John8:12-30
· Intro: Youtube- Aurora Borealis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfuqG_DQCaA&NR=1
◦ My one experience with northern lights (Malibu- Canada)
◦ In John 8, Jesus says, “That's ME!”-- Well, a little part of me :-)
John8:12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
· Jesus has dramatically called people to come to him for God's living water (7:37-38) and now he again refers to himself in a most startling way, saying, I am the light of the world (v. 12).
· This claim, like the claim to give living water, also corresponds to events at this feast- a celebration of JOY FOR the law (which is the location- context- Bryan's sermon).
◦ A lamp-lighting ceremony took place in the temple every evening of the feast, during which large lamps were set up.
▪ The lamps' light, it was said, filled every courtyard in the city
◦ In the light of these lamps there was great singing and dancing all evening in celebration of God's salvation, especially his deliverance at the exodus as he lead his people with his presence in a pillar of fire by night.
◦ In the sight of these great lamps, perhaps even in the evening while they blazed, Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world.
· Isaiah50-- don't light little matches-- wait for the Light
Isaiah50:10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.
· Walk in the Light, as He is IN the Light!
· The Word (Jesus) is a light to our path
In Old Testament (mind set of audience) “Light” = God: Jesus' claim to divinity
· In the Old Testament the motif of light is used to refer to God's presence (Num 6:25; Ps 4:6; 104:2; Ezek 1:4, 27-28), his salvation (Ps 27:1; 44:3; 67:1-2; 80:1, 3, 7, 19; Is 60:19-20) and his revelation (Ps 119:105, 130; Prov 6:23; cf. Conzelmann 1974a:319-22).
· “Light” was another name for Messiah
◦ Jesus' claims to divinity would always be backed up by His actions (see healing of man born bling in chap 9)
· Thus, in the setting of this festival, which celebrates the Israelites' deliverance, Jesus is claiming to be the divine presence that saves God's people from their bondage.
◦ '“Whoever” follows me'
◦ He is the saving presence for the whole world, not just for the Jews (Scandalous to most of His hearers, who considered themselves “Children of Abraham”-- heirs to the promise.)
◦ Ironically, the promise God gave Abraham was that “All Nations” would be blessed through him.
· He has already spoken of his mission to the world (Jn 6:33, 51; cf. 1:29; 3:16-17), and now he reiterates it in terms that remind us of the role of the suffering servant, who was to be a "light to the nations" (Is 49:6).
Promise #1 (of 4): Whoever walks with Jesus will never be in the dark,
but have the light of Life.
· Literally, if there were no light, there would be no life
◦ Plants oxygenate the air and “eat” carbon dioxide (how convenient)
◦ No light = no plants = death
· Spiritually, no Light (Jesus) = death
· Israel followed the presence of the Lord in the pillar of fire as they escaped Egypt and journeyed to the Promised Land (Ex 13:21; Neh 9:12; Ps 78:14; 2 Esdras 1:14).
· Now Jesus says that, likewise, those who follow him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).
◦ Here is a promise of salvation much greater than the salvation Israel experienced, for it is deliverance not just from a national enemy, but from the forces of rebellion against God that lie behind every form of evil in the world.
· And this deliverance is not just a rescue from darkness and a glimpse of the light, but an ongoing life apart from darkness through possession of the light of life.
· The world lies in darkness and death because it has rebelled against God and thus broken contact with the one source of light and life. Jesus claims to be the light that brings life back to the world and sets it free from its bondage to sin.
· All the salvation that went before, such as the deliverance celebrated at this feast, was a type of this deepest and truest salvation that Jesus now offers.
13The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
· Firstly, the Pharisees do not yet realize the enormity of Jesus' claims regarding himself, so they do not respond with a charge of blasphemy.
· Instead, they challenge the form his self-proclamation takes, charging him with bearing witness to himself and therefore lacking sufficient witnesses (8:13).
◦ The need for two or three witnesses is laid down in the law (Deut 19:15), and the later tradition, reflected here, said that "none may be believed when he testifies of himself" (m. Ketubot 2:9).
· Rabbi's always quoted other rabbis- affirming each other
· But Jesus taught as one who “had authority”-- meaning, He never sought another rabbi's approval or affirmation in His teachings
14Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. (firstly, it's valid because it is true- truth isn't valid because several people agree about something- rather it's validity has to do with what is real- Jesus is the truth) But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. (tricky interpretation- read following quote)
“They cannot see this truth about him because they are judging by human standards (v. 15; kata ten sarka, "according to the flesh"). 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"
· Jesus contrasts their inability to judge with his own ability (8:15-16).
· They judge by human standards, he says, but I pass judgment on no one (8:15).
◦ He does not pass judgment like they do, that is, according to "mere appearances" (7:24) and "according to human standards" (8:15).
