John 8:12-20 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is John 8:12-20. I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
John 8:12 (NIV)
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
On verse 12: Throughout the book of John, Jesus uses some of the most basic pictures that represent life, like bread and water, to describe Himself and to show how He and life go hand in hand. He calls himself the bread of life (John 6:35). He says that for those who believe in Him, streams of living water will flow from within (John 7:38). And now, after using life-giving images like bread and water, Jesus brings up another image: “I am the light of the world”. Just as our world cannot survive without light, so we can’t live without Jesus. Like light, Jesus brings energy, warmth, hope, joy, strength and clarity to our lives. That is why when you have Jesus, you have the light of life.
John 8:13-18 (NIV)
13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.
16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.
17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
On verses 13-18: When the Pharisees challenge Jesus and question the validity of his testimony, Jesus responds in two ways. First, Jesus says that he is able to testify on his own behalf because He is the Son of God from heaven, altogether different from any other human being (v14-15). As the Son of God, Jesus has credibility and authority like no other and owes no one an explanation. As a second response to the Pharisees’ challenge, Jesus cites one witness in addition to his own testimony: his Father (v16-18). It’s as if Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, “I don’t owe any of you an explanation (v14-15), but since your own law asks for the testimony of two men, if you’re needing an extra witness to support what I’m saying, that other witness if my Father.” (Earlier in John 5:31-40, we saw that Jesus cited 4 witnesses that testify about him and that lend credibility to what Jesus is saying. In this case Jesus cites just the one, his Father.)
By the way, why would Jesus say “I pass judgment on no one” (v15)? Doesn’t this seem to contradict statements Jesus would make in John 5 like:
- the Father “has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22) and “has given him the authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:27)
- “I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just” (John 5:30)
We need to understand the context here. Jesus is not saying in verse 15 that Jesus does not judge or never judges. Rather, verse 15 is probably best understood as Jesus contrasting the way the Pharisees have been judging him with the way Jesus judges. In verse 15, Jesus says to the Pharisees, “You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.” In other words, Jesus is saying that the Pharisees make judgments based purely on “human standards”, based on their flesh, on their sinful, skewed way of looking at things which is poisoned by their own selfish motives and fails to involve any discernment from God’s Spirit. When Jesus then says, “I pass judgment on no one”, he is likely saying, “I don’t judge the way you Pharisees judge, based on such human standards alone”.
Likewise before I judge a person or a situation, I need to ask myself, “Am I judging based only on human standards like the Pharisees? Or am I seeking to understand and assess the situation from a godly, Spirit-led perspective?”
John 8:19 (NIV)
19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
On verse 19: The Pharisees assume that Jesus is talking about his earthly father Joseph, who may have been dead by this point. But Jesus was referring to his heavenly Father and identifying himself with that heavenly Father. Jesus says that to know Jesus is to know the Father. One of the big lessons of the Gospel of John is: If you want to know what the Father is like, look at Jesus.
John 8:20 (NIV)
20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
On verse 20: Even as people were presenting their imperfect offerings to God at the temple, Jesus was right there, presenting Himself as God’s perfect offering for people. For me it’s a reminder that nothing we give God, nor the totality of all of our offerings together, could ever compare to what God gave us: His Son Jesus.
Thank You Jesus for being the light of the world, the One whose testimony is fully reliable, and God’s perfect offering for humankind. When our own offerings could never pay for our sin, You came as the perfect offering for our sins so that we could be forgiven, made new, and become true offerings and living sacrifices to God. Thank You for all that You have done for us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
