John 8:12-20 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.
INTRODUCTION
I want to thank Kyle for preaching last week and for serving us well by faithfully guiding us through another Psalm as he’s done for many years now. Rightly connecting head, heart, and actions is key to Christian maturity and I appreciate Kyle’s commitment to fighting for that in his own life and for inviting us into the battle with him. And in case you didn’t know, Kyle was serving me as well in agreeing to preach so I could travel to MI to be with my family in light of my uncle’s passing. Thanks to those of you who prayed for me and my family.
Well, after wading through the murky waters of John 7:53-8:11, it’s good to be back on solid ground. By taking a look at that passage and then taking another week away from John (with Kyle preaching), we run the risk of missing an important connection between 7:37-52 and our passage for this morning. I’ll get more into the connection later in the sermon, but for now it’s good for us to understand that in this John 8 passage, Jesus did something almost identical to what He did in the John 7 passage. In both, in the context of the Feast of Booths, Jesus made a claim about Himself (He offered rivers of living water in 7 and in 8 He is the light of the world) that was deeply rooted in the feast traditions and OT prophecies. Likewise, in both passages, John devoted significantly more words to the response Jesus got than to the claim itself. These two passages really do go hand in hand (and are almost certainly meant to be back to back) to paint an awesome picture of Jesus the Christ and the good news that is for the world. Paired together, they also help us see even more clearly the disorienting and deadly effects of sin on our ability to understand and appreciate that.
The heart of this passage is that Jesus is the light of the world. And that’s unimaginably good news for a world plunged into darkness. It is my hope and prayer that God would be pleased to use this passage and sermon to draw us out of the darkness and into the light of Christ. Let’s pray that it would be so.
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
In another powerful opening statement, Jesus claimed of Himself, “I am the light of the world”. Before we dive into that, let me remind you that this is one (the second) of seven main “I am claims” Jesus made in John’s Gospel.
John 6:35 I am the bread of life.
John 8:12 I am the light of the world.
John 10:7 I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd.
John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life.
John 14:6 I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
John 15:1 I am the true vine
John’s main aim in writing his Gospel was, once again, to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, in order that we might believe in Him and have eternal life (20:31). Each of these “I am” claims cuts straight to the heart of two things: (1) The fact that Jesus understood Himself to be the Christ and (2) Jesus’ understanding of His essential nature as the Christ. His claim to be the light of the world is certainly no exception.
To help us best grasp the meaning and significance of this claim, let’s consider the context in which Jesus made it from three increasingly widening perspectives.
Feast
The immediate context of Jesus’ claim was, once again, the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). A few weeks ago when I preached through the end of chapter 7 and Jesus’ offer of “living water”, I pointed out that Jesus made that statement on the day of the height of the water-pouring ritual—a ritual practiced every year, throughout the week, and especially on the last day of the feast. “The point of the ritual was to celebrate the miraculous way in which God had given water to His people from a rock through Moses, and to anticipate a similar miraculous giving of water through the Christ when He came.” For that reason, because water played such an important, daily role in the feast, Jesus’ claim would have been clearly understood and amplified.
Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world has another, similar, feast-specific connotation. According to the earliest Jewish written tradition (the Mishnah; as recorded in TNTC, 201, Kruse),
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.
The main point is that from the first evening on, throughout the entire feast week, candle light was an important and unmissable aspect of the feast. Light would have been on everyone’s mind, every day, in a special way. Understanding this, Jesus had another perfect backdrop for His claim and another way to reveal Himself as the source of another shadow—the fulfillment of another of mankind’s deepest longings.
John’s Gospel
To zoom out just a bit, within the Gospel of John, Jesus’ relationship to light has already been, and will continue to be, a key theme. In his introductory paragraph, which intentionally drew his readers’ minds back to the creation account of Genesis 1, John explained one aspect of Jesus’ nature.
John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A little later in the Gospel (3:19-21), John expanded on this idea.
John 3:19-21 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”
In our passage, as we’ll continue to press in on, Jesus spoke this way about Himself. He understood Himself to be the ultimate source and fullest sense of all light. And going forward, Jesus will continue to describe Himself as the light of the world and expand on its meaning.
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 12:35-36 “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
John 12:46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
The main thing for us to see is that light is an essential aspect of Jesus’ nature and was, therefore, a consistent and important theme for both John and Jesus in this Gospel.
Prophesy
Finally, to zoom out one more time, John and Jesus certainly said what they said about Jesus and light with several OT prophesies in mind. Isaiah in particular promised that the Christ would be a light for the world (see also, 49:5-6 and 51:4).
Isaiah 42:6-7 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
By tapping into the significant place of light in the Feast of Booths and the OT prophesies concerning the Christ as light to the world, Jesus knew His words would not fail to be understood. Understanding this, John highlighted this idea throughout his Gospel. Coming to realize these things ought to help us lean into Jesus’ words.
