6. "Jesus, on the
Truth", 8.12-32
"Then Jesus again
said unto them, I am the Light of the World!" This would have
been following the departure of the adulterous woman...that is, He
picks up right where He left off, teaching the people who had come to
hear Him, just as a good teacher should.
You know, Jesus is more
than a man! Any other man would have savoured a victory over
the religious elite, encouraging the back-slapping and the praise of
the crowd; but Jesus is more than a man. He couldn't be distracted
from His calling; that's a different way of looking at things, isn't
it? We all have a calling too, but we're so easily distracted
by the people and the responsibilities and the attractions of the
world, and when we are, we get careless and heedless and sometimes,
even ruthless in our relations with people, and with the Lord, too!
Yes, Jesus is more than a man.
Then Jesus again said unto
them, "I am...". It's important to know that this
is the second of the seven "I am" statements that He
made concerning Himself as recorded in John's gospel (the first
having been stated in 6.35..."I am the Bread of Life!"),
and it deserves careful consideration. In the first place, Jesus is
proclaiming and confirming exactly what had been prophesied of Him by
the O.T. prophets. Let's look at a couple of references...Isaiah
42.6, 49.6, and 60.1-3.
In the second place,
"light" is one of the three things God is said to be...in
John 4.24..."God is Spirit"; in 1 John 1.5..."God is
Light", and in 1 Jn. 4.8..."God is Love"! These
phrases all help to explain for us, the nature of God...Who He is and
what He does. So when Jesus announced that He was "the Light of
the World", He identified Himself with God to an extent that
really offended the few remaining Pharisees who were, no doubt, still
listening from the sidelines. So just what did Jesus mean by this
statement? Well He goes on in this same verse, to explain it (v.
12)...see vss. 1.5, 9-13. Jesus is Light in the darkness of this
world, in the darkness of our minds and in the darkness of our souls,
"...and as many as received Him...", 1.12.
Now why is it that that
term, "the world" is referred-to so often throughout the
Gospel of John? I have done a count, and that term, "the world"
is used 30 times in the first three gospels together, whereas in
John, it's nearly three times that! You see, God is using John to
prove the true Person of Jesus, in terms of His focus on the whole of
mankind, rather than just the Jews. As we read in 1.3, Jesus is the
Creator of all; in 3.16, He is the Saviour for all and in 6.33 He is
Life for all, just as we read there in 8.12...He gives the "Light
of Life" to all who choose to follow Him.
Notice also in that 12th
verse, how the natural state of man is revealed...our Adamic nature,
or our sinful selves, also identified by Paul in Romans
1.21..."Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened". That was me,
without Jesus! And it is you, without Jesus, and as Ro. 1.20 tells
us, we are without excuse, but "Thank you Jesus", He tells
us in Jn. 8.12 that..."He that followeth Me shall not walk in
darkness...". But exactly what is it to "follow"
Christ? (see 10.27-29).
Let me tell you
something...if you aren't committing yourself to Him as your Light,
in doctrine and in conduct, then you aren't "following"
Jesus. After all, just as the cloud led Israel from Egypt to Canaan,
Jesus is leading us to "forever". This is, of a truth,
what "light" implies...true knowledge, true happiness, true holiness...and true hope! Darkness on the other hand, implies ignorance,
misery and guilt.
Read vss. 13-18..."But
the Pharisees therefore said, thy record is not true!" Jesus
had just claimed to be equal with God when He proclaimed Himself "the
Light of the World", and the Jews, as I've said, were offended.
To them, as we've already seen (particularly in the references from
Isaiah), God is "The Light", and so far as those
Jews were concerned, Jesus had no claim, and no business making the
claim. In fact, what they did, was prove that there was certainly no
light in themselves; in fact, they preferred darkness; they couldn't
endure the Light, nor as 1.5 says, could they comprehend the Light;
so all they accomplished was to inspire further teaching from Jesus,
of the truth concerning His true identity!
Notice that, in v.15,
Jesus says..."You judge after the flesh; I judge no man",
and we can take that quote two ways. First of all, the Pharisees
judged a man based on what they saw and heard, while Jesus looked at
a man's heart. Secondly, those Pharisees were judging Jesus through
their own carnal eyes, and their own carnal teachings, and were
therefore incapable, or unqualified, to judge the Judge. But
Jesus...but Jesus, on the other hand...His judgement is true! We
might act according to carnal principles, or according to made-up
appearances, but Jesus will judge based on reality. He really does
have "the mind and the nature of God!" Just as He quoted
in 10.30..."I and My Father are One!"
Now in vss. 17 & 18,
Jesus repeats an ancient Jewish tradition concerning testimony. His
testimony is true because both He and The Father were in full
agreement on the point. So far as those Jews were concerned, two
witnesses were all that was needed to confirm the truth of a matter,
and that condition had been met. So again, just as in the first
lesson from this chapter, the Pharisees were condemned by the very
principles stated in their own Law! Notice as well, that Jesus had
made it clear in v. 17, that there was a difference between the Laws
of God and the laws of Moses; the one to define the relationship
between God and man, and the other, between man and man. That is why
He is quoted as saying..."your law", rather than "the
Law".
You know something? The
difference beteen He and me and between you and He is perfectly clear
in the light of those hard-hearted, stiff-necked Pharisees, and that
is God-presence and God-likeness, not to mention God-love and
God-life! That's the difference between the law of the jungle and
the Laws of God. And as we'll see next time, it's His law that will
keep us from the crooked ways of the world and its crooked prince!
God keep us!
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