· Instead, he passes judgment in keeping with reality, because he does so in oneness with the Father
◦ Remember, the Truth sets people free.
◦ We are taught not to be judgmental, in the sense that it is not our job to determine the sentence for sin.
◦ These distinctions regarding judgment are important within the church. Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Mt 7:1). Clearly this does not mean we should not distinguish good from evil or truth from error, for Jesus calls us to do just that a few verses later in his teaching on false prophets (Mt 7:15-20).
◦ However we are called to preach and elevate the Truth of God- in the form of it's Grace. This is not being judgmental, we are simply an instrument, called to proclaim His words.
· Jesus judges simply by revealing the truth and pointing out one's distance from that truth.
◦ That is why he says he will not judge but his words will judge (12:47-48).
◦ Because their actions are not in alignment with reality (which He spoke into existence, by a Word)
· Such revelation carries implicit condemnation of that which is untrue, and Jesus makes that condemnation explicit.
16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, (The Father is the second witness, along with the Holy Spirit- third- pretty stellar team to have in your corner :-)) who sent me. (Prophecy: the Messiah would be the “sent” One) 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." 19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
· They were constantly misunderstanding Jesus-- they didn't realize He was speaking of His heavenly Father- God. This often resulted in statements like
◦ How can we eat His flesh and drink His blood
◦ How can you be born of God? We know your family?
· In this case, they could either be saying they wanted to see this witness (his earthly father) OR
· People were aware of Mary's circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth
◦ There were rumors that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier
◦ They could have been referring to this to shame him, or his “father”- the witness they wanted to discredit.
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
· If they had realized that what He was saying was, “You don't know God” then they would have been severely offended and likely stoned Him.
◦ Isaiah6:9- they will be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
· Maybe the Holy Spirit was keeping understanding from them in order to protect Jesus until the right time.
· If so, why did Jesus even say these words? (If He knew they wouldn't get it)
◦ 1: So those there with genuine hearts would be set free by the Truth
▪ Many there ended up believing (verse 30)
◦ 2: For all the readers throughout the centuries who needed to see, understand and apply this Truth.
21Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."
· Jesus is referring to Ezekiel3:18
Ezekiel3:18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for [a] his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
· In speaking these truths, Jesus would not be accountable for their blood and they would indeed “die in their sin”.
· Ironically, Jesus had to put them in a position of understanding that they would die in their sin to show them their need for grace.
· And in the end, though He wasn't responsible for them, He chose to suffer the penalty for the sin of the world.
22This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"
· Again, they misunderstand, thinking Jesus is considering committing suicide.
◦ Suicide was considered a damnable form of death
· This reference to suicide ironically applies to them, for there is a sense in which their unbelief is suicide in that they are choosing to reject his offer of the light of life.
23But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
“In saying that he is from above Jesus contrasts himself with every other agent of revelation. He is not simply a human being who has achieved enlightenment and now has come to share what he has learned. His point of origin is not this world to begin with. He is a human being just as we are, but there is more to him than that. This claim, in the light of Jesus' use of "I am" (vv. 12, 24, 58), reveals the two natures of Christ, as the church later came to express it--fully God as well as fully man.”
24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,[a] you will indeed die in your sins."
· They will die in their sins because they are not able to go with him to the Father.
· Heaven is ONLY accessible through belief in the SON! (Gospel)
· You can say you believe in Jesus all you want, but if you don't believe that He is literally GOD, in the flesh, you do not believe He is who He says He is- and thus, the Jesus you believe in does not have the power to save.
◦ Mormons & Jehova's Witnesses do not believe in THIS Jesus- you can argue doctrine all day long, or agree on any number of things, but the deity of Christ is the KEY issue-- for it is directly tied to salvation.
· Liberal academia (Jesus seminar) has their sights set on discrediting the gospel of John, because it contains the clearest, most explicit- and repeated- teachings on Jesus' divinity.
25"Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all along," (Haven't you been listening?) Jesus replied. 26"I have much to say in judgment of you (but not judgment like the world gives- just passing on info I heard from My Father). But he who sent me is reliable (Listen to Him, it's TRUE-- It will save you), and what I have heard from him I tell the world. (Ez3:18)" 27They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man (a reference to His crucifixion- and the subsequent demonstration of power: earthquake, darkness, temple curtain, tombs opened), then you will know that I am the one I claim to be (Centurian: Surely this was the Son of God) and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me (The “witness” speaks through divine power). 29The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone (Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit), for I always do what pleases him." 30Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
· Are you ready to do the same?
◦ So much nicer of an “ending” than the Bread of Life story, where nearly all left.
◦ Is the Holy Spirit moving your heart to believe?
Isaiah55:10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
· Conclusion: Gospel/Invitation/Communion