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Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of 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 and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
- John 8:12-20
Jesus is currently at the Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot) in Jerusalem, and it is the last year of His life. Yesterday, we read about the eighth and final day of the feast, during which libations are taken from a particular pool of water (Siloam) for a ritual to commemorate the water flowing from the rock Moses struck. On that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." And everyone went to his own house.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The lectionary skips one section, in which Jesus restores the adulterous woman (8:1-11). We are given Jesus' teaching as He continues to speak with the leadership at the temple, who have just confronted Him with the woman, in an attempt to trap Him. Just as Jesus spoke of Himself in yesterday's reading, saying "If anyone thirsts let Him come to Me and drink," alluding to the commemoration of the water flowing from the rock for Moses in the desert, so in today's reading His words reference events happening at this festival. The great lamps are lit in the outer court of the temple at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles. My study bible says, "Thus He declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light. In the Scriptures, God the Father Himself is light (1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute He bestows on His followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15). Our Lord confirms His claim by performing the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind (9:1-7; see especially 9:5)."
The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of 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 and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me." We recall that, anticipating this argument, Jesus has already offered four witnesses, although the Law required two. Those witnesses He offered were John the Baptist, Jesus' own works, God the Father, and the Scriptures (See John 5:31-47). So here, in fact, He begins with a different response, speaking about witnessing on His own behalf. He knows all about Himself, where He came from and is going (see yesterday's reading, in which people were discussing where the Messiah is to come from, and referring to Galilee). They don't really know anything about Him. Yet they're judging Him in a worldly sense, and without knowing about Him at all. But His judgment is true, because it reflects what He's given by the Father.
"It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." So once again, Jesus makes an offering of witnesses, and this time it's two as stated in the Law: Himself and the Father.
Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. My study bible says, "Because the son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (14:7-11)." But again, these words reflect what He's said to them before, that if they had the love of God in them, they'd recognize His words as coming from God the Father. (See If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.) Quite obviously, these authorities are ready to seize Him. They've already told the temple police to arrest Him, and failed (see yesterday's reading, in which the officers answer for their inability to arrest Him by saying, "No man ever spoke like this!"). But His hour has not yet come: it's not the time yet for His arrest, suffering, crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.
Jesus speaks boldly about Himself. In these readings, He's quite openly stated His divinity, and the reality of the Father and His relationship as Son. This is bound to continue to outrage the authorities. They aren't going to be convinced by anything He says, because they basically don't want to be convinced. There are those among them, like Nicodemus, who do have faith that Jesus is true, and who will be counted among the faithful. But the leaders among these groups that rule the temple are determined to rid themselves of Jesus. The gospel narrative is such that we're given to understand His confidence in speaking out here: He knows it's not the time for the full confrontation that will climax with His Passion. He's the Lord of time, too. He understands when it is His hour. Besides, His ministry is conducted with the full relationship to the Father guiding all things. Without prayer and constant communication with the Father, He does nothing. In some way, therefore, Jesus' faith becomes a model for our own. It's a way in which His Incarnation teaches us what it is to be sons of God (with a small 's' - not the only-begotten). It seems that we're offered an opportunity here, and at all tines in Jesus' ministry, to learn what it is to become sons (male and female heirs, we may say) by adoption. Jesus receives all things from the Father, and yes, we can't be just like Christ in that sense of sharing God's nature in its fullness. But, on the other hand, He has already taught that if they had the love of God in them, the desire to do God's will, they'd know and recognize His words as those that are of God, too. It's a way of thinking that tells us about what it is to be a part of this, too. It tells us about what His grace will do with us in faith, and how we, too, can participate - as creatures - in this relationship. St. Athanasius and others have said to the effect, "God became man so that man could become god." And it seems this is where Christ is expressing that opening, and giving us a hint about His grace. He's inviting us in to good judgment, to a deeper relationship to God, to those rivers of living water that He's offered as a part of that grace that will come because of Him, because of this Passion He's going to that nobody knows about but Himself; at least, the hour that hasn't come yet. They only judge according to the flesh, but He's looking for a better judgment, and the sense He's offering here is stating to us that He's expecting more of us human beings. We are capable of judging good or righteous judgment, the judgment of faith, that is the reflection of God's mercy. We might not be perfect, full, only-begotten. We're not angels either. But we are called to something here. This Incarnation isn't to call us onto the carpet, and tell us what we're doing wrong. It's to save us. To save. To take us to the Kingdom. And we have to think about what that means in the context of what Jesus teaches in this Gospel, and how He is expecting so much more of which human beings are capable. He is the Judge, and yet He teaches us to judge with good judgment: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24). So we really have to understand what He's saying and what He's doing, that it's not just a declaration of His authority. He's presenting witnesses to His own authority at the request of these leaders at the temple. He's just responding to them. He hasn't come to rule and conquer in a conventional or worldly sense. It's just the opposite. He's come here with love. He's come here to offer what He has to give, a kind of sonship on offer to us that makes us heirs to what He has, too, that offers us the grace that will give us rivers of living water in our own hearts. He's offering a spiritual fullness, so that we can be "like Him." That's what it means to be saved. It's the constant action of the Spirit at work, that helps us build up the fruits so wonderfully and fully on display in Him. He's offering the grace that will work with us to help us become sons with a small 's', and "like Him." This is the love that has come into the world, not to condemn, but to save. These leaders who practice a harsh condemnation expect a power of condemnation. It's what they're offering, and it's what they're demanding of Him in a sense. They want some spectacular proof of power, and the signs He does are just not in that mold, they're not what they want. Even should He restore a dead man to life, this will only seal His fate with them, their decision to destroy Him. They want a "worldly" kind of absolute power, which is what they seem to understand and what they will use in persuading the Roman authorities to crucify Him. But Jesus offers something else, and His power is something different. He's come in love and with love, and in order to save. Worldly power is a power of manipulation, of death, of weapons that destroy, but His is the power of life, and life in abundance. In some way, we have to remember, we're all already saved. The Incarnation has shown to that. The Kingdom is here, and on offer. But our job is to accept it and live it, and that's what He's calling us toward, as He calls them toward recognition of what is what, and they just don't see. It's the light He's offering us, to see with. He is the light.
