Summary of passage: Jesus announces he is the light of the world and whoever follows him will have the light of life. The Pharisees say he cannot testify for himself. Jesus says he can (well, duh, he’s God!). Jesus judges righteously. The Father also testifies for him. Jesus says again he is going away and they cannot come because they do not know him and thus will die in their sins. Jesus says when he dies, then they will understand that he is from the Father and does his will.
Questions:
6a) Part personal Question. My answer: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus says he knows where he came from and where he’s going. He judges justly and the Father is his witness. Jesus is the One (along with God). Without him/Him, I am nothing.
b) He testifies for himself as does the Father. Jesus needs no one to testify for him.
7a) Jesus is sinless and will not die in sin. He is from heaven and if no one believes in him, they will die in sin and dwell in hell forever.
b) God never leaves Jesus and Jesus only does what pleases God. They are the epitome of a Father/Son relationship–so close they are inseparable. Because Jesus is God, if you know Jesus you know God. The Father is known through the Son and to know the one is to know the other.
8 ) Dying on the cross and being resurrected. It is what gives believers eternal life. It’s Jesus purpose from God. It’s all God’s plan. It’s the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan here on earth. It is the supreme example of doing the will of the Father. It is our salvation. Period
Conclusions: It’s plain as day: know the Son, know the Father. Don’t know the Son, don’t know the Father. It’s the difference between life and death. Permanently. Some will see this; some won’t. Light versus dark. Which shall win?
End Notes: Assuming the placement of the woman caught in adultery is correct, Jesus was interrupted teaching at the temple and now he begins again.
Light is an important symbol in the Old Testament. God is light and we are light as followers of Jesus. At the Feast of Tabernacles, candles were lit to remember the pillar of light that lighted the way for the Israelites during the Exodus. Darkness is Satan and sin.
The 2nd of Jesus’ 7 “I am” statements.
Jesus makes 2 points: 1) He is qualified to bear testimony for himself; whereas the Pharisees were not. He knew both his origin and destination; again, the Pharisees did not. They were blinded and could not see Jesus’ light. He judged righteously; the Pharisees did not. Furthermore, only Jesus (and God) are truly qualified to bear witness to who he is. He is God after all. He is absolutely secure in who he is. Shouldn’t we all be?
2) His testimony is not unsupported. The Father is with him. So he and the Father are the two witnesses required by law. Jesus believed he was enough. But, catering to us stupid humans, he provided another witness: God himself.
The Pharisees couldn’t prove one way or another if Jesus was the Messiah. So they hoped to intimidate him and discredit him. They bring up his birth to try to suggest it wasn’t a miracle but a scandal. Jesus then points out how they don’t know him or God.
John makes it clear the Word (Jesus) was with God and was God and revealed God. The Father is known through the Son and to know the one is to know the other.
Jesus is still on the temple–a very public place–declaring himself God and the Pharisees fools.
Jesus knew the Pharisees were going to hell and said so. They tried to twist his words into making it seem as if Jesus was saying he was going to kill himself. According to Jewish law, the depths of Hades was where those who committed suicide dwelled.
It makes sense: If you follow Jesus here on earth, you follow him to heaven. If you don’t follow him here on earth, you don’t follow him to heaven and you end up in hell.
Jesus tells them they have a limited time to turn. We are all born in sin. If you don’t deal with sin on this side of heaven, you will dwell in sin forever.
The Pharisees intent is malicious. They kept asking Jesus who he was, hoping to get an answer to use again him. With the right heart, Jesus will answer our questions of who he is gladly. And the results will be amazing.
Jesus has no new answers for them. There’s only so many human ways to say the same thing. And they still didn’t understand and would not–for the darkness blinded them.
“Lifted up” here refers to the cross, not exalted or anything. The Pharisees do not challenge Jesus here. It is evident that God is with him and will not abandon him and he’s doing the Father’s will.
Many believed Jesus who heard him speak despite the opposition of the religious leaders. I can imagine looking upon Jesus would convince most. His heart would be transparent and it would be evident he was God. He walked the talk unlike the Pharisees. He had no sin. He was perfect. And many believed it to be so.
