Jesus vs. Religious folk

Review

Jesus says that He is the Light of the World.

Jesus is the only Hope

Read John 8:12-24

John 8:12–24 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.” 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. 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.” 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.” 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. 21 Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 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.”

After

This scripture is After Jesus makes this strong and true statement that He is the light of the World.

He is the hope for the world.

The Jewish elite hear this, and now are ready to debate with Him again

a silent moment

in the book of Psalm every now and again we see the word SELAH, meaning simply to pause, something to think about.

It brings a since of reflection and thought.

It is not in the gospel of John, but I would like to think that as Jesus is saying that He is the light of the Word, and that everyone who comes to Him will not be in the darkness. but will walk in the light of life.

This is something that should be thought of. Our Salvation depends on it.

I would like to think that this would be a Selah moment. ----take a moment and think about this -----

But the Jewish elite quickly has a response.

but they respond with with mocking and a belittling.

v. 13-15

John 8:13–15 NASB95

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

The Jews are responding to Jesus last Statement. (I am the Light of the world)

They are responding to the statement that Jesus makes about Himself. That He indeed is God.

But they respond by saying that Jesus can not say such a thing because He is talking about Himself.

The Jews are now mocking Jesus.

In other words they are saying:

“ When you call yourself the light of the World, you have are just boosting, there is no one to confirm your testimony about yourself.....so it can’t be true”

Now lets look at this.

Does Jesus contradicts himself? The Jews are repeating what Jesus said earlier.

remember.........

John 5:31 NASB95

31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.

The Jews are attempting to mock Him with this statement,

meaning that they did listen to Him.

we have a strong case here that one can listen to something, but not hear it.

- you are listening, but you are not hearing me.

- you are listening to me, but you are not applying anything that I am saying.

- and in some cases I could even be that one is listening with the only focus to challenge what is being said.

Jesus is not contradicting Himself .

In the Old Testament the testimony of more then one is valid.

They are saying that legally, Jesus does not have the power to have a case with Just Himself alone.

Deuteronomy 19:15.

Deuteronomy 19:15 NASB95

15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.

When Jesus says this in John 5, he is referring to them in the context of the Old Testament.

He is not making His case about who He is less but more.

The Jews are saying to Jesus, that He does not have the legal savvy to bear witness of himself.

So Jesus is not contradicting Himself. In John 5, Jesus is talking about His unity with the Godhead. (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

Jesus does not work alone

v.14-15

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.

Jesus is not capable of rending false judgement about Himself.

The pharisees are lacking spiritual perception.

The pharisees are judging Jesus based on His human standards.

Jesus says that they Judge according to the flesh. material, the outward. Jesus will Judge the inner)

When Jesus is talking about judging. He is not judging the way that the hypocritical Jewish elites are

Jesus says that He is not judging anyone. (remember John 3:17

John 3:17 NASB95

17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Jesus is coming to the lost to save. Its almost like a warning.

John 8:16 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.

also

John 8:10–11 NASB95

10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Jesus shows His mercy and love. His anger and judgment has not come yet.

Navy Story on counseling/Captain’s mass

v.16

John 8:16 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.

Jesus has the right to Judge. He is not judging at this moment but has every right to.

Jesus judging is just, simply because He is God.

The Father and the Son are witnesses of each other

v.17-18

John 8:17–18 NASB95

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.”

Deuteronomy 17:6 NASB95

6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.

The witness matter was important in the Old Testament

Jesus is saying that He testify about Himself

Jesus testifies about Himself, about His Messianic claims. HE IS GOD

and the Father also testifies about Him also. (This is my beloved son, Matt 3, crush His head bruise His heel Gen 3)

We see this in other parts of scripture.

1 John 5:7–8 NASB95

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

God is the testimony of Himself.

The same Father, Son and Holy Spirit that were in the beginning / eternity past. that are one, testifies about each other.

v.19-20

John 8:19–20 NASB95

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.” 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.

They are again mocking Jesus. When asking Where is your father?

Remember John 6:42

John 6:42 NASB95

42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

Joseph would have been long dead at this point.

They know this. But they are mocking Him.

We have the chance to see that there is a clear ignorance of the Jews

They don't know who Jesus is.

and Jesus states here that they do not know God.

Wait a minute!!

Are these men not religious men?

don’t these men know the scriptures?

But Jesus is saying that they don’t know God.

not realizing that God Himself is a witness

Those who reject Jesus can’t know God.

The fullest of Jesus Christ is the fullness of God.

Treasury

Jesus is preaching in the treasury. This location was important because it is where money is kept and collected.

This is an important location for the Jews, because this is were the woman are.

So there were a lot of people there.

But they did not seized Him because again His time has not come.

V. 21-22

John 8:21–22 NASB95

21 Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

Jesus is talking about Him going into the heavenly places.

and the Jews not being able to go where He is.

But The Jews were so high and mighty about themselves they felt that they had first class tickets to heaven. But they didn't.

This is why they asked, would he kill Himself.

They believed that they were going to heaven and He was not.

But it was the opposite

V.23-24

John 8:23–24 NASB95

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.”

Jesus is saying here that there is a difference between Him and them.

Jesus is saying that He is from above, and they are on the world which is below.

and because of this he will die in there sins if they don't believe (trust in, be dependent on)

believe that Ego EmmI (I Am) you will die in your sins

Closing

knowing about Jesus is not enough.

We know that even the demons know who Jesus is. But have intimacy with Him is what matters

We can not know God without having Jesus as Lord.

Stolen Valor story

wearing the uniform without being in.....