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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 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 Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, and it is the final year of His earthly life and ministry.  The Feast of Tabernacles is an eight day autumn festival, commemorating the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, which includes many traditional rituals upon which Jesus draws for His teaching and the images He uses.  It is now the last, great day of the Feast.  Yesterday we read that while everyone went to his own house, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, spending the night with the other pilgrims to Jerusalem for the festival.  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."   As we have noted, many of Jesus' teachings in this section of John's Gospel (John 7:1-10:21) reflect the events of the Feast of Tabernacles, which Jesus is attending in Jerusalem.  My study Bible notes that these words are spoken in the context of the great lamps being lit at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  These were four magnificent menorahs in one of the courtyards of the temple, said to be approximately 75 feet high.  They were lit at night, which illumined a great part of the surrounding area of Jerusalem.  This was a commemoration of the pillar of light that led Israel through the night during the time spent in the wilderness of Sinai, when the people lived in tents or "tabernacles."   My study Bible explains Jesus is therefore declaring Himself to be the fulfillment and divine object of all celebrations of light, clearly expressing Himself as manifest in human form the God of that light in the wilderness.  In the Scriptures, it adds, God the Father Himself is light (John 1:4-9, 1 John 1:5), an attribute bestowed on followers (Matthew 5:14, Philippians 2:15).  Christ will confirm His claim by performing the great sign of opening (or illuminating) the eyes of a man born blind, in our following chapter (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."   The Pharisees make reference to the law and its call for witnesses.  Jesus has already addressed this question of witnesses to His identity and authority before them, by providing four witnesses (see John 5:31-47).  In that section, He more or less began with the very words the Pharisees say to Him as accusation here; He said, "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true."  But here, He defends His own witness in terms of His divine identity; in that sense He knows where He came from and where He is going.  And then, He returns to the theme of judgment (and we are speaking of matters of truth and the law and judgment).  In Saturday's reading, we read that He said the same thing to them only shortly before ("Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment," John 7:24).  Again, the emphasis on appearance here further distinguishes between Christ in His human identity and from His divine perspective.  They judge according to the flesh, to appearance.  But He is distinguishing between a purely worldly or earthly perspective and one in which the desire to know and do the will of the Father is paramount (see John 7:16-17).  He says He is not alone, but with the Father who sent Him; and so, He offers two witnesses, the Father and Himself.

 

 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 (see John 14:7-11).

This section, and our recent readings in John's Gospel, seems to go over and over again to themes of justice.  What is justice?  How do we know truth?  How do we judge with good judgment?  But let us begin at the root of these questions by returning to something that Christ has taught earlier, which I cited above.  In chapter 7, Jesus taught, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  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" (John 7:16-17).  Earlier, He said that no one could come to Him except that they are "drawn" by the Father ("No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" - John 6:44).  We have observed Nicodemus, seeking justice and fairness, the things in the law that provide for a search for truth, who spoke up to His fellow Pharisees: "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (John 7:51).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus acted in defense of a woman presented to Him as taken in adultery:  "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  In that case, the emphasis is on humility before we condemn others.   Humility is the prime requirement for us if we are honestly to seek the will of God over our own will; it goes hand in hand with Christ's teachings about truly desiring to know the Father, and our ability to recognize truth -- and particularly the religious leaders' capacity to recognize the truth about Christ.  Yet again, today's reading touches upon the subject of judging with good judgment, and not judging by appearance.  He again appeals to a sense of our own deep need to seek the things of God to judge with good judgment, and not to judge by mere appearance.  When Jesus tells the Pharisees, "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,"  He is also reminding us that we have our own capacity for seeking truth through humility and faith, and especially through an honest love of God.   It reminds us of His earlier teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum:  "It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me" (John 6:45).  There is an emphasis here on the fact that it is not only Christ who is set apart from us in His true identity, but that Christ comes to show us the way to the Father, to our own need to love God and seek God's will in our hearts, with humility, because this is the way to truth and good judgment.  We have many laws in place to help us find justice, and many theories about truth and justice.  But ultimately, Jesus places the responsibility in each of our hearts to seek first God's kingdom and the discernment we find through the humility to do so, so that each encounter becomes a prayerful occasion.  He knows the hearts of all, we're told, and so Christ knew to whom to commit Himself, and to whom not to do so (John 2:23-25).  He invites us to at least seek this same discernment, even if we do not share His divine identity and foreknowledge.  In today's reading, Jesus teaches all of us, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  Let us seek His light through all the things we do, all our encounters in life, even in the midst of confusion and pressure.  At any time, we can turn in the briefest of moments, with a prayer as silent and swift as a breath, to seek that light and the Father who is with Him, and the Spirit (whom He names as Paraclete) who answers to a call.   We might not be perfect, but we are offered a way of love as our way of life, our way to truth and justice.

