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, "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.

 

 

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 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) 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 explains that Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world" in the context of the great lamps being lit at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Therefore, it says, 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 (John 1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute which is bestowed on God's followers (Matthew 5:14; Philippians 2:15).  Christ confirms this claim that He is the light of the world in the performing of the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind in our following chapter (John 9:1-7; note 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 the Gospel, at the Feast of Weeks (also known as the Old Testament Pentecost, which celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, Jesus gave four witnesses to His identity (see this reading).  Here, He is again challenged by the Pharisees, and this time He gives two witnesses:  Himself and the Father.  Importantly, Jesus explains that His judgment is righteous because He does not judge according to the flesh; He does not judge according to appearance alone.  In Thursday's reading, Jesus said to them, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Why would His judgment be true, because if He were to judge, He is not alone, but with the Father who sent Him.  His bold statement here is that He bears witness of Himself, and the Father who sent Him bears witness of 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 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).  Christ's hour is the time of His Passion.  

The lectionary has skipped over a passage that begins chapter 8 of John's Gospel.  This is the story of the woman caught in adultery, and presented to Jesus in the temple as a kind of test to trap Him (see John 8:1-11).  This passage does not appear in several ancient manuscripts, and neither is it covered in the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom and some other patristic figures.   Perhaps it is for this reason that it is skipped over in the lectionary readings.  However, my study Bible comments, it is still sealed by the Church as inspired, authentic, canonical Scripture, and bears the same authority as all other Scripture.  But perhaps it is a good idea to take it in context, and specifically in the context of Christ's teachings in today's reading that He is the light of the world, and that His judgment is true because He does nothing without the Father's presence.   Perhaps the story of the woman caught in adultery is illustrative of that true judgment on the part of Christ, giving us a sense of the insight of God, and what it is to know true judgment.  But let us consider that in saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life," Jesus is offering us a path for our own righteousness.  He offers Himself as guide, the lamp that lights the way in the dark, the road to tread in life so that we also walk in the light of life.  This is related to the true judgment Jesus displays, for this is what His light for -- to help illumine our own potential for discernment and true or righteous judgment.  In John 14:6, Jesus proclaims that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and we should keep in mind that the word for way means also "road."  He is our path, the one that leads to the Father, to the illumination of our lives.  John's Gospel speaks to us of darkness and light, right from the beginning (John 1:1-9).  Darkness is a kind of ignorance that symbolizes evil, the things that are bad and harmful to life.  Jesus as the light of life directs us to life, and life more abundantly:  that would includes righteousness, true judgment, and a path to the Father, a way to walk through this world.  Is righteousness important to us?  Does illumination have meaning for us, and importance?  Is it significant as a worthwhile goal?  We can look around ourselves and see plenty of darkness.  Let us all the more deeply cling to His light, to show us the way to life, and life more abundantly, and to be a part of the light shining in the darkness of the world.

 

 

 

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 after the events on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  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, the great lamps were lit in the outer court of the temple.  As the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated the time when Israel wandered in the desert of Sinai, led by the Lord in one form as a pillar of fire by night, the lamps commemorate this time.   Jesus' words further express that He is the Incarnation, the fulfillment, of the Lord of the Old Testament.  As my study bible puts it, He declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light -- an important understanding about the light that has come into the world, in order to give light to all and to shed light on all things.  In yesterday's reading, that light illuminated the mercy of God and the application of justice to a woman brought to Him to test Him.  My study bible notes that 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; Philip 2:15).  Our Lord will confirm this claim in the following chapter, when He performs 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.  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 Jesus anticipated in His encounter with the Pharisees in chapter 5 (see this reading),  the Pharisees demand witnesses.  By tradition, a valid testimony required two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  In the earlier reading from chapter 5, Jesus gave four witnesses.  Here He gives two, 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 that, because the Son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (see also 14:7-11).   We note again the importance of time in John's Gospel; Jesus' hour (that is, the time of the Cross) has not yet come.

