GRACE CHAPEL pastors blog: The Light of the World Exposing Darkness, John 8:12-20

John 8:12-20 includes the second "I am" statement found in John's Gospel. In chapter six Jesus referred to Himself as the "Bread of life". All of the "I am" statements are declarations of deity and Messiahship. They are metaphors revealing a different aspect of Christ's Messianic identiy.

There is a pattern to the way that Jesus makes statements about His Messianic identity. This pattern is striking because it shows His constant allegiance to obey the Father fully. This pattern manifests a spirit that refused to walk one step ahead of the Father's will.

For instance, in chapter six, Jesus feeds the multitudes with the loaves and fish. Directly following this incident on the very next day Jesus says to the same crowd that had followed Him to the other side of the sea, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (6:35).

In chapter seven, Jesus waited until that water ritual ceremony occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles (likely right at the climax on the final day when the priest poured the water on the altar) and then He cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water'" (7:37).

Now here in chapter eight, Jesus says, "I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (8:12). Like Christ's declaration in chapter seven, this one also follows the theme of the Feast of Tabernacles, and specifically points to another particular ceremony to which we will talk about later.

This pattern of "specific event/specific declaration" is not only striking due to it revealing Christ's willingness to capitalize on the circumstances that the Father sovereignly orchestrated in order to make His case as the Messiah in a very natural, progressive manner. It is also striking for another reason.

If you have not already noticed all three declarations contained in chapters six, seven, and eight all refer back to the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. Aside from the fact that the events of chapter seven are separated by roughly six months (The Retirement Ministry of Jesus), all three constitute real life events during those wilderness years that every Israelite would have understood.

In chapter six, Jesus clearly makes a connection with the manna in the wilderness with His declaration He was the "Bread of life" (6:31 ff.). God provided bread (manna) in the wilderness, but that bread only pointed to the true bread (6:32) which the Father now gave in sending His Son into the world.

In chapter seven, the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated with that elaborate water pouring ceremony. What did the water point to? It pointed to the wilderness wanderings when Moses struck the rock and Meribah and water flowed out. The whole Feast pointed to the wilderness wanderings. In fact, they called it the "Feast of Tabernacles" (same as Feast of Booths, or Feast of Thanksgiving) due to the fact that all the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem would dwell in makeshift huts (booths) to remind them of the wilderness wanderings when they had yet reached the land God promised and thus had no permanent dwelling. When Jesus says that if one feels their need for thirst they must simply come to Him He was showing that the provision of water in the wilderness by God only pointed forward to the true provision of "living water" found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And in chapter eight, Jesus--as we will see-- makes this declaration against the background of another feature of the children of Israel's wandering in the wilderness.

In other words, Jesus was showing that He was the fulfillment of all those "types" in the wilderness-- the manna, bread, and light. He was showing that all those things were not important in and of themselves. They only meant something true and meaningful when connected with His identity as the Messiah.

Thus, the way in which Christ revealed Himself was natural and submissive. It was natural because He allowed the normal events of life (as He conducted His main activity of teaching) to come to Him as the Father orchestrated them. And when the opportunity came to make an impressionable statement about His identity, He seized the opportunity. It was submissive because He refused to walk one step behind, or before the will of the Father. Thus, Jesus is the true pattern of obedience! In this obedience we see a "specific event/specific declaration" pattern.

Now let's look at the present passage (8:12-20) a little closer. Chapter eighth finds Jesus in a situation that John all too often shows Him in. Once again the religious leaders are challenging His teaching. More specifically, they are challenging His claim in being the "Light of the world". And once again, He reveals before the crowds their foolishness and hardness of heart. Thus, the passage includes an interchange between Jesus and the Pharisees that can be divided up into the 3 phases of Christ's argumentation. His argumentation reveals that He is Light, but the Pharisees are darkness. First, we will see the great claim, then the grave contrast, and finally the grim conclusion.

I. THE GREAT CLAIM (vs.12)
Verse 12 notes the great claim by Jesus, "I am the Light of the world". Jesus did not just make this claim "out of the blue". It was said against the backdrop of the "lighting ceremony". During the Feast of Tabernacles there existed two primary ceremonies of celebration. The first, I mentioned above (the water ceremony). The second took place in the very part of the temple where Christ was teaching this day. Verse 20 clues us in that He was teaching in the Treasury. The Treasury was located in the Court of Women. In this section of the temple were constructed four huge candelabra. Some say these candelabra were as high as the temple walls themselves. In fact, it would take a priest climbing a ladder to light the wick that protruded from the top. The bowl on the top, it is said, contained sixty-five liters of oil. When those candelabra were lit there was virtually not a yard in the whole city of Jerusalem that did not share some of the light that exuded from these massive torches.