Grace, all of these combined help us to see something truly amazing. Before coming to the meaning of Jesus’ words, I want to draw your attention to one of the sweetest realizations you can make as you work your way through the Bible—absolutely nothing you will experience in life is arbitrary. Everything that exists, exists for a God-given purpose. Things that we often give little thought to, are gifts from above to create in us categories to understand the infinite glory of God. We find two examples of this in these last few paragraphs in John—water and light. There are, perhaps, no more ordinary or essential things in our lives than water and light. We’re almost never more than a few feet away from both and we cannot live long without both. And yet, have you ever considered the fact that God did not need to make us to need them. He chose to, above all, so that Jesus words in John 7:38 and John 8:12 would make sense to us. Marvel at this, Grace. We get thirsty and need water to live so that we are able to understand Jesus’ claim to be living water, the true source of all satisfaction. Likewise, we need light to see and live so that we are able to understand Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world, the true source of understanding and life. Awesome!
Meaning
Rightly understood, then, the feast, the Gospel, and the prophets add a lot of weight to Jesus’ claim, but what did it actually mean? What exactly was He getting at in claiming to be the light of the world? Jesus tells at the end of v.12. The heart of His claim is that as the light of the world, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” But again, what does that mean? There are three main tenets of this greatest news.
- First, sin has thrust the world into darkness. In order to truly appreciate why Jesus’ announcement was such good news, we need to understand some bad news first. Since Adam and Eve, sin has been in all mankind and darkness with it (Genesis 3: ; Romans 5:12). The John 3 passage we read earlier is rooted in this truth. The main point for us to see here is that Jesus’ declaration that He is the light of the world, was spoken into a world consumed with darkness. All people, since the first people, naturally walk in darkness.
- Second, as Jesus’ explanation and the Isaiah prophecy both make clear, this kind of darkness is marked by a combination of confusion, lies, evil, and death. As you can tell, the news gets worse before it gets better. Darkness and confusion go hand in hand. When we cannot see, navigating anything is difficult. However, while it’s frustrating to try to do almost anything in the dark, sin-induced darkness goes much deeper still. Biblically, it is characterized not merely by confusion, but also lies, evil, and death.
This is why the religious leaders, along with so many throughout Jesus’ ministry, responded as they did (more on that in just a bit). It was precisely because they were entirely immersed in sinful darkness that they couldn’t see Jesus for who He was. It was because they were in darkness that they misunderstood, lied about, hated, and eventually killed Jesus. And this is still why so many reject Jesus and His design for life, gender, sex, goodness, purpose, and everything else. It is why they are not only missed and dismissed, but also, increasingly, despised. This spiritual darkness is why so much of the world is as it is.
This is bad news, but the cure for cancer is only truly good news if cancer is real and deadly. Having your college loans paid off is only good news if you have college loans. And finding out that the light of the world has come into the world is only good news if we know we are lost in darkness. All of this combined, then, leads to the goodness of Jesus’ pronouncement. - As the light of the world, Jesus was clarity, truth, goodness, and life. The first key here is that Jesus IS the light (not that He has the light). Light isn’t a market cornered by Jesus or something He brings with Him when He travels. Jesus is light. He is clarity, truth, goodness, and life. And the second key is that in this, Jesus is the rescue from sin and darkness. To come to Jesus (“whoever follows me”) is to leave darkness. It is to leave confusion and to be able to see clearly. It is to leave lies and gain truth. It is to forsake evil and accept good. And it is to be rescued from death and given resurrection life.
Coming to the light of Christ is to be given spiritual sight for the first time. It is what allows us to see the holiness of God. It is what allows us to see sin as sin and righteousness as righteousness. It is what allows us to see and walk the path of forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. It is what allows us to receive and give the love of God. It is the beginning of the freeing of our wills and the ability to recognize that God is greater than we’ve ever imagined.
In a world that was dead in darkness, Jesus declaration that the light of life had come is the greatest news anyone could ask for or imagine.
With this knowledge, how could anyone fail to rejoice? How could Jesus’ original hearers? And, since the offer still stands, how could we? Let’s consider the response of those who first heard Jesus before coming back to our response in conclusion.
YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN ME BECAUSE I AM FROM THE FATHER
While the heart of this passage is Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world, that only covers one verse. The rest of the passage focuses on the response of the Pharisees and Jesus’ response to their response (just as was the case at the end of chapter 7). It is not insignificant that John chose to highlight the response of the leaders more than the claim itself. Jesus is and always has been what He is. We need to know that. But we also need to know how to respond (and, as in this case, not to respond) to it now that we have it. So much of our lives are a matter of being confronted with a truth about Jesus and needing to respond to it as we should—with swift repentance, obedience, or worship.
