Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. --Psalm 119:105
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a prominent American politician and sociologist, is often quoted as saying, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." We as a society often rush to judgment, deciding the guilt or innocence of a prominent person involved in a scandal, often without having heard both sides. Canadian-American lawyer, writer, and journalist once said:
“In the Court of Public Opinion there are no rules of evidence, no burdens of proof, no cross-examinations, and no standards of admissibility. There are no questions and also no answers. Also, please be aware that in the Court of Public Opinion, choosing silence or doubt is itself a prosecutable offense…the Court of Public Opinion is what we used to call villagers with flaming torches. It has no rules, no arbiter, no mechanism at all for separating truth from lies. It allows everything into evidence and has no mechanism to separate facts about the case from the experiences and political leanings of the millions of us who are all acting as witnesses, judges, and jurors.”
In our passage today out of John chapter 8, we see that the Pharisees were attempting to try Jesus in the court of public opinion. You will recall that in the 7th chapter of the book of John, they had sent men to arrest Jesus and bring Him back to the Sanhedrin, where He would be questioned. They wanted to kill him, John says, so this formal "trial" in the halls of the Sanhedrin would not have been a fair trial at all. They had made up their minds already that He was guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death.
You will also recall that the men they sent to arrest Jesus came back empty-handed. When asked why, the men responded, "No one speaks like this Man." John goes on to say that Jesus was in charge of His destiny, not the Pharisees. The reason He was not arrested yet was that "His time had not come."
So the Pharisees sent men to listen to His sermons. Imagine listening to the greatest preacher of the age, and having well respected religious leaders heckle the sermon, interrupting every point. This is what was happening in John 7 and 8. In chapter 7 we saw that Jesus used the occasion of the Feast, where ceremonial water was poured out on the Temple steps, to say that He was the Living Water. In our text beginning in John 8:12, Jesus uses the occasion of lighting up the Temple to proclaim Himself the Light of the World.
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 dot 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 on 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 you 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 the 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." They 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. --John 8:12-27
Jesus stood before the people and tried to preach the Gospel to them. He used an object lesson that many of them were very familiar with. Light was an important symbol in the Feast of Tabernacles. During the feast, many emblems and ceremonies remembered the pillar of fire that gave light to Israel during the Exodus. Now, Jesus took this important symbol and simply applied it to Himself when He said, "I am the light of the world." Commentator David Guzik writes:
i. Barclay and several others connect the light of the world sayings with a ceremony associated with the Feast of Tabernacles known as The Illumination of the Temple. “It was the custom during the first night, if not during every night, of the feast of tabernacles, to light up two large golden chandeliers in the court of the women, the light of which illuminated all Jerusalem. All that night they held a festal dance by the light.” (Alford)
ii. This was a strong and eloquent contrast to the darkness of those opposing Jesus, those who just brought to Him the woman caught in adultery.
iii. “‘I am’ is emphatic. It is the very style of deity which we have seen employed before in this Gospel.” (Morris)
You Don't Know What You Are Talking About
The Pharisees start throwing up objections, intended to impeach the testimony of Jesus. They start with a legal principle: in order for someone's testimony to be believed, it must be corroborated by two or more witnesses. In our modern court system, an accused person cannot be forced to testify--the Court must prove its case against him without a confession of guilt, and most of the jury might think that the accused was lying anyway if he denied the charges. In some cases, though, an accused man will take the stand, because he could be the only one who knows all of the facts.
In this case, Jesus does bear witness of Himself, because He is the only One who knows the end from the beginning. He is the very Word of God, as John reminded us at the beginning of his Gospel, present with God from the beginning of time. His words are true, but if you need a second witness, you have God the Father who can speak on His behalf.
Who's Your Daddy?
In a debate, whenever one side starts to lose on facts, they will often try to besmirch the character of their opponent. This is called an ad hominem attack. Since Jesus mentioned His Father, the Pharisees brought up His questionable parentage. They all knew that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. They had likely spread rumors that Jesus was the bastard child of some man, probably a Roman soldier.
They did not believe in the virgin birth, so they used this opportunity to demand that Jesus produce His biological dad. "Who is your father?" they asked. "Name him. Bring him out to us, we want to question him."
Jesus responded that they didn't know what they were talking about. They did not know Jesus, and they certainly did not know God the Father. There was no point in engaging them further on this topic.
Suicide Is An Unpardonable Sin
Jesus begins to speak prophetically about His death. He also alludes to the final judgment of the Pharisees, saying they will seek after Him but will die in their sins because of their unbelief. The Jewish leaders miss this point, or ignore it completely, and go directly to the point that He predicts His own death. No one knows the day or the hour that they will pass away, so if Jesus predicts His own death, it must mean He is suicidal. David Guzik writes,
The Jews of Jesus’ time taught that the lowest levels of Hades were for those who committed suicide. Here the Pharisees tried to twist Jesus’ words to imply that He will commit suicide and therefore be damned. “According to Jewish thought, the depths of hell were reserved for those who took their own lives.” (Barclay)
So if Jesus was having suicidal thoughts, they argued, then He could not be counted on for spiritual guidance. His words were to be discounted and not followed.
Jesus takes the idea of the lowest level of Hades and turns it back on them. "You are from beneath," He says. "I am from above." Your thinking is rooted in this world, but I am not of this world, He tells them. Then He doubles down on the curse that their sin brings down on them: if they don't believe in Him, they will die in their sins. If they die and their sins are not forgiven, where will they spend eternity?
Just Who Do You Think You Are?
Jesus has just condemned the Jewish leaders to hell. They are appalled. "Who are You?" was not a cry for help--it was an accusation. How dare He condemn them, the religious leaders of their day? How can He claim that they would die in their sins? Just who did He think He was, anyway?
Jesus responds that He speaks the truth, and if the truth condemns them, then He will act as their judge by His words alone. The words He spoke come directly from God Himself, and they did not understand it or believe it.
What about you? Do you take Jesus at His word? Do you believe in Him with all your heart? Or do you side with the Pharisees? Do you question His veracity, His lineage, His message, or His deity? If so, you are in danger of dying in your sin. Trust in Jesus, believe in His words, and repent of your sin today.
Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people wo walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." What is your response to the Light of the World? Will you be drawn toward the Light in faith? Or will you shield your eyes and look away. Will you run back to the shadows and die in your sins because that is what you know and are more comfortable with? Do not gamble with your eternity, my friend. Trust in the One who died in your place, who bore your sins upon Himself, so that you can take on His righteousness before God. Then and only then will the Holy God allow you into His presence for eternity.
