts they knew about Him, going about it in a typically human way. The term "according to the flesh" meant according to human nature, with all of its shortcomings. Instead, His critics should have examined the spiritual teaching about Jesus' identity that God had provided through the witness of the OT, the testimony of John the Baptist, and the miracles/signs that Jesus had performed so far.
v. 15b: "I am not judging anyone." - This can have two meanings: (1) Jesus wasn't judging anyone at that time and (2) that Jesus didn't come to condemn anyone but to save them. However, Jesus will judge ultimately when He returns (Isa. 40:15, 17; Ezek. 20:34-38; Dan. 12:2; Joel 3:1-3).
v. 16: "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me." - Here again, Jesus was not judging anyone at this time; that aspect of His ministry still lay in His future; but, the point He makes is that even if He did judge, His judgment would prove to be righteous and valid because He would be acting subject to and with God the Father. Just as Jesus represented the Father faithfully by revealing Him, He will likewise represent the Father faithfully by judging. In short, everything he does and will do is with Father's divine authority (John 1:1-5).
v. 17: "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true." - Alluding to the requirement of Deut. 19:15, Jesus claimed that He wasn't testifying alone but that God the Father was His corroborating witness. God bore witness to His Son by His public statements from heaven (Matt. 3:17; 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36) and by the miracles He empowered Jesus to perform. Jesus' reference to "your law" was unusual in sense that was His law, too. At the same time, Jesus was in the process of setting aside the Law of Moses with the new revelation that He was bringing.
v. 18: "I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." - This verse presents a dilemma, insofar as no human is qualified to validate a divine relationship. So, Jesus appeals to the Father and Himself because there are no others to whom He can appeal. Again, a fair examination of OT Scripture along with Jesus' miracles/signs would objectively prove God's witness, but Jesus' critics are viewing Him according to the flesh, with all of its human flaws and prejudices.
Read John 8:23-27 - YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS UNLESS YOU BELIEVE
23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." 25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
v. 23: "And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world." - Here, Jesus identifies the true reason they fail to understand Him: Jesus was from heaven above, all-knowing deity, perfect in every way; whereas, they were fallen humans from the rebellious creation, the world below. In order to fully comprehend the meaning of what Jesus was revealing to them, His critics would first need to experience 'new birth'-i.e., spiritual regeneration (John 3:3-5) and God the Father's illumination (John 6:45). Until then, they were blind.
v. 24: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." - Here, Jesus presents the heart of His gospel message: "Therefore" (i.e., because you are fallen humans), you are destined to die in your sinful condition unless you believe in Me. Their attitude of unbelief was not simply their refusal to accept Jesus' specific statements of fact in this instance, but their general unwillingness to believe God's revelation of Him in Christ. The bottom line was that they needed to believe "I am He," along with the all the other I Am statements Jesus had made in vv. 12, 15-16, 18, and 23. They needed to confess that He was the Son of God.
v. 25a: "So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" - The sense of this question isn't clear: It might have been sarcastic, like: "just who do think you are, anyway?" or "who are You really?" If so, it represents an attitude of sheer stubbornness, disobedience, and rebellion against God.
v. 25b: "Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? - Jesus could rest on all His previous affirmations of Himself, in particular that He is "the light of the world" (v. 14), God's new revelation, and all else that He claims to be. His critics simply needed to believe in Him.
v. 26: "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." - Besides what He had already said to them, Jesus claimed to have much more to reveal to those who would hear Him, part of which included judgment for their unbelief. He also clarifies that at no time does He speak independently: That everything He says and claims about Himself is absolute truth because it comes directly from God the Father, who has appointed Him to "speak to the world." Jesus' critics needed to see this.
v. 27: "They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father." - Earlier, John had made it crystal clear to the readers of his gospel that Jesus had been referring to God the Father where He quoted Jesus as saying, "I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent me" (see, John 5:30). John obviously did not the readers of his gospel to suffer from the same confusion that afflicted Jesus' Jewish critics throughout this chapter.
Read John 8:42-47 - WHY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ME?
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
v. 42: "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me." - In v. 41, Jesus' critics claimed, "we have one Father: God." But here, Jesus disproves their claim, saying, in effect, that they were not really God's children in any true spiritual sense of the word because of the way they had responded to Him: in other words, how could they reconcile their hostile and disbelieving attitudes towards Jesus and still claim to be children of God the Father? If they were God's true children they would love Jesus rather than plotting to have Him killed, and they would surely acknowledge and confirm that God had sent Him.
v. 43: "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word." - Throughout this Gospel many people have misunderstood Jesus and His teaching. Now, He gives the reason: "because you cannot hear My word." Their hearing was impaired by their self-righteous arrogance, prejudices, and flawed assumptions. In Jesus' context, 'hearing' does not mean a mere understanding of words, but responding positively to the message those words proclaim.
v. 44: "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." - In this verse, Jesus identifies the true father of these Jews that He had alluded to in v. 42-i.e., "If God were your Father." Their attitudes and actions toward Jesus pointed directly to the "devil" as their father for two significant reasons: First, they actively wanted to see Jesus killed (He knew this), and Satan had been the mastermind of such schemes "from the beginning," as when he inspired Cain to murder Abel (Gen. 4:6-8); and Second, they had allowed Satan's lies to trick them into abandoning the truth-that Jesus had been sent into the world by God the Father to save it. Instead, they had allowed themselves to be blinded by the lies of their master, Satan. In the same way, we are always manifesting the spiritual characteristics of one spiritual father or the other: Walking either by the flesh or by the Spirit. As God, Jesus knew that his Jewish critics had yielded to Satan's temptations.
v. 45: "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me." - Liar's, as Satan's children, not only speak falsehoods, they likewise reject the truth. Therefore, these Jewish critics categorically rejected Jesus simply because He spoke the truth. They cannot bring themselves to accept the truth about Jesus and who He claims to be. The underlying reason these people reject Jesus' claims is because they prefer to believe lies, and since what Jesus says is true, they are stubbornly committed to rejecting it without fair consideration.
v. 46: "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? - Here, Jesus challenges any of his critics to prove that He is guilty of sin. Since He has led a sinless life, He asks His critics to come forward with any piece of evidence to the contrary. No mere mortal man could ever risk this claim, and its unimpeachable proof that Jesus is in fact God in the flesh.
v. 47: "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." - As mentioned in v. 43, simply 'hearing' a message isn't the same as responding to it in faith. Jesus had provided multiple reasons to believe and accept His message: the OT witness of fulfilled prophecies, the miracles He had performed and the signs they represented, the testimonies of others, and His sinless life. That left only one conclusion: Jesus critics and accusers could not "hear" Him because they were "not of God": they were the spawn of the devil.
APPLICATION-Following the Light of the World.
