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 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 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the eight-day Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, an autumn festival.  It is the final year of His earthly life.  Yesterday we read that while everyone went to his own house, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, staying with the other pilgrims to the feast.  Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.  Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?"  She said, "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."   

 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."   At the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, great lamps were lit in the outer courtyard of the temple, called the Court of Women (perhaps relevant to the story in yesterday's reading, above).  These were four oil-fed menorah lamps, 75 feet high, kept lit all night.   Their brilliance was so stunning that it illuminated the city.  These lamps were meant to remind the people of the pillar of fire that guided Israel on their wilderness journey following Moses.  It is in this context that Jesus says of Himself that He is the light of the world.   In so doing, my study Bible says, He declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.  In the Scriptures, it adds, God the Father is light (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute which is bestowed on followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  In the chapter that follows, Jesus will confirm His claim with the sign of opening 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 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."  We recall that in chapter 5 (John 5:31-47), Jesus gave four witnesses to Himself as testimony to confirm His identity as Messiah and Son of God:  God the Father, John the Baptist, His own works which bear witness, and the Old Testament Scriptures.  Here, Jesus first defends His own judgment and contrasts it with that of the leaders, who do not truly know "where I come from and where I am going."   Only He knows these things about Himself.  He contrasts their judgment according to the flesh, with His judgment which always comes from the Father.  He offers two witnesses this time for testimony:  Himself, and the Father who sent Him.  

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

Once again, we're given an example in today's reading of how Christ is the fulfillment of the "types" we read about in the Old Testament Scriptures.  As the great lamps of the Court of Women were illuminated, lighting up the whole city of Jerusalem in an image of the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 13:17-22, esp. verses 21 and 22), Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."   We have to consider how Christ is the fulfillment of those brilliant lamps of illumination which commemorate the pillar of fire leading the way in the darkness.  First of all, He is the Lord, and so we consider Christ the divine Son to have been active in leading the people of God throughout Israel's history and in this case specifically through the Exodus.  Jesus has used the language for the identity of the Lord proclaimed to Moses, I AM, in Exodus 3:14.  He will make this connection explicitly clear as we reach the end of this chapter, when Jesus declares to the religious leaders, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58).  We may also understand Jesus as "the light" which illumines our way in the world.  That is, the way of one who would be a pilgrim and disciple to Christ, to find our way to God, even as we pray to our Father as He taught, "Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (see Matthew 6:8-15).  Christ is the light that leads the way for those who desire God's kingdom manifest in this world.  He is the light that restores sight to a man blind from birth in the following chapter, as another aspect of His works or signs done at this Feast of Tabernacles.  Of course, St. John's Gospel tells us that He is the light shining in the darkness, that the darkness can neither understand nor take into itself (John 1:1-5).  Whether we believe that He is the One who provided the pillar of light, or Himself was present in the pillar of light, whether we understand the Eternal Word to be that which illumines or enlightens life itself, if we believe that this light is personally present to guide us and communicate with us through the mystery of the great communion of saints, all of the above is at once possible.  What we understand of His light communicates, guides, illumines us spiritually, enlightens our minds, uplifts our hearts with hope, and teaches us what we need in life and how to go forward in the path towards God and God's kingdom.  This is where we start, in that myriad of ways the light can show in our lives and has been present with humankind from the beginning.