Light of the World
Jesus’ claims are reminiscent of the praise songs to God in the Psalter, where the Lord is epitomized as the Light of life (Ps 56:13), where light is symbolized as God’s victory over the traumas of life (Pss 37:6; 44:3), and where darkness is described as no problem for God (Ps 139:12; cf. Isa 4:6). In addition, light is patently related to concepts of salvation in the Bible (e.g., Ps 27:1; Isa 58:8; cf. John 1:5; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor 4:4–6; Eph 5:14; 1 John 1:7). Moreover, the thesis of Jesus as light would immediately be understood not only by the Jews of Jesus’ context but also by Hellenistic readers of this Gospel because the theme of light was an international symbol/description for the basic reality of the good god.170
At the close of the first Festival-day of the Feast they went down to the Court of the Women where they had made a great amendment. There were golden candlesticks there with four golden bowls on the top of them and four ladders to each candlestick, and four youths of the priestly stock and in their hands jars of oil holding a hundred and twenty logs which they poured into all the bowls. They made wicks from the worn out drawers and girdles of the priests and with them they set the candlesticks alight, and there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that did not reflect the light of the Beth ha-She’ubah.
13. Not all were willing to accept Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world. The Pharisees challenged him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’ According to rabbinic teaching, testimony to oneself was not valid in law; only testimony by another could be accepted. In the Mishnah, for example, we read, ‘So, too, if there were two men and one said, “I am a priest”, and the other said, “I am a priest”, they may not be believed; but when they testify thus of each other they may be believed’ (Ketubot 2:7). The Pharisees accused Jesus of bearing testimony to himself.
14. In response, Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.’ As the one who has come from God and is going to God (cf. 13:3), he is not subject to rabbinic rules concerning valid testimony. Even though he might accommodate himself to their rules (5:31–46; 8:17–18) he did not need to do so. What rendered Jesus’ testimony valid was something of which his opponents were completely ignorant: But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. They did not understand that he had been sent by God into the world and that he would shortly return to God. The testimony of God’s emissary did not need human validation.
a comparison with the pillar of fire which led the people through the wilderness and Jesus, the light of the world.
The Feast of Tabernacles was also known as the Feast of Lights because of the many ceremonies that involved various kinds of lighting. From the earliest verses of the first chapter in this Gospel, John has been fascinated with the link between light and life. Here, however, we do not have a statement about everyone participating in the light, but the exclusion of all who do not follow the true light.
Some interpreters have suggested that Jesus may have drawn his illustration from the great candlestick (Menorah) which cast its light over the room in which he was teaching. Everyone there knew the Menorah would be extinguished after the feast. But Jesus indicated that his light would remain forever.
In ver. 20, we are told that Jesus spake these words in the Treasury. This was in the Court of the Women, the most public part of the temple. Four golden candelabra stood there, each with four golden bowls, each one filled from a pitcher of oil by a youth of priestly descent. These were lighted on the first night of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is not unlikely that they may have suggested our Lord’s figure, but the figure itself was familiar both from prophecy and from tradition. According to tradition, Light was one of the names of the Messiah. See Isa. 9:1; 42:6; 49:6; 60:1–3; Mal. 4:2; Luke 2:32.
12. The light of the world (τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου). Not λύχνος, a lamp, as John the Baptist (5:35). Light is another of John’s characteristic terms and ideas, playing a most important part in his writings, as related to the manifestation of Jesus and His work upon men. He comes from God, who is light (1 John 1:5). “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:4). The Word was among men as light before the incarnation (1:9; 9:5), and light came with the incarnation (3:19–21; 8:12; 12:46). Christ is light through the illuminating energy of the Spirit (14:21, 26; 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27), which is received through love (14:22, 23). The object of Christ’s work is to make men sons of light (12:36, 46), and to endow them with the light of life (8:12).
In ver. 20, we are told that Jesus spake these words in the Treasury. This was in the Court of the Women, the most public part of the temple. Four golden candelabra stood there, each with four golden bowls, each one filled from a pitcher of oil by a youth of priestly descent. These were lighted on the first night of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is not unlikely that they may have suggested our Lord’s figure, but the figure itself was familiar both from prophecy and from tradition. According to tradition, Light was one of the names of the Messiah. See Isa. 9:1; 42:6; 49:6; 60:1–3; Mal. 4:2; Luke 2:32.
