Bible Study series: John 8:12-20. Jesus = the Light = the Truth

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John 8

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In this post, links are provided for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: John 8:12-20

¹² So then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one following me in no way walks in 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 In reply, Jesus said to them, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I have come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I do not judge anyone. ¹⁶ But even if I do judge, my judgment is true because I am not alone but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am the one testifying about myself and the Father who sent me testifies about me. ¹⁹ So they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus replied, “You have not known either me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” ²⁰ He spoke these things in the treasury, as he was teaching in the temple. And no one seized him because his hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20)

Comments:

12:

It may be that the Feast of Tabernacles was over and the crowds returned to their homes, because 7:37 says that he cried out about the Spirit, on the last great day of the feast. But surely the festival of lights burned in their memories just the day before, when Jesus said he was the light of the world. Carson describes the celebration: They lit four huge lamps in the temple court of women. Exuberant celebration took place under the lights. Men of piety and good works danced through the night, holding burning torches and singing praises. The Levitical orchestras played. These celebrations went on every night during the Feast of Tabernacles. The light from the temple shone its light on Jerusalem. In this contest Jesus proclaimed that he was the light of the world (comment on v. 12).

Klink (comment on v. 12), however, says that since the festival had ended, Jesus could not be referring to the lights. I agree with Carson; Jesus’s statement (“I am the light of the world”) does have the background of the lights.

I am reminded of Simeon, the old man, who took baby Jesus in his arms and said:

He received him into his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Now you may release your servant in peace, Master, according to your word,

³⁰ because my eyes have seen your salvation.

³¹ which you have prepared front and center before all the people,

³² a light of revelation for the Gentiles,

And the glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:28-32)

Jesus is the light for Gentiles or nations, and he is the glory of God, for light and glory are related.

This is the second of seven “I am” statements: I am the light. In Exod. 3:14, in the Septuagint (pronounced sep-too-ah-gent, a third to second century BC translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek), the Greek reads: “the LORD says, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’” (egō eimi, pronounced eh-goh-ay-mee) is used in the phrasing (along with ho ōn). This is high Christology.

JESUS’ SEVEN “I AM” SAYINGS IN JOHN
1	I Am the Bread of Life (6:35, 48) and Living Bread (6:51)
2	I Am the Light of the World (8:12; 9:5)
3	I Am the Gate (10:7, 9)
4	I Am the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14)
5	I am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25)
6	I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6)
7	I am the True Vine (15:1, 5)
BTSB, p. 2163, slightly edited

See v. 24 for many verses from Isaiah that say “I am he.” Jesus may be indirectly alluding to them.

Now what is light, and how does Jesus signify it? First, God is light (1 John 1:5). It reflects his divine nature, and it speaks of truth. It illuminates the soul and spirit of humanity, after they repent and surrender to Jesus. Yet, light can shine on the path that leads to their repentance and surrender (BDAG). Light speaks of truth over error; knowledge over ignorance; wisdom over foolishness.

Jesus is the light coming into the world, and darkness does not extinguish it:

⁴ In him was life, and this life was the light of people. ⁵ And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not put it out. … ⁹ The true light, which shines on every person, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world through him was made and the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, but his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who received him, to the ones who believe in his name, he gave the authority to become children of God … (John 1:4-5, 9-12).

People who are perceptive enough to see the light can become children of God. But generally speaking his own people did not receive him.

Jesus said in 9:4-5:

⁴ We must work the works of the one who sent me while it is day; the night comes when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5)

He also said in 11:9-10:

⁹ Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If someone walks around in the daytime, he does not trip because he sees the light to this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks around at night, he trips because the light is not in him.” (John 11:9-10)

And:

³⁵ So Jesus told them, “For still a brief time the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. And the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.” (John 12:35-36)

The light-darkness metaphor is found elsewhere in the NT. The one following Jesus will be a bright light and experience the life which he shines on them. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

¹⁴ You are the light of the world the light of the world. A town sitting above on a mountain cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a container, but on a lampstand, and it shines on everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In this way, let your light shine before people, so that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:14-16)

Jesus is the source of our light, after we enter the kingdom. Then our (his) light shines in our good works.

Paul agrees:

¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Rom. 13:12, NIV)

In Ephesians:

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph. 5:8-14, NIV)

In Colossians:

… and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:12-14, NIV)

In the Thessalonian correspondence:

⁴ But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵ You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1 Thess. 5:4-8, NIV)

Old Testament background (NIV):

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear? (Ps. 27:1)

⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light. (Ps. 36:8-9)

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path. (Ps. 119:105)

¹⁹ The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory. (Is. 60:19)

Just go to biblegateway.com and search for light. Amazing hits.

