Light and witness

That is where we just came from, and now in our section tonight Jesus is addressing “them” again. When you look at it in context see who the “them” is.

John 8:12–13 NASB95

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.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”

John 8:14–15 NASB95

14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.

John 8:16–17 NASB95

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.

John 8:18–19 NASB95

18 “I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

John 8:20 NASB95

20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

It is always good to ask questions of scripture

What general observations do you make in passage?

The is a great statement and a promise (v.12), can you see it?

The Pharisees push back Jesus statement by doing what (v.13)?

Jesus offers up a rebuttal about witness (vv.14-19) what proofs do you see?

In the midst of the passage (v.17) Jesus refers back to the law, what law is He referencing?

Where were these words spoken, do you think they have any significance (v.20)?

So, here is the plan for tonight

Jesus light of the world (8:12)

First witness, Jesus (8:13-16)

Second witness, God the Father (8:17-18)

Jesus knows, the Pharisees don’t know (8:19-20)

Jesus light of the world

We come to another of the great “I AM” statements made by Jesus. And, of course it is not well received, but that is the next point, not this one.

John 8:12 NKJV

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

FYI Jesus makes the same claim again in Jn9:5, as he is in the world he is the light of the world.

After the departure of the Pharisee’s for none were without sin. Jesus had been in the temple teaching (shortly after the feast of Tabernacles) when the woman was brought in. He dealt with them then, the woman then, sent her on the way, now it seems He goes back to teaching again, with the Pharisee’s and scribes back again.

Light of the world vs. light (pillar) of fire.

Jesus claims to be the light of world. the Jews at the feast of Tabernacles will remember the Exodus and everything God did for them for the 40 years in the wilderness and the entering into the promised land. - They remember God lead them by pillar of fire by night and pillar of clouds by the day, without both they would not move (Exo13:21-22); This is one of many ceremonial things they would remember with Feast of Tabernacles. So, Jesus claim would throw them off.

Within the Feast of Tabernacles is another light ceremony called “Illumination of the Temple” that occured on the first night of the feast

Alford said “It was custom during the first night, if not during every night, of the feast of tabernacles, to light up the two large golden chandeliers in the court of the women, and th light of which illuminated all Jerusalem. All that night they held a festal dance by the light.”

Jesus claims to be the light of the world, not the light to the Jews, but to the world. So, Jesus is not saying will light up Jerusalem alone, but the world.

It makes us consider what more was said about light in John’s gospel.

Consider light mentioned (Jn1:4-9)

John 1:4–5 NASB95

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:6–7 NASB95

6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

John 1:8–9 NASB95

8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

Consider another passage (Jn3:19-21)

John 3:19–20 NASB95

19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 3:21 NASB95

21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

This statement about light is a stark comparison to the darkness of the world that brought the adulterous woman into Jesus to trick Jesus.

He who follows Me will not walk in darkness (8:12)

Jesus is light and those who follow Him will not be in darkness

O.T. comparisons to light and the word of God (Ps119:105, 43:3)

Psalm 119:105 NASB95

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

and then

Psalm 43:3 NASB95

3 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places.

One more point before moving on from this one verse.

But will have the light of Life (8:12)

Jesus is light and gives light to the world; and gives life.

Jesus in the word and the word gives life

OK, one more thing. OK, two, I do not think we will get through this section tonight. We will see how far we get.

During the wilderness the tent of meeting, the tabernacle was lit by the the Shekinah glory of God (Exo40:34). Later the temple was also filled with the glory of God (2Chr7:1). But as mention in (3:19) men loved the darkness more than the light. So, man did not even notice when the glory of God, the shekinah glory left the temple (Eze10:8)

Other scriptures used or referenced, take the time to look them up on your own (Exo40:34; 2Chr7:1, Jn3:19 and Eze10:8)

(Transition) Now we have Jesus the light of the world standing right before them and let’s see what happens next.

First Witness: Jesus

Witness testimony is important. Let’s look at the passage and see what we can learn along the way.

John 8:13 NKJV

13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

John 8:14 NKJV

14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

John 8:15 NKJV

15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

John 8:16 NKJV

16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.

After 1000 years, the glory of God returned in the person of Jesus Christ. Yet what did they (Pharisees) do (v.13)?

They questioned him, they rejected Him and his testimony.

The Pharisees were blind to the truth, not that the light was not shown, but they rejected the light.

Commentator Morris stated: “A seeing man doesn’t need someone to prove the light, he simply sees it.Light establishes its claim. It does so not by arguments, but by shining. Light must always be accepted for itself,and that notwithstanding the objects of the blind.”

Think about this for a minute, The Pharisees couldn’t prove that Jesus was not he Messiah that He claimed to be, so now they attack his testimony because He testifies of Himself. And by your own witness you cannot prove you are the Messiah as You claim You are. He had no witnesses to establish His claim. So, they attack His claim, His witness, and His character.

Under Jewish law there needed to be two-three witness to establish the claim. To this point He has only offered up Himself and claims His testimony is true

Jesus can testify because (He) not they judged rightly. They claim he was born in Galilee, and with a little investigation would see he was born in Bethlehem just as the prophesy stated. They assumed and they judged wrongly, by their flesh (v.15).

Jesus testimony was fully supported by God (Mt3:17, 17:5) Where God said this is My Son in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus did not have an identity crisis, He knew where He came from. he came from above, came down from heaven (Jn6:16, 51, 61, 58)

He knew where He was going, back to, the Father. He tells the Pharisees they don’t know these things (meaning they could not comprehend these things because they were spiritually blind).

Jesus knew they were judging Him, by the flesh (v.15). Jesus is judging no one, and even if He did it is in accordance to the Father who sent Him testifies of Him (v.16)

Jesus turns to the Law now (v.17) about two witnesses (ref: Deu19:15) He is one, and the Father who sent him is another for the testimony of the Father is about Him (v.18).

We have already established that the Father testified about the Son a few minutes ago. Yet the Pharisees continue to attack Jesus

Jesus knows, the Pharisees don’t know

John 8:19 NKJV

19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

John 8:20 NKJV

20 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 questioning continues (v.19) and Jesus rightly responds.

There was no communicating with them, they already rejected Him, His testimony, His witness. They had the truth before them and did not see, they were blinded not by Jesus but by themselves.

All of this transpires outside the temple (v.20).

Jesus is fearlessly speaking truth in the court of women outside of the temple itself. Actually between court of women and the inner court where the treasury was.

Jesus was on a divine time schedule and it was not His hour yet, so no one could lay hands on him yet. Remember we are about six months away from His Crucifixion.

Stay tuned for next week when we pick up on some other shocking statements, bold statements, true statements from Jesus who is truth.