The mishna says that the lighting ceremony involved dancing and music even from those who were considered dignitaries. Why light these candelabra? What did they point to? They reminded the children of Israel of their wilderness wanderings when God led them with the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire at night.Once again, Jesus is saying, "I am the fulfillment of that pillar of fire! It pointed to Me, I am the Light of the world."

It is likely that Jesus is standing right underneath those candelabra when He makes that statement. The children of Israel would have known exactly what He was talking about.

The metaphor is rather simple to understand. In 1:4 John referred to Jesus as the Light and specifically said that the "Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it". Jesus, as the Light, illumines the sinful soul to see his sin, and the glory of Jesus Christ. We grope around in the darkness of sin trying to find our way and Jesus shines His light into our souls and says, "I am the Way". Another way to put it is to say that Christ's Light makes our darkness disappear. That is, after all, what light does. It shines, and when it does darkness is gone, right?

Those hearing this claim would have known that Jesus was declaring His identity as Messiah. Isaiah refers to the Messiah as a "light to the nations" (Is. 42:6; 49:6). Furthermore, the rabbi's would call the Messiah "the Light" as a sort of nickname.

So for the original audience His identity as Messiah was the main thing communicated to them.

Now the rest of what He says in vs. 12 accentuates the meaning further: "he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness but will have the Light of life". The first half of vs.12 tells us who Jesus is, and by implication what the Gospel does (illumines dark souls with he light of the Gospel leading to salvation- 2 Cor. 4:4-6). The second half of vs. 12 tells us how the Gospel changes one's life in regards to sanctification.

To "have the Light of life" means one "will not walk in darkness". And only the one who "follows Jesus" in trust and belief will "have the Light of life", and will thus "not walk in darkness". The message is simple: Christ saves us from the condemnation of sin; but He also saves us from the control of sin. To put it another way, Christ saves us from Satan; but He also saves us from ourselves.

In fact, it is true to say that if one possesses the "Light of life", then they will become lights themselves. Christ Himself said so in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

The Apostle Paul later picked up on this theme in numerous places (Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15; I Thess. 5:5). In these passages the message is clear: to follow Christ is to shine as lights in darkness. This includes trying to do "what is pleasing to Him" (Eph. 5:10) and working out one's "salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12-13).

We become little lights by having our small torches lit from the big torch--Jesus Christ. So to "have the Light of life" is to "follow" Jesus. And to do so is to "not walk in darkness". All of this is summed up nicely by John himself in his first epistle, " 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 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" (I Jn. 1:5-7).

Christ's claim is great indeed. He is revealing His ability to save sinners from the condemnation of darkness and the control of darkness. God transforms a life; He doesn't just save a life. The Gospel, therefore, reveals the ethic of the New Covenant. And the ethic of the New Covenant is obedience and submission to Jesus Christ. Obedience is not perfection, but obedience is constant.

The children of Israel were never characterized by true obedience. Even before the covenant was officially sealed, they broke the law of the covenant by forming the golden calf. After it was sealed, they constantly failed to obey everything in it. That was the requirement by the way- complete obedience. However, even in their stumbling in darkness they did picture New Covenant obedience by the grace of God in one important sense. This obedience had nothing to do with the law, but it nevertheless was obedience in its truest and simplest sense.

The children of Israel (read Numbers 9:15-22) submitted themselves constantly to the pillar of fire that led them through the wilderness. When the pillar stopped, they set up camp. When the pillar moved, they moved. Numbers is adamant about this fact. They constantly and continuously were characterized by obedience and submission to the pillar of fire.

And that is what makes Christ's declaration that much greater. Christ is saying, "I am the pillar of fire--the new pillar of fire because I am the light of the world, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. I am the light to the nations (the world). I will bring two people together in one covenant. And my power is greater than the law's power. It never secured faithfulness. I am like the pillar however, which secured faithfulness in picture form. Those who follow me will not be perfect in this lifetime, but they will be characterized by a new desire to obey me and place themselves under the new pillar of fire. I will be their guide. Their ethic will be obedience. And this obedience is possible because of the light I have shined into their lost, dark souls."

