John 8:12-30

John 8:12–30 “12 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.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness 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 judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.”

I

John 8:12 “12 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.””

II

Jesus the Light

John 8:13–18 “13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness 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 judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.””

III

Religious leaders the darkness

John 8:19–25 “19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.”

IV

Concluding Remarks

John 8:26–30 “26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.”

I. What is light and darkness

Spiritual, though the physical points to it.

Deals with knowledge though it is fueled by morality.

Psalm 82:5 “5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”

Proverbs 2:13 “13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,”

John 3:19 “19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Zephaniah 1:15 “15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”

Matthew 22:13 “13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

“This is the darkness into which Jesus came as a light. darkness consists of a lack of knowledge: ignorance, folly, and superstition; it has a moral dimension: evil and fear; it is experiential: bondage, misery and death; and it is judicial: judgment and wrath.” Richard D. Philips

We get used to being in such darkness, as our eyes are used to being in dark when asleep, and makes it extra sensitive to light.

Luke 1:78–79 “78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.””

Jesus is making 2 great claims. He doesn’t just proclaim light but is light himself. And he gives that light to others

II.

John 8:13 “13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.””

They are using his own words against him:

John 5:31 “31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.”

And the OT

Deuteronomy 17:6 “6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”

But Jesus meant that if he was not the second person, connected with Father then it would be only 1 testimony, but the fact is he knows where he came from and where he is going (the Father). So it is true testimony.

John 8:15 “15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.”

Flesh means limited (not the hidden but only appearance and with limited knowledge) and sinful. He does not judge that way.

John 7:24 “24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.””

John 8:18 “18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.””

Isaiah 43:11 “11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”

III.

John 8:20 “20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

Against the wall in the court of woman stood thirteen trumpet shaped chests to give money. Also, the hall where the sanhedrin held their meetings was nearby.

John 8:21 “21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.””

Sin: singular, unbelief.

Seek me means they will seek messiah.

They won’t find him. Opposite is said to his disciples:

John 13:33–36 “33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.””

John 8:22 “22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?””

Same sneering joke they made before and they asked if he was going to the gentiles. What’s ironic about this is Jesus would give up his life, for the life of his sheep.

John 10:11 “11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:18 “18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.””

John 8:23 “23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

Not so much spirit and physical but light and dark, or two kingdoms.

John 8:24 “24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.””

I am who? Referred to again here:

John 8:58 “58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””

IV

John 8:28 “28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

Not so much saying that all the Jews will believe once he dies and rises again, but that that act will be what causes people to believe.

Light denotes:

Outside influence

To what we know

And how we act.

When someone is walking by light they use an outside source and walk accordingly. When someone walks about in darkness, they rely on sensory rooted in self.

There is a confidence when walking by light, a lack of confidence when dark. Or if there is a confidence when walking by dark, the fall will be all the greater.

John 8:12 “12 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.””

Psalm 56:13 “13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”

Psalm 37:6 “6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”

Psalm 44:3 “3 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.”

Psalm 139:12 “12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”

Psalm 27:1 “1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Isaiah 58:8 “8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”

John 1:5 “5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Acts 26:18 “18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

2 Corinthians 4:4–6 “4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:14 “14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.””

1 John 1:7 “7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”