Walk in darkness (περιπατήσει ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ). This phrase is peculiar to the Gospel and First Epistle.
Shall have (ἕξει). Not only shall see it, but shall possess it. Hence Christ’s disciples are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). Compare lights, or, properly, luminaries (φωστῆρες), a name, applied to believers in Philip. 2:15.
13. Thou barest record of thyself. Rev., witness. A technical objection, evading the real purport of Jesus’ declaration. The Rabbinical writings declared that no man could give witness for himself.
14. Though (κἂν). Lit., even if.
I know (οἶδα). With a clear inward consciousness. See on 2:24.
Whence I came and whither I go. Two essential facts of testimony, viz., origin and destiny. “The question was one about His own personal consciousness, of which only Himself could bear witness” (Lange). “If the sun or the day could speak, and should say: ‘I am the sun!’ and it were replied, ‘No, thou mayest be the night, for thou bearest witness of thyself!’ how would that sound? Argue it away if thou canst” (“Berlenburg Bible,” cited by Stier, “Words of the Lord Jesus”).
If we omit 8:1–12 (see comments above), and also 7:40–53 which comments on reactions to Jesus’ teaching, this section follows on smoothly from 7:39.
Light is a rich Old Testament symbol. The exodus background to the feast would prompt memories of the pillar of cloud and fire by which God led the people in their journey (Ex. 13:21–22). The Psalmist had taught that ‘the Lord is my light’ (Ps. 27:1). The coming age of the kingdom would be a time when ‘the Servant of the Lord’ would be as ‘a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth’ (Is. 49:6) and when God himself would be his people’s light (Is. 60:19–22; Rev. 21:3–4). Zechariah had depicted a union of light and living waters, a perfect reflection of the two symbols of the feast, and of the corresponding claims of Jesus in these discourses (Zc. 14:5b–7). This passage may even have been part of the liturgical readings during the feast.
Jesus Reveals Himself as the Light of the World (8:12–20) Jesus has dramatically called people to come to him for God’s living water (7:37–38) and now he again (palin, 8:12) refers to himself in a most startling way, saying, I am the light of the world (v. 12). This claim, like the claim to give living water, also corresponds to events at this feast. A lamp-lighting ceremony took place in the temple every evening of the feast, during which large lamps were set up in the Court of Women. The lamps’ light, it was said, filled every courtyard in the city (m. Sukka 5:3). In the light of these lamps there was great singing and dancing all evening in celebration of God’s salvation, especially his deliverance at the exodus as he lead his people with his presence in a pillar of fire by night. In the sight of these great lamps in the Court of Women (8:20), perhaps even in the evening while they blazed, Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world.
Light is a universal religious image (cf. Barrett 1978:335–37; Conzelmann 1974a: 310–43). The primary context for John’s use of this image is the Old Testament, but readers from virtually any background would find meaning in these words. In the Old Testament the motif of light is used to refer to God’s presence (Num 6:25; Ps 4:6; 104:2; Ezek 1:4, 27–28), his salvation (Ps 27:1; 44:3; 67:1–2; 80:1, 3, 7, 19; Isa 60:19–20) and his revelation (Ps 119:105, 130; Prov 6:23; cf. Conzelmann 1974a:319–22). Thus, in the setting of this festival, which celebrates the Israelites’ deliverance, Jesus is claiming to be the divine presence that saves God’s people from their bondage. He is the saving presence for the whole world, not just for the Jews. He has already spoken of his mission to the world (Jn 6:33, 51; cf. 1:29; 3:16–17), and now he reiterates it in terms that remind us of the role of the suffering servant, who was to be a “light to the nations” (Isa 49:6).
Israel followed the presence of the Lord in the pillar of fire as they escaped Egypt and journeyed to the Promised Land (Ex 13:21; Neh 9:12; Ps 78:14; 2 Esdras 1:14). Now Jesus says that those who follow him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12). Here is a promise of salvation much greater than the salvation Israel experienced, for it is deliverance not just from a national enemy, but from the forces of rebellion against God that lie behind every form of evil in the world. And this deliverance is not just a rescue from darkness and a glimpse of the light, but an ongoing life apart from darkness through possession of the light of life. This pregnant phrase refers to “the light which both springs from life and issues in life; of which life is the essential principle and the necessary result” (Westcott 1908:2:3). The world lies in darkness and death because it has rebelled against God and thus broken contact with the one source of light and life. Jesus claims to be the light that brings light and life back to the world and sets it free from its bondage to sin. All the salvation that went before, such as the deliverance celebrated at this feast, was a type of this deepest and truest salvation that Jesus now offers.