The question if you are a Christian is not, "Do you sin?" The question is, "When you sin, or we could say when you leave the camp and walk before or behind the pillar of fire (Christ's Lordship), do you come back?" Christ is saying that is what the Gospel does. It does not just save you from the condemnation of sin as beautiful and foundational as that is. But it also saves from the control of sin. We have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved someday.

Now here is an important application for us: when we look at the Israelites in the Old Testament we must be careful not to adopt the Old Covenant ethic for our lives. The New Covenant ethic is different. It is different because the law is different. The law led the Israelite in the Old Covenant. The Spirit leads the new Israelite of the New Covenant.

I honestly do not know how much the original audience would have understood regarding what I have just said. But what I just said we know to be true because we have the rest of the New Testament Scriptures to confirm this. Furthermore, the original audience standing in the temple listening to Jesus would have certainly understood Christ's claim to be the Messiah. Let's look further in this text and see what kind of reaction we get from the Pharisees who were there listening with the crowds.

II. THE GRAVE CONTRAST (vss. 13-18)
Everything in these verses shows the contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees. He was everything that they were not, but prided themselves in being. They saw themselves as worshipers of the Father in heaven due to their strict adherence to Mosaic law. But in reality, they did not know the Father at all. They thought their judgement regarding Christ's identity was pure and right. It was fleshly and wrong, however. Jesus' own judgement of Himself, on the other hand, was pure and right.

Notice the Pharisees reaction in vs. 13, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true." It is likely that they are picking up on what Jesus said in 5:31, "If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true." They were trying to show that Jesus was contradicting Himself by catching Him in a legal technicality due to the fact that the law called for two witnesses to verify a truth claim. Futhermore, Jesus had apparently placed Himself under that requirment in chapter 5. Now it seems He is contradicting what He did in chapter 5.

Jesus was not contradicting Himself, however. In chapter five, He placed Himself under their standards of requiring two witnesses. And later in that passage, He pointed to the Father as a witness, "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true."

For a moment, Jesus does not claim another witness in our current passage. Instead, undoubtedly to prove a point, Jesus says His testimony by itself is enough. Notice vs. 14, "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 and where I am going."

Jesus is simply saying that He knows His identity; He does not need another witness. On the other hand, the Pharisees think they know His identity (not the Messiah); but they are dead wrong! He is right; they are wrong. That is the contrast that Jesus is trying to get the Pharisees and the crowd to see.

He continues in vs. 15, "You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone". Now we know from 2 Tim. 4:1 that at His appearing Jesus will judge the living and the dead. We also know from Rom. 2:16 that God will judge the secrets of men's hearts through Jesus Christ. There is a sense in which Jesus is the ultimate judge of everyone. In fact, Jesus Himself affirmed this in 5:22, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son". In 9:39 He also says, "For judgement I came into this world...".

How then do we synthesize Christ's statement that He doesn't judge. Well, we are to understand His words in their context. The first phrase in vs. 15 clarifies what Jesus means. Jesus does not judge like the Pharisees judge- "according to the flesh". In other words, Jesus is not saying that He doesn't judge in any sense. Rather, He is saying that His judgement is nothing like the Pharisees. Their judgement is "fleshly"--innately human and sinful and stemming from a hard heart that hates Jesus no matter how much evidence He offers to them proving that He is the Messiah.

Jesus' judgement, on the other hand, it not fleshly. It is right and pure because He is God. And what He says about Himself is true. If this sounds like what some call circular reasoning, it is. Jesus does not back down from what is true, however. Here is the contrast: He is right about His identity; they are not. They judge wrongly. Christ's judgement is perfect because He knows that He came from the Father.

We might ask, "Why would Jesus argue in this manner?" Well, I am not convinced that I know the answer. But it seems that He has shown miracle after miracle and sign after sign, yet the religious leaders still reject Him. So why not just argue the truth without offering any proof or sign? They are not going to believe anyway. Their hearts are so hardened at this point. So Jesus just throws the truth out there and seems to argue in a circular manner. It does not matter at this point.

Jesus told Nicodemus that He did not primarily come into the world to judge, but to save. He repeats this sentiment in 12:47. Its not that Jesus never judges; but His primary reason for coming was to save. Notice the contrast between the law's purpose and Christ's purpose. The law judges and condemns. That is what Scripture teaches its purpose is. But Christ's purpose is to save. He only judges those who reject Him. And He will judge the Pharisees because the vast majority of them (like the rest of Israel) will reject Him.

But He does something sly and unsuspecting next. He has just argued very simply that they are wrong and He is right as the basis of His argumentation. In other words, its as if Jesus said, "You are wrong because you are wrong, and therefore your judgement is wrong. But I am right because I am right, and therefore my judegement is right." This would have made the Pharisee's blood boil. It would have frusterated them beyond anything we can imagine. They were, afterall, (along with their counterparts, the scribes) self-proclaimed experts of the law and thus of Messianic idenitity. They thougth their own judgment of who the Messiah would be was all that mattered. Jesus bursts their proverbial bubble once again.

To top it off He gives them a taste of thier own "law loving" medicine in vss. 16-18. Their desire for Him to have two witnessses to verify His truth claim in being the Light of the world backfires on them. Notice, "But even if I do judge, My judgement is true; for I am not alone it it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me."

You know what Jesus is saying? Its as if He said, "I do not judge like you. When I judge, my judgement is true. That is different (in contrast) to yours, which is always wrong. I am not alone in my judgement anyway. You want two men to verify my truth claim? Okay, I will do better than that. I will give you two witnesses that are not mere men: 1) I am the first witness, and 2) My Father is the second. There are your two witnesses that you asked for."

The contrast is condemning: Jesus is right; the Pharisees are wrong!

Now notice what the great claim, which led to the grave contrast leads to--- a grim conclusion.

III. A GRIM CONCLUSION (vss. 19-20)
Their hardness continues, this time with an underlying cheap shot slightly covered with a question. Completely out of arguments due to the strength of Christ's argumentation, they respond with a question in vs. 19, "Where is Your father?"

This was nothing more than another attempt to undermine the credibility of Jesus before the crowds. Joseph was dead by now, first of all. But secondly, the accusatory spirit of the Pharisees is dripping from this question. "Oh, by the way Jesus, where is your dad?" This is nothing short of calling Jesus a bastard. They were trying to point out to the crowd that Jesus was the product of illegetimate means. A similar thing occurs later in vs. 41.

They were trying to get the crowd to doubt Christ's claims on the basis of false charges. Mary was pregnant before official marriage. Nevertheless, we know it was not because of impure relations between Joseph and Mary; Scripture is clear about that. Nevertheless, that was the accusation.

The Pharisees have reached an all time low with their question. Rather than Jesus becoming rattled or flying off the handle He simply says, "You know neither Me nor my Father; if you knew Me, you would know my Father also".

In other words, Jesus is saying "You do not know the Father in heaven who you pridefully claim to know because you have rejected Me. Because you reject Me and my identity as Messiah, you have also rejected the Father." That was a grim conclusioin to an already strong argument.

Vs. 20 says that these things took place in the "Treasury". Within an earshot of the Treasury was the very meeting hall of the Sanhedrin. In a passage dealing with those in the New Covenant being "lights of the world" this is fitting. Christ was obedient regardless of the hostile circumstances. He was fully submissive to the Father. He was fearless, confident, and faithful to His Divine mission. For He knew He could say these things right in the meeting hall of the Sanhedrin if need be, and ultimately it would not matter. For His Father was orchestrating the events of His life down to the very detail. He would not die one second before, or after the will of the Father. Therefore, we read at the end of vs. 20, "no one seized Him (arrested Him) because His hour had not yet come".

Just as the Sandhedrin meeting that day were not being directly spoken to; they were in the vicinity of the comments by Christ. Perhaps they could hear Christ's claim (meeting just a wall over in the temple). They did not heed his warnings. And they, like many today, suffered the same grim fate. Those who reject Christ today are just as guilty as those who stood in the temple and listened to Him teach. In fact, we might say that they are more culpable for their unbelief due to the fact that 2,000 plus years have witnessed saint after saint martyred for Christ. The age of the New Covenant is a testimony in and of itself to the truths that Jesus proclaimed. Jesus is seen in the lives of true beleivers. When people today reject Christ, they have the same grim conclusioin pronounced to them that we find here in John 8.