Jesus says, "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 tells us that He declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.  This is quite important in light (so to speak) of all the history that has come since the time of the Incarnation.  If we are to understand these words properly, we are to see Christ as both the absolute of light as Son ("Light from Light"), and also as personification of light in His Person and Incarnation.  In other words, Christ as the Light is found everywhere that light and truth are celebrated.  Light is an image of truth, of illumination.  Christ is the Person who is Truth.  Therefore, what we celebrate as truth or enlightenment, something that guides human beings to what is good, is a reflection of Christ as God the Son.  It also means that no matter what the circumstances in which we may find ourselves, Christ remains the light of the world.  He manifests the light that shines in the darkness (1:5)  That is, it is our communion and seeking out of Christ that remains the way to cast light on a problem, on difficult questions, on the dilemmas which may bring themselves to us or difficult problems we need to solve.  It is the light of Christ we seek for both illumination and guidance, as was the pillar of light by night for ancient Israel.  Jesus uses again the I AM statement here, the phrase that is the holy name of God (Exodus 3:14).  Used here to express that "I am the light of the world," it gives us an important sense of the eternal present -- and that as the Light He is always present with us and to us.  When we need illumination in the darkness, when we need guidance through obscure or murky circumstances, through difficult dilemmas and problems too complex for us to see the way through, we turn to Him for light.  We turn in prayer, and in communion, and with all the tools of faith that we have, so that we may ask for the light, to do things "His way."  This is the light that does not fail us, and is always there (I AM).  As we have seen from Christ's varied healings, neither time nor space are limits to God's power.  When we seek His light, just like the ancient Israelites, we may be led to a place that is different from what we expected, even from what we asked for.  But it will be the light that leads us to where we need to be, and illuminates our own understanding even of who we are -- and of who He is.  Let us consider the disciples who follow Christ, the Twelve who have stayed with Him.  Where does this light lead them?  Can they possibly expect what is to come?  Yet, this is the way of our faith.   Scripture as the word of God is also light; even the smallest detail in today's reading tells us something.  Jesus speaks in the treasury of the temple:  by what should we swear and place our faith appropriately?  What gives true value?  Is it the gold of the treasury that shines and gives our lives substance, or the true worth of the light that illuminates the value and truth of all things? 

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 know 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 in Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles.  (See earlier readings from Friday, Saturday, and Monday.)  Yesterday, we read that after those earlier events (in the previous readings), everyone went to their home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  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 own 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."   We read in Monday's reading 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."  This was tied to events of the last day of the feast, in which water is poured as a libation to commemorate the water from the rock that Moses struck.  My study bible explains here that "during the Feast of Tabernacles, torches were lit  in the temple court, and singing and dancing continued each night.  In this context Jesus is the One who gives the light of life.  In the New Testament God is light (1 John 1:5); the followers of Jesus are the light (Matthew 5:14); and believers shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15).  In these and other references in John, God is the source of this uncreated, life-giving light." 

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 know 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.  Jesus speaks in the treasury; His words are those to treasure.  Here and in the next reading, as my study bible puts it, "in the face of resistance and disbelief Jesus continues to proclaim His relationship with the Father.  The Pharisees either were unable to understand Jesus' words or were simply astonished that Jesus was claiming God as His own Father."  Of the teaching here (verse 19), a note tells us, "Because the Son and the Father share the same nature, one cannot be known apart from the other.  St. John Chrysostom writes:  'Indeed, if He were not of the same nature as the Father, He would not have spoken as He did.'"

We have to marvel at Jesus' consistency, His efforts to express who He is.  He doesn't back down from statements that are affirming of the relationship between Himself and the Father.  Earlier, He gave four witnesses to Himself:  John the Baptist, the works He does, the Father, and the Scriptures (including those written by Moses).   Here the proclamation is more simple and more direct.  He doesn't shy away now from using Himself as witness.  Even if He bears witness to Himself, He says, He knows where He is from and where He is going, and they don't.  Everything goes back to the Father.  And this is the relationship that defines everything.  It is "where He is from and where He is going."  It is why He doesn't judge alone, why His judgment is true.  It is why He is not alone, why He has two witnesses.  But His audience knows neither one of them.  Everything goes back to the relationship to the Father.  Even when using Himself as witness, even when declaring that He is the light of the world, Jesus goes back to the Father, and how He is never separate from the Father.  His audience does not believe Him, but these words are for all of us, for each of us.  And I think there is a much more powerful teaching here than merely informing us of Jesus' identity.  Jesus teaches each one of us about our relationship to Creator, about our relationship to what good judgment is, about a relationship that sustains us even at times we think we are alone.  He shifts our perspective from judgment according  the flesh to judgment according to the relationship we, too, have to God.  And, just like Jesus, while we might not be Sons with a capital S, we are all children and we are loved and cared for.  It's this relationship He's pointing to that tells us of an expectation that we should all "know the Father."  In this relatedness of love we are defined and given identity; we don't need others to testify of ourselves when we have a sense how we are before God.  Do we share the light we're given with others?  Then that light speaks for us.  Do we live in the world as He's taught us to be, as "lights in the world" as the quotation from Philippians teaches?  This light is not a question of everyone else's judgment but really a question of faith and relationship.  How we live as those who share what He brings to us really doesn't depend on what everyone else thinks or believes we should be doing.  Judgment will always come back to God, to Christ, just as it is this primary relationship that defines what love is and what it looks like, what it does, how it works, and the always-surprising "rivers of living water" that are products of the Spirit.  Let us remain in this place of light and ever-flowing water, so that whenever we feel exhausted or depleted it's always there to renew.  In this, we are not alone.  Let us walk in the light of life, no matter what darkness we may encounter or pass through.

