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 

 

Yesterday we read that the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery.  And then 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 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."  These words Christ says against the backdrop of events of this final day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  At the conclusion of this Feast, great lamps were lit in one of the temple courtyards (the Court of Women).  These great lamps are said to have been about 75 feet tall.  They were comprised of four giant golden menorahs, oil lamps which each lifted four bowls of continuously burning oil.  These lamps effectively illumined the entire city of Jerusalem by night.  They were meant to resemble the pillar of fire which led the Israelites by night as they followed Moses.  My study Bible comments that with these words, Christ is declaring Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.  In the Scriptures, it notes, God the Father Himself is light (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute He bestows on His followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ will confirm this claim in the following chapter by performing the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind (see 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."  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.  Once again, as in a previous encounter with these religious authorities, Jesus is questioned regarding the issue of witnesses to His identity.  In chapter 5 (John 5:31-47), He offered four witnesses to His identity as Lord:  John the Baptist, the works (or signs) He does which have been given to Him by God the Father, God the Father Himself, and the witness of the Old Testament Scriptures which testify to Him.  Here in today's reading, He emphasizes His relation to the Father as loyal and true Son.  Here He bears witness of Himself, and adds the Father who sent Him as witness of Him.  The great emphasis here is on their lack of true love for God (see Deuteronomy 6:5); because they lack this basic depth of love for God in the heart, they fail to know Christ also. 

 

 So once again with Christ (and in particular in St. John's Gospel) we come to the question of light.  What is light, in Christ's terms?  Let us take His words and examine them in order to understand.  Jesus says, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  To be the light of the world must truly teach us that His "way" (or "road") is the only path we should endeavor to walk in this world, the true way to live our lives.  It is He who will illumine us, give us the good and true and beautiful way.  His is also the way to true life.  Jesus contrasts His light with darkness, and so we must ask also, What is darkness?  Here He contrasts this darkness with the light of life, so darkness, we can presume, is that which cancels life, cuts it off, diminishes it.  As death in any form, this darkness is also comparable to evil; that is, it is that which cuts us of from God somehow.  As we remember that Jesus is speaking against the backdrop of the great lamps being lit at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, we must go back to the image of the light that shines in the darkness (see John 1:1-5) and the pillar of fire that led the way for the Israelites at night on their journey to the promised land (Exodus 13:21).  Just like those who followed Moses, we need faith to learn to dwell within this light and to allow it to lead us where it will.  We need to understand this interaction of faith and illumination, how faith in Christ and His light can broaden our understanding of the path we need to take in life, and illumine the way.  Christ's light also magnifies the talents and capabilities we have in ourselves, and helps us to understand how we might develop those in good ways and for God's purposes.  Darkness is also symbolic of oppression and depression, the things that make setbacks feel like overwhelming judgments.  But we need Christ's light also to take us out of that darkness, even to find a way to see in the dark, when there are things we don't know, and forces that would seem to try to make us blind, and ignorant of what is possible with God.  But just as Christ's witness is true, and because the One who sent Him is true, we take Him at His word:  that in all situations, His is the light that we need, regardless of the darkness that might seem to surround us.  Just as it says in the beginning of St. John's Gospel, sometimes we will find that the darkness simply doesn't "comprehend" the light that is there always shining for us, but neither can it swallow it up (for both these meanings of comprehend, to understand and to take in, apply here).  Yet we are those who, despite the darkness we might find and its forces in our world, may always seek His light and find it for ourselves through faith.  For He remains the light of the world nonetheless.  Let us find the life He desires for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

 

 Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

- John 8:21-32 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn festival.  It is now the final year of His earthly life.  He has been disputing with the religious leaders in the temple, who have unsuccessfully sought to have Him arrested.  Yesterday we read that 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.

 

  Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Jesus tells them, "I am going away."  My study Bible comments that going away refers to Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  

Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.   The expression lift up has a double meaning here.  It includes both Christ being nailed to the Cross, and also of being exalted by the Father upon completion of His work.

 

 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  My study Bible comments that Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples; in other words, learners.  (The Greek word translated as "disciple" is μαθητής/mathetes, literally meaning "learner.") To abide in His word is the responsibility of all believers, it says, not only of the clergy or an elite class of zealots.

 

 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  My study Bible tells us that the truth refers both to the virtue of truth and, more importantly to Christ Himself (John 14:6).  To be free is a reference to the freedom from darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death.  

Jesus says, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   An interesting observation regarding this verse comes in the study of the word for truth here.  It is the Greek word ἀλήθεια/aletheia.  In studying the etymology of this Greek word, one comes to understand that it is rooted in the concept of being unconcealed, unhidden -- meaning something that cannot be hidden.  In other words, this truth is reality itself.  When applied to the concept of God, it is synchronous with an understanding of the name of God, I AM, as given to Moses in Exodus 3:14, and used by Jesus a little further along in this chapter, at John 8:58.  This name of God, I AM, is the foundational nature of God we're given to understand, that indicating pure being, true ultimate reality -- against which all else must be tested.  This is reality as contrasted with illusion, with lies and deception.  In yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus declared, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  In other words, so true is He to the Father's will and direction, that He represents the Father to us; if we know Him, we know the Father.  This, of course, is also deeply rooted in concepts of absolute truth, for the ultimate reality -- the I AM -- is the being of God.  In the nimbus surrounding Christ in Orthodox iconography, we see in Greek Ο ΩΝ, meaning "the One that is."  This is the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (meaning "four letters" in Greek), from which we derive "Yahweh."  In John 1:18, we read, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."  The "only begotten" is Ο ΩΝ in the Greek.  Therefore, the truth that makes us truly free is coming to know Christ, and thereby also the Father and the Spirit.  To come to know true being, the pillar and ground of reality, is to become freed from illusion, deception, darkness, falsehoods, things that keep us in the dark and from seeing our way in life.  We want to be firmly grounded in reality, and in order to get there, we must know Christ and His word.  This takes faithfulness, and growth in that faithfulness, in discipleship.  It reminds us of the words with which this Gospel so clearly and carefully begins, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).  A light shining into the darkness banishes darkness and shadow, revealing what is.  Therefore let us endeavor to align with what is, the light that shines in the darkness.

