John 8:12-15 - I am the light

8:12

Remember that the previous section was probably an incident that occurred at some other point in Jesus’ ministry. Another feature of the Feast of Tabernacles was candle lighting ceremonies each night, so again Jesus’ claiming to be the light of the world was particularly apposite. Furthermore there are passages in Isaiah that are relevant. Is 42:6 speaks of God’s servant become a light for the Gentiles, tying in with Jesus saying He is the light of the world. Is 49:6 says a similar thing and speaks of God’s salvation going to the ends of the earth. Finally Is 51:4 talks of God’s justice becoming a light to the nations. Right back to the promise to Abraham (Gen 12:2,3) it was always God’s plan that His salvation would go to the nations. The nation of Israel tended to forget this, but the prophets frequently remind them of this. Jesus is the fulfilment of this plan. If we follow Jesus we will not walk in darkness. We need to hold on to this promise. The world may seek to put us in darkness, circumstances may seem to put us in darkness, but God is the One who said “let there be light”, and He is the source of light. In Revelation 21:23 tells us that the new Jerusalem will have no need of the sun for the glory of the Lord will be our light. Jesus is the source of true light.

8:13,14

True to form the Pharisees were not happy. They sought to argue against Jesus from the Law, for someone could not be their own witness. Jesus’ response is that His testimony is indeed valid for He is God. The Pharisees’ reasoning was based on ignorance, for they did not know where Jesus came from, nor where He was going. Jesus did know these things. If we consider Jesus as just a man we will never understand Him and any conclusions we reach will be worthless and wrong.

8:15

The Pharisees were basing their judgement on pure human reasoning, this was a mistake and meant that they could not see the truth. Now this most definitely does not mean that we should not use human reasoning, but it is not all that we need. We see the same problem arising in the scientific arena. Now science is good, and reveals many useful things. However, a purely materialistic approach will never reveal the whole truth, and indeed will lead to error. We do not live in a closed system. The universe exists, and we exist, because God created us, and God also interacts with the world.