The Gospel of John | I Am The Light of the World – John 8:12-30
Jesus provides the light of life for people who submit to His Lordship and rightful reign in their lives as the Fathers testifies as a witness for Him.
This passages seemingly picks up around the same time as the events from John 7 where Jesus is teaching at the Feast of Booths. While the Pharisees still sought to find enough of heresy to justify Jesus’ arrest or some way to get rid of him. Jesus continues to teach, only this time Jesus taught at the treasury where the people would bring in money for various different areas for temple functioning. This part of the temple was highly important for the life of the Jews during that day and this area, especially during this time, would be highly populated. Many would have heard the words of Jesus as He taught with the same bravado and authority with which He had come to be known. Now, standing in the treasury, as people brought their offerings, Jesus made it clear that all life stems from Him and His authority.
In this part of John, Jesus brings another one of the I Am statements that declare the personhood of Jesus and His mission in the world. Jesus describes Himself as being the Light of the World. This claim clearly presents Jesus as a divine figure with the means to bring life to all who would come to Him. The Pharisees, though, seeing this teaching, sought to challenge Him publicly in hopes to discredit Jesus and His ministry. Jesus presented a teaching that has been highly critical of the Pharisees as misrepresenting the word of God as they elevated themselves. Their behaviors and actions might have been outwardly accepting, but their hearts had not submitted to God. Jesus is the light of the world, being the source of truth, goodness, and life. Furthermore, the fullness of the Trinity speaks to the authority of Jesus Christ in the world. We, like the Pharisees, have the choice to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, choosing to be children of the light or remain in the darkness of this world.
I Am The Light of the World
At the start of Jesus’ teaching, He states the iconic line of His identity and His authority. “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.” (John 8:12, ESV). While many look to interpret this as the words of Jesus to shine light on our sin or on our insecurities, we must be careful with this approach. God, being omniscient, knows all things including our private or hidden sins and the insecurities we face. This is entirely true. But to understand this reference, you must go back to John 1 and the creation narrative in Genesis. The light brought order to chaos and entropy of nothingness. Darkness does not necessarily represent sin but represents the nothingness. As God spoke, “let there be light” order came from the chaos as God spoke life into being by His words. This is the meaning of the light, that life comes forth from the nothingness. Jesus is that light. He brings forth life in the darkness of our souls so that all who come to Him would have life rather than experiencing the eternal death.
The light and darkness refer to life and death, respectively. Those that follow Jesus walk in the light of life and those who reject Jesus reject the light of life. The two are interchangeable. For Jesus to say this in the context He did, it would mean that the Pharisees rejecting Him would be rejecting the source of life. The light of life is more than simply good feelings not sinning, but dealing with our eternity. Jesus’ words not only challenged the rule of the Pharisees who sought to burden the people with rules apart from a heart submitted to Jesus Christ, but condemned them in their rejection of life. Only those who submit to Jesus Christ will be able to experience life eternal. As the Pharisees rejected Jesus, they rejected life itself. We cannot attempt to justify our salvation as earned apart from Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ provides life for those who follow Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Putting trust in Jesus Christ as God and Lord.
- How does Jesus describe the difference between the light and the darkness? What are the implications of each one?
The Witness of God
According to Mosaic law, a witness against a crime would need two people to speak as a witness for the testimony to be valid. Thus, as the Pharisees heard the statements of Jesus, their immediate response was a move to discredit the witness of Jesus. This challenge would require Jesus to produce another witness to His identity. The Pharisees sought to require proof of Jesus’ divine identity. In truth, Jesus routinely provided proof of His divine nature through the witness of His parents, the prophets who spoke before Him, and the miraculous works He committed. Yet Jesus’ did not appeal to any of these viable witnesses but instead appealed to the Father. Jesus appeals to the Father, who spoke through the prophets and whom the Pharisees worshipped, to act as the witness of Jesus Christ. In saying this, the Pharisees would need to reject the Father, whom they serve, in order to justify their rejection of Jesus. Where the Pharisees came out with an offensive challenge, now, they would need to justify that the Father would not have sent Jesus Christ, something they would be unable to do. They would need to reject the message of the Father, the witness of the prophets, and the miracles performed by Jesus.
The entirety of the scriptures and the fullness of the Trinity spoke to establish Jesus in this foundational and pivotal moment in history. The witness of the Father speaks louder than any force in existence. The Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to bear witness to the fullness of God in all creation. Furthermore, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of men to bear witness to the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all creation. Jesus Christ, as the Immanuel is God with us. He is the God made flesh to be with His people as the authority of the Father is given to the Son. Thus, to reject Jesus is to reject the Father and thus reject the light of life. Even the judgments of Christ are not based in Christ alone but in the fullness of the Trinity as our witness. Those in Christ receive the witness of the Father and that same authority as we remain in Jesus Christ. We are united with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection in order that we would be with Him forever. To know the Son is to know the Father and to be with the Son is to be with the Father.
- Why does Jesus appeal to the Father as His witness? How does this appeal solidify the identity Christ to the Pharisees?
From Below and From Above
In the second half of Jesus’ debate with the Pharisees as to the authenticity of Jesus’ identity, the implications of Jesus as the light of life become real. Jesus tells the Pharisees that the place He is going, the Pharisees would be unable to follow Him. “He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23, ESV) Jesus equates those who are of the light with life and those ensnared by darkness. Standing against Jesus separates us from the Light of Life for all eternity. Understanding He was moving closer to His death on the cross, Jesus knew that those who followed Christ would be saved by grace through faith. Yet, it is interesting to note that when we lift Jesus up as Lord and Savior will be the moment we understand the testimony of The Father. There is an aspect of faith that the Pharisees simply were not seeing. They felt they could behave their way into eternity and stood on a righteousness of their own. For people to step into the light, though, only Christ will pave a way. Routinely throughout the Gospel of John, we see the common assertion that only Jesus can bring a person from death to life, from darkness to light.
To be a child of the light involved submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believing that the work of Christ on the cross counted as a propitiation for your sins. For all of us, the calling is to be children of the life comes in submitting every aspect of our life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. To be children of the light means we leave the darkness of our desires and our passions in exchange for the rebirth that comes from the light of life through bowing to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He alone is able to save. Our good works cannot save apart from the power of Jesus Christ on the cross and even if we do manage to do “good” our hearts would testify against us. As God gives us a new heart, The Father is our witness as Jesus intercedes on our behalf that we have been reborn by the Holy Spirit.
- Why were the Pharisees unable to follow Jesus where He was going? What conditions were set for following Jesus where He is going?
Discussion Questions
- Explain what it means to be a child of the light? What differences do you see in the light and in the darkness?
- What does the witness of the entirety of God tell us about the nature of Jesus Christ? What impact does this have in our lives to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
- How do we lift up the Son of Man? Where do you struggle with lifting up the Son of Man in your life?
- Jesus tells the Pharisees that unless they believe He is sent from the Father, they will die in their sins. How do we reconcile this with the fact that we still struggle with sin?
- When we follow bow before the Lord Jesus Christ, how does this affect The Father’s witness to our personal identity?
