#1488 John 8 Part 2 As We Light The Candelabra

 

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness 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 am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true. 18 I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “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 was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. John 8: 12-20 LSB

John 8: 12-20

V. 12 I am the Light of the world - Not just Israel, not just in this moment, but to the whole of a world that is shrouded in darkness. Ever since the fall the darkness has grown, men fall further away from the truth, from the communion that was once enjoyed in the garden. Within one generation of Adam and Eve's sin their son Cain killed his brother Abel. By the time of the flood the world was filled with violence and every form that sin takes, every type of divergence from God's original design. Knowledge was more than a little damaged, understanding was spiraling downward, those made in God's image no longer reflected that. Every generation showed entropy rather than evolution. Religion was tainted within only a couple generations after the flood. God told the people to spread across the earth, but instead they all tried to come under one banner at Babel. They built a tower to show their autonomy. They had a world ruler, Nimrod, and his wife, Semiramis, who early historians referred to as a priestess of this early mystery religion of Babylon. Men were walking in darkness in regards to God, and without His intervening in history, men would only have the idols of their fantasy, the atheist god of self and self enlightenment, the wooden idols, creeping things, great animals and demons, all the things that men will worship when they no longer know or acknowledge the Creator. Whenever Jesus talks to these people there is a light that comes with it, a call back to what they learned in the daily reading, the Scribes studied and wrote about, so look here at Isaiah. This should take them back to here, but remember, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul is well-pleased.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

3 A crushed reed He will not break

And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will bring forth justice in truth.

4 He will not be faint or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

5 Thus says the God, Yahweh,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread out the earth and its offspring,

Who gives breath to the people on it

And spirit to those who walk in it,

6 “I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness;

I will also take hold of You by the hand and guard You,

And I will give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the nations,

7 To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who inhabit darkness from the prison.

8 I am Yahweh, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass;

Now I declare new things;

Before they spring forth I cause you to hear them.” Isaiah 42: 1-9

V. 13 You are bearing witness about Yourself, Your witness is not true - From this response it appears that they understand what He is referencing and that He is making a Messianic claim. He is saying that He is the Servant or Slave of Yahweh. Look at vs 6 of Is 42 above, the Father, Yahweh, speaking to His Son, Adonai, Jesus, the Messiah, "called You, take hold of You, guard You, give You as a covenant to the people." As what? "A light to the nations." The Scriptures, the Word of God, bear witness about Him, where He would be born, what He would do. He has performed countless miracles before them, but they want some other sort of witness, yet they make a very irrational leap into saying, "Your witness is not true." I can tell you something that is true, but you don't have to believe it, and your unbelief will not change facts.

Ray Stedman - In the verses that follow we discern something of the darkness of the men to whom he was speaking -- darkness that was keeping them from coming to the light. Here we can see why it is that every person in the world needs Jesus Christ -- everyone -- and what it is that holds men and women back from the light and allows them to spend their whole lives, sometimes, in darkness. There are two things that keep people from opening their hearts to Christ: ignorance and pride; ignorance of the facts, and pride that refuses to bow to those facts and adjust to them. - Precept Austin

17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.… Romans 1: 17-19

V. 14 Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is true - Truth is reality, whatever actually is, and if Jesus is telling the truth it doesn't matter that He does so by Himself. His works have born witness to His otherliness, and He has fulfilled many of the OT prophecies that they know. They themselves are fulfilling what was written about Him in Isaiah as they despise and reject Him. 

You do not know (eido) where I come from or where I am going - They are ignorant. Why? To reject the Light leaves only darkness and so they walked in spiritual darkness! Thus Jesus says they do not know He came from Heaven and was going back to Heaven. The word for not (ou/ouk) signifies absolute negation indicating these so-called experts absolutely did not know the truth about Jesus' origin (and His purpose) and departure! Jesus rightly says these unsaved legalists have no ability to know His origin or His destination. They are blind to spiritual truth. They thought (like so many in Israel) that He was from the little podunk town Nazareth in Galilee, not recalling even what the chief priests and scribes knew 33 years earlier (Mt 2:1-5+), that He had been born in Bethlehem of Judea which they had read in the prophet Micah (Mt 2:6+, Micah 5:2+)! Of course, more to Jesus' point, these ignorant religious bigots did not know (and did not want to know) that His real origin was from Heaven and that He had been sent by the Father (Jn 3:16+) to be the Lamb Who would take away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29+). Secondly, they did not know where He was going which was an allusion indirectly to the events that would play out 6 months hence in the Father's grand drama of redemption, which would culminate with His crucifixion, burial, resurrection after three days, and Him going in the ascension to His Father after 50 days (Acts 1:9-11+). - Precept Austin

…2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.… Isaiah 53: 2-4

V. 15 You judge according to the flesh - He is not of this earth, and has come from the perspective of eternity and perfect community with the Father and Spirit.