"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 in 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 yesterday's reading, we read Jesus' words at the Feast of Tabernacles, at the last, great day of the feast: "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." He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, which would come when He was glorified. Many in the crowd said, "This is the Prophet," or "This is the Christ." Some disputed about His Galilean background. Wasn't the Christ to come from the line of David in Bethlehem? Some in the crowd wanted to take Him, but none laid hands on Him. The officers sent by the leaders to arrest Jesus came back to the chief priests and Pharisees who asked why they hadn't arrested Him. The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" The Pharisees scorned, "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."

Today's lectionary reading skips over a section of the beginning of the eighth chapter of John. You can read it from an earlier reading and commentary, here: Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? It's the section on the woman taken in adultery, brought by the leadership to test Jesus. Here is the note in my study bible regarding that passage: "This passage, the story of the adulterous woman, forcefully demonstrates the grace and power of Christ to redeem and reclaim all sinners, in contrast to the judgmental attitude of the scribes and Pharisees."

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 says that during the Feast of Tabernacles, torches were lit in the temple court, and singing and dancing continued each night. In this context, just as Jesus would give living water to those who thirst (see yesterday's reading), He is the One who gives the light of life. It says, "In the New Testament, God is light (1 John 1:5); the followers of Jesus are the light (Matt. 5:14); and believers shine as lights in the modern world (Phil. 2:15). In these and other references in John, God is the source of this uncreated, life-giving light (see 1:4-10, 3:19, 12:35-36)." Coming immediately after the passage of the woman taken in adultery, we can also see this statement applying to His judgment, as shown through that passage. Earlier He has just told us, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

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." Here themes are repeated from recent readings, but they are given further elaboration through, first of all, Jesus' righteous judgment of the woman in the previous passage, and also His repeated statements about identity. He bears witness of Himself only because He is loyal to the One who sent Him. They don't understand Him, can't see His identity, can't judge Him properly. Earlier He has taught that those who don't really have the love of the Father in them also cannot know Him.

"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." Here we have the crux again. Where does righteous judgment come from?

"It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men in 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." Again, the crux of the matter is here, repeated in John's Gospel. He is true to the One who sent Him. If they had known Him truly, then they would know Christ. They are the experts in Scripture, and yet their hearts are elsewhere, on the things that cloud our reception and understanding. Jesus proclaims His relationship to the Father. In our understanding of theology this is also the crux of the matter of the faith: He and the Father and are one. As my study bible puts it, "One cannot be known apart from the other." St. John Chrysostom wrote, "Indeed, if He were not of the same nature as the Father, He would not have spoken as He did." But the message here is repeated for us: if they had truly known the Father, then they would know Him.

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. And again, this same theme is repeated. It is not yet His hour. Everything works according to God's schedule, not man's. Jesus has a mission to do, and He will do it.

Judgment and knowledge are intertwined in this Gospel, in these readings. What is it to truly know? What is it to see in the light, to be given the light to see with? To understand with righteous judgment? These things are taught by Christ. He is here to give us the light so that we may walk in the light. This is the light that enlivens all things, gives us a deeper reality, adds to and infuses material life and enlivens it with the Spirit, gives us complexity, depth and meaning, and a greater life of insight and understanding. Can we walk in this light? Can we seek His judgment? In all things, Jesus testifies to the Father, the origin of light. Can we also accept to find His Way? His way of seeing, illumined by the light? We have the example of the woman taken in adultery, but there is so much more to be illumined by that light: our own darkness inside, the things we don't want to look at, the ways we need to change our lives and ourselves, the things we hide from. Maybe we need to stand up and make a decision. Maybe we need to throw off false guilt. To walk in the light is to walk with Him. He will show us the Way.