 

 

Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true

 

 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 

 

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."  My study Bible comments that these words were spoken by Jesus ("I am the light of the world") in the context of the great lamps being lit at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is now the last day of that feast.  Therefore, my study Bible says, Jesus declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.  In the Scripture, it continues, God the Father Himself is light (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute which God bestows on the faithful (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ confirms His claim by performing the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind in the chapter that follows (John 9:1-7; see especially 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."  Earlier in this chapter, Jesus gave four witnesses to His identity (see John 5:31-47).  That took place during Christ's time in Jerusalem at the Feast of Weeks (the Old Testament Pentecost; see this reading).  Here, once again, He anticipates their argument, and responds accordingly.  Jesus cites Jewish tradition, in which a valid testimony required two witnesses.  Here He gives two:  Himself and God 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 comments that, because the Son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (John 14:7-11).  Note once again how the Gospel emphasizes that no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

 

Once again (as in the reading in which Jesus gave four witnesses to His identity) we are invited today to think about witnesses and witnessing.  In today's reading Jesus gives two witnesses to back up His claim that He is the light of the world:  Himself and God the Father.  Jesus replies, "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."  How many of us can say with confidence that our witness is true in this same sense that Jesus claims it.  There is the obvious understanding that He knows where He came from and where He is going, and no one else knows that -- certainly not the men who challenge Him.  Note how His claim that His witness is true is linked to the next statement:  "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 who sent Me."  Christ's judgment is based on that which He is given from the Father, not His own perspective in terms of a worldly point of view (according to the flesh).  How can we best be true, and how can our own witness be true?  Let us practice what Jesus does, let us seek to defer to God our judgments.  In this way is Christ true, for He will repeatedly say that His goals and ambitions are not worldly, not for Himself alone as human being, but rather His choices in all things are made to serve the will of the Father.  He aligns Himself with the Light and Source of all light (as He is "light of Light, true God of true God"), and therefore is His witness true.  Later in this chapter, Jesus will declare, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things" (John 8:58).  This is how His witness is true, even as the Father teaches Him, so He speaks.  He affirms this in today's reading when He says, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  So closely does Jesus reflect the Father that we know the Father through Him.  Our endeavors in our own lives, in order to be true, should always attempt to follow this pattern, that we seek to do the will of the One who is the light of the world.  We seek to align ourselves with Christ, to bear His light into the world, for He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and so in this sense we also can best be true witnesses.  Let us remember that the word in Greek for witness is μαρτυρας/martyras; we have come to know this word "martyr" in English as one who witnesses for Christ (and of course, one in particular who has perished rather than deny one's Christian faith).  To witness then, or to testify, is to be present in that truth through all things, to bear witness to the truth of Christ as best we can through all circumstances.  In order to do so let us emphasize in our own lives that we seek to align ourselves with His light, to seek God's will in all things, to practice what we know and to pray at all times for what we don't.  To seek God's truth is also to delve into mysteries, but that means primarily that we put our trust in God through all things.  Listen to Christ's words of absolute, unshakable confidence in the Father.  For Jesus knows His witness is true, and He knows who He is.  Let us be those who also know who we are in our faith in Him.  

 

 

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness

 

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

 

- John 12:44-50 

 

In our current readings the setting is Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life.  He has been speaking in the temple in Jerusalem.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:  "Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:  "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.   

 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  My study Bible comments that Christ does not judge with favoritism or partiality.  He has spoken the words of life, words of love, forgiveness, repentance, virtue, and mercy.  It notes that His words will be the unbending standard by which all people are judged on the last day.

 Jesus' final address here in the temple concludes, while the following three chapters deliver to us Jesus' farewell words to His disciples at the Last Supper (John 13 - 17).  Here Jesus' final words sum up what a great deal of John's Gospel has had to teach us about His message and about judgment.  Jesus is here in the world to save, not to condemn (John 3:17).  But the words themselves, given to Him by the Father, constitute judgment:  whatever side of these words one falls upon becomes de facto judgment, for they are the words of life (John 6:63).   Here, He says that they are the Father's commands, and the Father's command is everlasting life.  In this sense, Christ has come "as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."  We might be tempted to abstract out Christ's words and teachings, to decide that without worship, or even without a deity, we can accept His teachings as moral lessons and simply seek to live by them as we will, or as we can.  Many think that this will suffice.  But in order to do that, one would have to strip out all meaning of communion, and the essential importance of Person-to-person relationships that Christ purveys here.  Christ has called Himself the good shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own."  He knows the sheep, and the sheep know Him.  They recognize His voice:  "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (John 10:3-4, 14).  The teachings and commands He gives to us are not abstracted principles, they are living, they are even "everlasting life," and this does not come through cold absolutes, but originate in love, the love the comes from the divine Persons (Father, Son, and Spirit) to us -- and which we may likewise return so that we grow and participate in this communal relationship of love.  This are commands given to us which give us light: the light of a communion of saints, of a Kingdom, of adoption as heirs.  It is unmistakable that we enter into this place where the fullness of our participation is unity, to be eternally with God.  At the Last Supper, Jesus will pray, "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:24-26).  He will institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper, affirming the depth of communion as the substance of faith and worship and His saving mission into the world.  Let us always seek to live in His light which is love (1 John 4:8).