The Essenes, living in Qumran, saw a conflict between light and darkness (Mounce, referencing 1 QS 3:20-21).

Throughout the Mediterranean world the word light meant “truth” and “the right way,” “ethical living.” Bruce reminds us that the expression “sons of light” means the “ethical qualities of the person or persons thus described” (comment on 12:35-36a).

“life”: this is more than mere existence. This is life of the next age, that age, which has broken into this age or right now. In other words, eternal life happens now, but we must be careful not to believe that everything in the new age, in everlasting life, is happening now. This is called over-realized eschatology (study of ends times and new ages). Not every new-age blessing becomes realized or accomplished right now. But let’s not remain negative. We get some benefits of the next age or new age right now. We get some benefits of eternal life, right now.

5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully

“world”: The Greek noun is kosmos (pronounced coss-moss). It could refer to the physical universe (17:5; 21:25). Or it could refer to humanity as a group. What we call humanity or humankind is, in John, the world. This is why God invades the kosmos. “The ‘world’ is the place or realm where God is at work, the place that is the main focus of God’s attention. God’s saving light invades the dark world. Jesus came to the dark world to save as many as those who believe in him and in his name. In sum, “it appears that the personification of the ‘world’ in John is the portrait of a class of people.” It is the dimension of a relational encounter between God and people (Klink, comment on 1:10, pp. 100-01).

Jesus enables his disciples to walk or live in the light, even in a dark world. As we just read, we are supposed to be lights in this dark world. But will they listen? Many will not.

¹⁹ This is the judgment: light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light, for their works are evil. ²⁰ Every person practicing bad things hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works may not be exposed. ²¹ The one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be manifest, namely, that they are done in God. (John 3:19-21)

13:

“testify … testimony”: “The theme of witness … pervades the whole Gospel. The witness to the truth of God’s self-revelation in the Word is manifold: it comprises the witness of the Father (5:32, 37; 8:18), of the Son 8:14, 18), of the Spirit (15:26); the witness of the works of Christ (5:36; 10:25), the witness of the scriptures (5:39), the witness of the disciples (15:27), including the disciple whom Jesus loved (19:35; 21:24). The purpose of this manifold witness, as of John’s witness, is ‘that all might believe’: it is the purpose for which the Gospel itself was written (20:31)” (Bruce, comment on 1:6-8). The terms “witness” or “testimony” carries a legal meaning “of testifying or bearing witness to the true state of affairs by one who has sufficient knowledge or superior position” (Klink, comment on 1:7).

The Pharisees tell Jesus that he testifies alone about himself, so his testimony is not valid nor can be accepted in court. However, he is about to reply that his Father—the one who sent him—testifies about him, so he has two witnesses, and the second witness created justice for the entire moral universe!

14:

Now Jesus is deliberately enigmatic, which he loved to do. He knows where he came from (heaven) and where he is going (back to heaven). Of course his dialog partners, the Pharisees, think in terms of earth. Thus in John 7:35-36 we read:

³⁵ So the Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? He does not intend to go to the dispersed Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? ³⁶ What is this statement which he said, ‘You will look for me and you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come’?” (John 7:35-26)

It is probable that these Pharisees here thought the same as the Jews, the religious establishment in Jerusalem.

So the whole point of v. 14 is to build up to his origins, which is heavenly, and his source, who is the Father. Jesus knew his origins and his destiny. If your origins are not the highest quality, leave your past behind and look toward your ultimate destiny.

Does this verse contradict 5:31, which says if Jesus were his own self-witness then his testimony is insufficient and invald? In 5:31 Jesus was talking about his testimony or witness apart from his Father, so it would have been invalid and insufficient. However, here in 8:14, he is describing his interdependence with his Father in a close and intimate relationship with him. Commentator Klink explains further:

The Son is so dependent on the Father that he is unable to provide a witness for himself; his witness of Jesus must be rooted in the Father (and empowered by the Spirit). But that does not mean that Jesus’s self-witness, when rooted in the Trinitarian identity of God, is not therefore “valid” and “true.” Thus, at one and the same time, Jesus’s self-witness is valid in its Trinitarian identity and insufficient alone. Said another way, it is the interdependence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that qualifies Jesus to have an independent ground for truth. (comment on v. 14)

15-16:

So Jesus is not saying that he never judges anyone, since he said to the religious establishment that they should judge by a righteous standard (John 7:24). Literally the Greek says “by the flesh.” It is to be contrasted with ‘from above’ in John 3:13 (Klink, comment on v. 15).