How, then, did the leaders respond and what did Jesus make of that?
The Leaders’ Response
I wonder, what would you do if someone came to the farmer’s market at Grace and in the midst of the crowd declared themselves to be the light of the world. How would you respond? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you consider that scenario?
I think my initial response would be to think the person crazy. Second, I imagine wanting to talk to the person to find out more what they meant and what I could do to help. What would never occur to me is what the Pharisees actually did…especially when you add in the fact that Jesus had performed miraculous signs and taught with unparalleled authority among them.
13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”
Having seen and heard all that they did of Jesus, the Jewish leaders’ response concerned a technicality of the law. According to the law (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15), more than one witness was needed to establish the veracity of someone’s testimony. Jesus acknowledged this, and agreed to it, in chapter 5(:31-37). There he claimed to have John the Baptist and God Himself as witnesses.
The main point of the Pharisees, is something along the lines of “By God’s design, big claims require big proof and you have none. Anyone can make claims like that, so God has given us a way to test them and you fail that test. You say these things about yourself with no one to back you up so we are right in not believing you.”
As we’ve seen many times throughout John’s Gospel, the Jews and Jewish leaders are consistently pictured as grasping at straws. Their eyes were darkened and they were, therefore, unable to see what was right in front of them. They were willing to do anything to keep from having to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. They were willing to entertain just about every conceivable conclusion related to Jesus’ claims, except that they were true. Such is the darkness of darkness.
How, then, would Jesus respond to them? We don’t have to wait long to find out.
Jesus’ Response to the Leaders’ Response
Take a look at the very next verse, v.14.
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.”
In His response to the Pharisees’ contention that He didn’t have the proper number of witnesses to claim what He claimed, Jesus made six basic arguments. He has already said and explained most of them in John’s Gospel, so I’ll just briefly state them.
- My testimony is always true. I never lie. I am God and I am truth. The law was given as a reflection of my character and as a means of protecting you all from one another since you fall short of it. I am the fulfillment of it, while you are unable to keep the smallest portion of it. (14)
- If you knew where I came from—that is, who I am—you’d believe me. But since you don’t, you judge by the wrong standard. And since you judge by the wrong standard, you have judged wrongly. (14)
- Rather than judging by the right standard, the eternal, spiritual truth that is rooted in me, you judge with your own wisdom and only according to what you can see, the flesh. (15)
- While you spend your time in wrong judgment, I judge no one. That’s not why I’m here. But even if I did, it would be perfect in every way and in perfect agreement with the Father who sent me, since we are one. (15)
- Nevertheless, even though I am not bound by the law in the same way you are (“your law”), because I have my Father as my witness, I keep the law you accuse me of breaking. (16-18)
- All of your problems with me stem from the fact that you think you know God, but you don’t. As I’ve said many times, if you really knew God, you’d receive me with great joy and eager obedience. (19)
Obviously, claiming to be the light of the world is no small thing. Why would anyone believe anyone who claimed such a thing? Jesus’ reply answered that question in a simple, profound, and irrefutable way: You should believe me because I am the Christ, the only Son of God, sent in the love of the Father to rescue you from the very sin and darkness that keeps you from seeing and believing the things I’ve placed before you.
CONCLUSION
Jesus is the light of the world. Those charged with leading the covenant people of God had their eyes darkened by sin and were unable to see this. Consequently, rather than rejoice as they ought to have, they sought to dismiss Jesus on a matter of legal technicality. Jesus let them know that they were both wrong on their application of the law and on who it was standing before them.
Again, then, let’s not miss the earth-shaking magnitude of Jesus’ claim—to be the light of the world, the one and only one who would deliver mankind from sin’s darkness. Likewise, let’s not miss the fact that John focused most on the leaders’ response to this claim. The significance of that is in the fact that it is a call for us to consider our own response to the fact that Jesus is still the light of the world.
Where is your understanding of darkness and light defined by the world instead of God? What love of darkness remains in you? What is keeping you from coming fully into the light? What lengths are you willing to go to, to share the light of the world with the world?
Finally, John closed this scene by commenting on something familiar.
20 These words he spoke in the treasury [most likely the court of women, the location where the lights of the Feast were first lit on the first day], as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
John’s point, once again, is that the sovereign hand of God cannot be stopped or stayed. God was bringing light and salvation to the world through Jesus. No power of hell and no scheme of man was, is, or every will be able to keep the love of God from coming to and remaining on all who will receive it. Come, therefore, Grace, to the Light of the World in the certain knowledge that when you do so in faith, you will be welcomed, forgiven, freed, given understanding, and adopted as everlasting sons and daughters of God!