MacArthur on according to the flesh - They not only understood nothing of His heavenly origin, but even what they thought they knew about Him was incorrect. Thus, their judgment of Him was limited, superficial, and wrong. Proud, arrogant, and self-righteous, they had failed to heed Jesus' earlier admonition, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (Jn 7:24).

Rodney Whitacre adds "It is as though they are trying to evaluate the straightness of a line and their only tool is a crooked yardstick, or as if they are in an art gallery trying to evaluate the paintings when they have been blind from birth, never having seen shape nor color. Their judgment is limited to the human sphere and "breaks down when applied to anything which puts this sphere in question" (Bultmann 1971:281)." (Jesus Reveals Himself as the Light of the World Jn 8:12-20)

I am not judging (krino) anyone - No, in one sense He did not. His mission on His first coming was to save, not to judge. He will judge in His second coming, including the final judgment of every lost soul at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15). But keep in mind the basic idea of judgment is to make a distinction and thus to separate. And in His first coming (and the church age), Jesus does cause a separation, the net effect of which is a judgment. Jesus made it clear in Mt 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters." - Precept Austin

V. 17 Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true - This law protected people from the singular accusation of someone who could be lying. The disciples will later be sent out to give testimony and care for each other in twos. Even in our courts today we bring in witnesses.

…23Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.… Galatians 3: 23-25

…5you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death. 6On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness. 7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.… Deuteronomy 17: 5-7

V. 18 And the Father Who sent Me bears witness about Me - Two witnesses, Jesus and His Father, God, and there will be yet a third witness in those who come to believe. 

I am (ego eimi) He who (present tense - continually) testifies (martureo) about Myself - How does Jesus testify about Himself? He testifies by His words (His teachings) and His signs (miracles), and both of which were supernatural. "The Greek words beginning the verse are peculiar, and can hardly be rendered in English. They will almost bear to be translated,—“I, the great I am, am the person witnessing about myself; and the Father,” etc." (Ryle)

J C Ryle - The connection and sense of this verse are as follows: “Admitting that the testimony of two witnesses is trustworthy, I bid you observe that there are two witnesses to My divine nature and mission. I myself, the Eternal Son, am one of these witnesses: I am ever testifying concerning myself. The Father that sent Me into the world is the other witness: He is ever testifying concerning Me. He has testified by the mouth of the Prophets in the Old Testament. He is testifying now by the miraculous works which He is continually doing by My hands.” The reader should compare John 5:31–39. - Precept Austin

…3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. 5For it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.… Hebrews 2: 3-5

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

7 For there are three that testify:

8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.

10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.

11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 1 John 5: 6-12

…16As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Matthew 3: 16-17

V. 19 If you knew Me, you would know My Father also - Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. They don't know the Father because they don't believe Him when He speaks through the prophets or through His Son. 

…3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.… 

6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;… 2 Corinthians 4: 3-8 

14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.… Colossians 1: 14-16

MacArthur on where is Your Father? - Were they asking to see Joseph, who likely had died by this time, to prove Jesus had an earthly father? In light of verse 41, were they intending to insult Him as illegitimate? In any case, they rejected Him.

Jesus answered, "You know (eido) neither Me nor My Father; if you knew (eido) Me, you would know (eido) My Father also - Here Jesus bluntly tells religious leaders that they did not know God! This was their root problem! Neither and nor express absolute negation. Jesus uses the verb eido ("know...knew...know") three times saying that these religious frauds are totally ignorant of God and have absolutely have no sure (beyond a shadow of a doubt type knowledge of either Him or His Father. He emphasizes that if one truly knows Jesus, then they truly know His Father, because He and the Father are One (Jn 10:30). In Jn 8:14 Jesus has already declared the Pharisees "do not know where I come from or where I am going." In the reply in Jn 8:19 Jesus is saying in essence that they do not know the true God. The irony is that these men who were supposed to be able to lead others to God and His ways, did not even know God themselves!

MacArthur - Those who reject the Son give incontrovertible proof that they do not know the eternal Father (cf. Jn 1:18; Jn 14:6-9). Although they prided themselves on knowing Him, the Pharisees—blinded by their own hard-heartedness—were actually ignorant of spiritual reality (Mt. 15:14; 23:16, 24). - Precept Austin