Jesus says his testimony is valid (alēthēs, “true”) because he knows where he is from and where he is going, even though they do not (v. 14).* That is, he really does know the truth about himself because he knows the Father and is conscious of his relation to the Father. They cannot see this truth about him because they are judging by human standards (v. 15; kata tēn sarka, “according to the flesh”). It is as though they are trying to evaluate the straightness of a line and their only tool is a crooked yardstick, or as if they are in an art gallery trying to evaluate the paintings when they have been blind from birth, never having seen shape nor color. Their judgment is limited to the human sphere and “breaks down when applied to anything which puts this sphere in question” (Bultmann 1971:281).
But what particular emphasis is there in the idea of light? Well, in the Scriptures, light is emblematic of righteousness, life, truth, and knowledge, even as darkness speaks of sin, death, error and ignorance. Jesus says, those who follow Him will never walk in darkness. The concept of following incorporates the ideas of attachment, direction and perseverance. These are the things that we want to see happen in counseling: we want persons to become more closely attached to Jesus, following Him by walking in the right direction and continuing to do so (walking = a lifestyle). Following is a wonderful word to work out in full with counselees. I suggest that you use a concordance to trace the various elements denoted and connoted by the word follow. It will be a profitable study for you to do; you will frequently use the findings in counseling.
The Pharisees challenged Jesus, claiming that His testimony wasn’t true because He testified about Himself (v. 13). Perhaps they are trying to use His own words against Him (cf. John 5:31). Jesus’ reply is that even if this were so, “My testimony is true.” Why would this be so? Because He is the truth, and all that He says is true. He knows what He is talking about (v. 14); He knows that He came from the Father and that He will return to Him, while they know nothing of either (v. 14). Their judgment is purely an outward one (a judgment according to the flesh)—a judgment according to appearances (see chapter 7). Therefore, it is an erroneous one. While Jesus is not in the business of making judgments (v. 15) as they do, nevertheless, were He to judge, His judgment would be absolutely correct, because He would judge according to the principles He learned from His Father. Indeed, He would make a joint judgment with Him (v. 16). The Jews are sitting in judgment on Him, whereas, they were actually the ones undergoing God’s judgment. The
This is the second of the ‘I am’ statements that are followed by a predicate (cf. notes on 6:35). Of the incarnate Word we have already learned that the life ‘was the light of men’ (cf. notes on 1:4). The light metaphor is steeped in Old Testament allusions. The glory of the very presence of God in the cloud led the people to the promised land (Ex. 13:21–22) and protected them from those who would destroy them (Ex. 14:19–25). The Israelites were trained to sing, ‘The LORD is my light and my salvation’ (Ps. 27:1). The word of God, the law of God, is a light to guide the path of those who cherish instruction (Ps. 119:105; Pr. 6:23); God’s light is shed abroad in revelation (Ezk. 1:4, 13, 26–28) and salvation (Hab. 3:3–4). ‘Light is Yahweh in action, Ps. 44:3’ (H. Conzelmann, TDNT 9, 320). Isaiah tells us that the servant of the LORD was appointed as a light to the Gentiles, that he might bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth (Is. 49:6). The coming eschatological age would be a time when the LORD himself would be the light for his people (Is. 60:19–22; cf. Rev. 21:23–24). Perhaps Zechariah 14:5b–7 is especially significant, with its promise of continual light on the last day, followed by the promise of living waters flowing from Jerusalem—this passage probably forming part of the liturgical readings of this Feast (cf. notes on 7:37–39). The great, burning lights of the Feast of Tabernacles resonate with such strains. Already in the Fourth Gospel the dawning of the light in the coming of Jesus has been a significant theme. In this age of an inaugurated but not yet consummated kingdom, however, the light is still in mortal combat with darkness (1:4, 9; 3:19–21).