The Passage
John 8:12-30
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Word Work
Personalize the meaning. Respond as God speaks to you through the Scriptures. Ask: How could my life be different today as I respond to what I’m reading?
Word Thoughts:
In his prologue, John has already identified Jesus as the source of life and the “light of men” (1:4)—the light for which the darkness is no match (1:5). Thus we should not be surprised that Jesus includes “I am the light of the world” (8:12) among his seven “I am” affirmations. Indeed, Jesus is the incarnation of the “true light” (1:9), alone sufficient to rescue any man, any time, from the darkness of sin and death. He who is affirmed as the Creator of light (1:3) came as the light of redemption. The prophet Isaiah envisioned the work of the Messiah, God’s servant, as the one who would be revealed as a “light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6).
The sinfulness of sin is seen in the reality that “people loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19). Yet Jesus came to be lifted up on the cross so that we who “believe in the light” might become “sons of light” (12:32–36)—so great is his grace, so great is his gospel. Jesus took the darkness of God’s judgment so that we might now receive the light of God’s salvation. (1)
Word Reflection:
- What stood out?
- How is Jesus the light. of the world?
- Describe the relationship between Jesus and His Father.
End in Prayer
Resources used: