"The Light of the World"

“again” points to a change of scene, which is typical of John’s gospel. The location, according to verse 20, is the treasury, located in the Court of Women. It was said by many historians that in this court were thirteen shofar-style receptacles. The smaller mouth of each one had a sign below it indicating the specific purpose for the monies collected.

Every evening during the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), during the time between the evening offering (3 PM) and the end of the day (6 PM), priests would enter the Court of Women to light two (some historians say four) giant candelabra-like lampstands. It was claimed that these caused light to fall on every courtyard in Jerusalem. However, the lamps were said not be be lit on the last day of the feast.

(1) Charge: “I am the Light of the World” (v. 12)

“I am the light of the world” is Jesus claiming exclusivity — He is the true light that shines in the darkness of this world.

believers become children of light through belief, John 12:36

John 12:36 NASB95

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.

Jesus foretold the future of His disciples in Matt. 5:14

Matthew 5:14 NASB95

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

The one who follows Jesus, the promise is two-fold: they will not walk in darkness; they will have the Light of life.

(2) Responses: The Witness of the Father and Son (vv. 13-18)

To this, the Pharisees responded by contradicting Jesus, saying Jesus’ testimony is not true (real).

People can claim anything about themselves, but mere statement doesn’t establish the truth.

Jesus responds, declaring His testimony is true, since He knows both where He came from and where He is going, information that the Pharisees do not have.

Jesus then declares that His judgment is true in contrast to that of the Pharisees. Jesus judges according to the Father’s will, so He and the Father who sent Him are in agreement. Jesus and the Father give true testimony, in agreement with the law.

(3) Verdict: “You Know neither Me nor My Father” (vv. 19-20)

The Pharisees express their cynicism, retorting, “Where is your father?” Jesus ignores their question, and states that they do not know neither Him nor His Father. Jesus explains that He is the only means of knowing God personally; He Himself is the perfect representation of God.

B. Second Verbal Exchange: The Origin of the Son, 8:21-30.

(1) Charge: “You Will Die in Your Sin” (v. 21)

Jesus now states that He will go away, predicting His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. However, the Jewish religious leaders will never see heaven because they do not know God. Their “sin” is unbelief.

They interpret Him literally, so Jesus explains further

(2) Responses: “You Are from the World; I Am Not from This World (vv. 22-27)

“Below” is the realm of fallen creation; “above” is the heavenly realm, where no sin can exist.

Believers can be born from above through faith, John 3:16-17

John 3:16–17 NASB95

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Those from below are “of this world,” doomed to die in sin and suffer eternal punishment.

Jesus is “not of this world,” holy, and will not suffer judgment.

The “sins” are their acts, evidence spiritually their need for the Savior who is God in the flesh; without believing in Him, they will indeed die in their sins.

The question of verse 25 evidences their ignorance of who Jesus truly is. He responds that He has been telling them from the beginning who He is. Because of their willful blindness, they failed to understand Jesus’ reference to the Father, cf. John 3:13

John 3:13 NASB95

“No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

The conversation between Jesus and these leaders is a striking resemblance of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (3:3-21).

(3) Verdict: “You will know that I Am” (vv. 28-30)

“When You lift up the Son of Man...” a reference to the crucifixion, John 3:14-15

John 3:14–15 NASB95

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

Also cf. John 5:19-47 with verse 28-29. Jesus teaches the same lessons to many people several times each day in the temple throughout the Feast.

These discourses, preserved for us by John, are representative of numerous instances where Jesus proclaimed truth and became a target for the religious leaders’ wrath. But even though Jesus’ opponents stood steadfast in their rebellion. verse 30 lets us know that Jesus is still reaping a harvest.

2. Second Accusation: The Charge against Illegitimate Origin (8:31-59).

A. First Verbal Exchange: The Identity of the People of God, 8:31-47

(1) Charge: True Disciples Abide in My Word (vv. 31-32)

In this section, there may be another change of scene, but the conversation continues.

The Greek word translated “know” is one of four possible; this word stresses understanding.

Belief is not the end of something as if we have arrived; it is a beginning, a rebirth after which growth must follow.

“make us free” from the indebtedness of the penalty of sin. This freedom is spiritual release from judgment and the free gift of eternal life.

(2) Responses: Abraham and the Father (33-43)

The leaders once again interpreted Jesus’ words at a literal level. They were descendants of Abraham by which they claimed racial, cultural, and moral superiority.

Their denial was based on the fact that even under Rome, they could still worship God. But even in this literal understanding, their history has been one of enslavement under other nations.

Jesus clarified the freedom He was referring to in the first of three solemn proclamations: The slave master is sin! (34)

The slave is always inferior to the Son, v. 25.

The Son has come to liberate the slave from the slave master of sin, and allowing them to become children of God through faith, John 1:12-13

John 1:12–13 NASB95

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jesus was well aware of Abraham’s physical descendents, but they were not spiritual descendents of Abraham — Abraham placed trust in God because he heard and obeyed God, but their desire was to kill Jesus; They did not obey His word; yet to reject Jesus was to reject God.

Verse 38 could be translated as an imperative, so it would read, “I speak the things which I have seen with the Father; therefore, you must also do the things which you have heard from the Father.”

Their continued emphasis on being Abraham’s descendants brings Jesus to bring the differences between Him and them to the forefront.

Jesus charged them to live like Abraham, doing his deeds, but in seeking to kill Him, they evidence that they are doing the deeds of a different father, the implication being that they are sons of Satan, rejecting God.

Verse 41 displayed the leaders cynical hatred of Jesus, throwing in His face accusation surrounding His mother Mary, and they claimed to have God as their Father.

Jesus ignores the insult and reinforces His earlier teaching that He was on earth to do the Father’s will (42). Then Jesus reveals the source of their unbelief: they “cannot hear My Word.”

In John’s gospel there is not a muddying of the water. Spiritual truth was black and white: light ct. darkness; truth ct. lie; life ct. death; kingdom of God ct. the world.

(3) Verdict: “You Belong to Your Father, the Devil” (vv. 44-47)

Why they cannot hear Jesus’ word? They are Satan’s and they do his desires willingly

Satan is everything God is not.

To practice sin is to side with Satan against God, 1 John 1:5-7

1 John 1:5–7 NASB95

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Why do these religious leaders reject Jesus? Simply, they are dedicated to the father of lies!

B. Second Verbal Exchange: The Counterclaim by the Jews: Heresy! 8:48-59

(1) Charge: “You are a Samaritan and Have a Demon” (v. 48)

This was a venomous, insulting response. It was a racial slur with the leader’s contending that Jesus was controlled by Satan.

(2) Responses: “Before Abraham Was [Born], I Am” (vv. 49-58)

Jesus responded to this insult with the truth, and a warning: there is One who seeks and judges. This is followed by a second solemn promise: “If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.” Jesus is referring to the judgment of sin and eternal punishment.

The Jews rejected Jesus’ statement (52-53). Their disbelief was based on a spiritually myopic interpretation of what Jesus proclaimed. Then they heaped on the sarcasm: “Whom do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus responds, proclaiming that he will not glorify Himself but allow the Father to glorify Him. Jesus, though equal with the Father. did not seek His own glory, but did everything to glorify the Father.

In contrast, the pride of the Jews is the root of their rebellion, pointed out by Jesus: “… of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him ...” The Jews glorified themselves and dared to label God as the source of their glory.

Then in verse 58, Jesus makes an unambiguous claim to deity.

(3) Verdict: The Attempted Stoning of Jesus (v. 59)

The Jews respond to Jesus’ claim with violence. The pick up stones to throw at Him on the charge of blasphemy, failing to recognize the Living Word when He stared them in the face.

God had entrusted the Jews with the care and proclamation of His word. These religious leaders and scribes were exposed to the truth daily as they faithfully preserved the text with meticulous care to make sure that each generation received pure, transcribed copy of God’s inerrant Word. However, they could not connect the dots found in the very Word they said they treasured.

The Feast of Booths/Tabernacles, the great ingathering harvest celebration, comes to a close. Jesus had fulfilled His mission, harvesting more believers whose hearts had been prepared by the Father.

Why do people reject Jesus the Messiah?

The text highlights five reasons:

1. They lack knowledge

John 8:14 NASB95

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.

They do not have adequate information about Him; they have not been told, or what they have been told is wrong. This is why we take the gospel to the world.

2. They lack perception

John 8:15 NASB95

“You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.

John 8:23 NASB95

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.

By judging “according to the flesh,” they discern only in natural, physical, empirical terms, lacking a spiritual dimension to their thinking which keeps them from comprehending spiritual truth. Materialists reject the notion of anything supernatural, believing the universe exists of matter and energy only.

3. They lack appropriation

John 8:37 NASB95

“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

These priests and scribes who were exposed to the Word of God never allowed the text they so carefully copied to make the journey into their hearts.

4. They lack desire

John 8:44 NASB95

“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.

These religious leaders followed their own selfish desires rather than setting aside their self-interest to obey God. Today we see many who refuse to accept the truth of Jesus Christ because he or she do not want to give up a chosen lifestyle, regardless of how personally destructive it will become.

5. They lack humility

John 8:52–53 NASB95

The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

These men thought they had outgrown a need for a Savior, trusting in their ancestry to guarantee God’s approval, believing they had exclusive access to truth.

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