Jesus also said:

¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world in order to condemn it, but that the world may be saved through him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in him is not condemned; but the one who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the unique Son of God. (John 3:17-18)

The point is that he does not have to “judge,” which can also translate the Greek verb krinō (pronounced kree-noh), both in 3:17-18 and here in vv. 15-16. It’s the same verb. To judge by “human standards” in Greek is “according to the flesh” or one’s own mental abilities or the outward appearance.

These verses appear in the context of final judgment:

²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:26-27)

So the Son’s active judgment will happen at the end of time; for right now, however, people judge themselves by either walking (living) in the light or walking (living) in darkness.

In any case, the Son and the Father—the One who sent the Son—stand together, and the Father supplies the second witness in the Son’s defense and shores up his Son’s ministry and truth claims, his proclamation of truth.

Borchert:

What is the point of this discourse on judgment? Perhaps the answer lies in the Greek word krinein itself, which can mean both “judge” and “condemn.” The purpose of the coming of Jesus was not to condemn but to save (3:17; cf. 8:15). Yet the very coming of Jesus set persons into decisive categories based on their acceptance or rejection of him. Accordingly, by his coming, the Father who sent him placed Jesus in the position of evaluation (5:22–24; 9:39) so that Jesus’ role actually was and is part of the Father’s judgment or evaluation (8:16). The purpose in the coming of Jesus had thus not changed. He came to be the Savior of the world (4:42), but human decision did mean that Jesus evaluated people (cf. 8:44; 9:39–41). (comment on vv. 13-16)

In saying, “I am not alone,” Jesus is declaring in this one statement his entire ministry. It is defined by relation to his Father. “It is out of this mysterious and glorious relation that the love of God is bestowed upon the world (3:16)” (Klink, comment on v. 16).

In v. 16, Jesus says “your law,” thus distancing himself from the old law of Moses, as he moves towards the cross, where he will ratify the New Covenant, which he began with the Last Supper.

The Sinai Covenant

God’s New Covenant

17-18:

At first, Jesus seems to contradict what he said in 5:31, in which he said that if he testifies about himself, his testimony is invalid. However, the two different contexts must be considered. Deut. 19:15 says that an accusation must be established by two or three witnesses, so in the eyes of Jesus’s accusers his self-testimony would not stand, so Jesus appeals to his Father and the works he does (Mounce’s comment on 5:31). Here vv. 17-18, in contrast, Jesus declares that his self-testimony is valid. However, the two settings are different. And in 8:16, his other witness is the Father, and that is good enough for the context there, because the Father makes up the second witness.

19:

People have to dig for spiritual truths. Jesus’s goal was to draw out of them hunger and desperation, for them to push through the dull mental barriers.

The Pharisees do not know what they are talking about because they do not know Jesus fully, that is, his heavenly origins and the One who sent him. And they do not know his Father. If they knew him, they would know the Father. But they do know the Father; therefore, they do not the Son. So Jesus has them trapped both ways. They know neither the Son, so they do not know the Father, and nor do they know the Father; therefore they do not know him. To know the Son is to know the Father, and to know the Father is to know the Son. That’s how united they are.

No one has ever seen God; the only and unique God, who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him known. (John 1:18)

20:

John repeats what he had written here: “So they were seeking to seize him, yet no one put their hands on them because his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30; see also 2:4; 7:6, 8; 13:1; 17:1). As I noted under 7:30, it was not the right time for him to be arrested or put their hands on him and then to crucify him. It was more than just his trial and crucifixion, but also his departure from the world and return to the Father (John 13:1). God will not allow people to take you down too soon. Jesus was following the Father perfectly. The timing belongs to God. This timing also shows the authority of Jesus (Klink, comment on v. 20)..

Bruce writes of the temple treasury: “The ‘treasury’ was that part of the Court of Women where thirteen-trumpet shaped containers were placed for the reception of various dues, six of them being for voluntary offerings” (comment on v. 20). Jesus sat here during Passion Week and observed a widow tossing in two copper pennies (Mark 12:41-44).

GrowApp for John 8:12-20

1. Jesus is the light of the world. When did he light up your own soul and save you?

2. To walk in the light is to walk in the truth. What is the best source of truth? How do you walk in it?

RELATED

14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels

12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel

4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel

3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel

SOURCES

For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:

John 8