I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life

 

 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, "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 

 

Yesterday we read that, on the last day, that great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, 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."

 

 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."   Jesus speaks these words in the context of the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), when the great lamps were lit in the courtyard (Court of Women).  These great lamps were four huge menorah oil lamps, said to be seventy-five feet high.  The light produced effectively made a stunning illumination of the city, and was meant to remind people of the pillar of fire that led Moses and Israel by night.  Therefore, my study Bible explains, Jesus is declaring Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light  In the Scriptures, god the Father is Himself light (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), which is an attribute God bestows on God's followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ confirms this claim in the following chapter, by opening (thus illuminating) the eyes of a man born blind (John 9:1-7, esp. verse 5).  

The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said, "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."  As in yesterday's reading, above, for the religious leaders the issue of a witness to a claim is essential to their understanding and the law.  The law required two witnesses; in yesterday's reading, Jesus provided four, anticipating their demand.  Here again, the demand for witness is answered.  But this time, Jesus offers two witnesses, Himself and God the Father, from Whom He receives all judgment.

 

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 comments here that because the Son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (John 14:7-11).

Over and over again, Jesus will express in quite detailed and repeated fashion the importance of what He called the first and greatest commandment; that is, to love God with all one's heart and soul and mind and strength.   (The second, which Jesus said goes together with the first, is to love one's neighbor as oneself.)  This teaching is found in all the Synoptic Gospels, but in Mark's Gospel, it includes the Shema, the Jewish confession of faith (see Mark 12:28-31).   Here in John's Gospel, Jesus repeatedly emphasizes, in His response to these religious leaders who challenge Him, the essential nature of this first commandment to love God.  While He does not literally repeat the commandment to them, nor cite it from the Old Testament (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9), He does repeatedly illustrate by both actions and words the essential nature of the command.  Effectively, He is telling these leaders that they themselves fail in following this command to love God -- for if they did so, they would recognize Him.  They would recognize that God who sent Him, whom He represents in the world, whose judgment He serves and executes unconditionally, whose works He is given to do.  It is the same as if we were to meet a person who claims to act in the name of Christ.  How would we know they worked from the love of Christ and the desire to serve Christ?  We could only understand that with the love of Christ in our own hearts -- and thereby recognizing that love in another.  That love would include both knowledge and love of Christ's works and teachings, and thereby recognition of the reflection of that holiness in others.  This is where the image of light becomes essential to the Gospels.  Jesus spoke of this light, and His followers as the bearers of that light.  In Matthew 5:14-16, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of His followers as the light of the world.  It is in the recognition of that light that we see Christ, and also a reflection of the Father Who is light, for God is light (1 John 1:5).  For if we think about the properties of light, we will begin to understand the language of the Bible.  Light illumines the darkness, and shows what is true, making disappear what is false.  Darkness cannot hold itself out against the brightness of the light; it makes the darkness dissipate.  Darkness has no strength in or of itself, for it is simply the absence of light.  Light can be shared and brought to other places, such as through a lamp in the illustration of Jesus for His followers in the Sermon on the Mount.  Light can be reflected.  It can be dim, and it can be intense.  In the Transfiguration, the light is of a quality that is so brilliant it's not known on earth (Mark 9:3).  And in language that affirms the way that we "know" in the heart, Jesus teaches those who would be His disciples, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  There is a recognition in this light, if we but let it inform us, shine in us, grow in us, and dispel the darkness.  This is how we are to think of Christ, to know Christ, to understand Him.  Even when there are those who prefer the darkness, the ignorance of His light, or to work against it, we may embrace and walk by that light.  Let us follow where it leads us.