 

 

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

Our current readings place us at the Feast of Tabernacles in the last year of Jesus' life.  This is an eight-day autumn festival, commemorating the time Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai.  Yesterday we read that on the 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." As part of the Feast of Tabernacles, the conclusion includes the lighting of the great lamps at the temple.  (One recalls the pillar of fire that lit the way for the Israelites in the darkness on their way toward the promised kingdom.)  It is in this context that Jesus speaks these words.  My study bible says that He is declaring Himself to be the fulfillment and he divine object of all celebrations of light.  In Scripture, God the Father Himself is light (1:4-9; 1 John 1:5).  This is an attribute bestowed on God's followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ proclaims such "illumination" by performing the sign of opening the eyes of the blind from birth (9:1-7, 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."  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, Jesus returns to the union of Father and Son, but most particularly to the Father from whom comes all things.  My study bible says that because the Son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (see John 14:7-11).

What is a witness?  What does it mean to be a witness, or to be a good witness?  What does it mean to bear witness?  A witness, according to one dictionary definition, is one who sees an event, or one who offers evidence or proof of something.  To bear witness, the form Jesus uses here, is a verb form of the word.  To "witness" in this way is to see otherwise observe something, or to give or serve as evidence of it, to testify to something.  What this points to is the reality of the relationship between the Father and the Son.  Can there be an earthly witness of this?  Who can give testimony to this?  Earlier in another reading, Jesus cited four witnesses to this relationship.  He named those to whom it had been divinely revealed:  John the Baptist, a prophet, and Moses, also a prophet.  As third witness He named the Scriptures, also divinely revealed.  And finally He named the works that He did, the signs, also forms of revelation of the presence of the kingdom of heaven in the world.  In today's reading, Jesus says that those who judge Him have no right to do so.  They do not know Him, nor where He is from, nor where He is going -- but He knows these things.  He says, "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one."    He goes on to add something important:  "And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me."  Everything refers again back to the Father and to the witness that comes of this relationship.  What we gather from these examples of witnesses and witnessing that Jesus cites is the necessary connection to the divine that affirms and teaches about things which are divine in nature and origin.  We can speculate all that we want to, but to "judge according to the flesh" is to judge with standards that are ignorant, in some sense, of the reality of the divine.  It is to judge outside of that reality and understanding and experience.  We take away once again that Jesus is teaching these men that despite their expertise and authority, they cannot judge Him, because they do not have the experience of the love of God in their hearts.  They do not share this communion, and thereby they do not judge accurately nor appropriately.  The theme of today's reading might be summed up in Jesus' words that He is the light of the world.  He says, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  If it is He who comes from the Father, He shares this light with the world.  He has brought illumination for all of us, for each of us.  And it is His mission to bring us to that light so that we, too, may share in it and reflect it into the world.  Everything becomes about this depth of relationship.  We can look at the image of the great lamps burning at the temple, reminding us of the pillar of fire that lit the way in the darkness for the Israelites.  Fire, like light, can be shared and spread.  As one candle in the darkness is lit by the next, this is a light with a divine origin, but which spreads its communion among us and within us.  It is the divine working of this light that we seek, and that we know from Christ and Christ's witness, and all those who bear witness also to this light.  How do you share in it?   How is that light shared with you?  How do you share it with the world and bear witness yourself?