In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 8:12-20 and Jesus’ proclamation of himself as the light of the world at the Feast of Booths. John reports Jesus’ third round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths so that you might by faith gain Jesus as the light of life and not keep walking in darkness.
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Summary
The life-giving light of Jesus Christ is declared and defended in John 8:12-20. We are reminded that just as physical light is essential for bodily life, spiritual light is essential for the soul—and that light is found exclusively in Jesus. At the Feast of Booths, against the backdrop of the great lamp-lighting ceremony, Jesus announces, “I am the light of the world,” fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecies and revealing himself as God incarnate.
When the Pharisees object that his self-testimony is invalid, Jesus dismantles their argument by showing his testimony is unique (he alone comes from and returns to God), corroborated (the Father testifies alongside him), and that their inability to see his light exposes that they do not truly know God.
Key Lessons:
- Jesus is the exclusive source of spiritual light—no philosophy, religion, or worldly pursuit can deliver the soul from darkness.
- True belief in Jesus requires ongoing following and obedience, not merely a one-time acknowledgment of his identity.
- The testimony of Jesus is self-validating as God’s light, and is further corroborated by the Father through Jesus’ words, works, and the Old Testament Scriptures.
- Religious activity and knowledge do not guarantee that a person truly knows God—only knowing Jesus reveals the Father.
Application: We are called to examine whether we are truly following Jesus or merely claiming belief while clinging to darkness. Where sin has crept back into our lives, we must repent, turn from darkness, and walk as children of light who reflect Christ to the world around us.
Discussion Questions:
- What are some modern “false lights” that people pursue instead of Christ, and how can we recognize them for what they are?
- Jesus says “He who follows me” rather than merely “He who believes in me”—what does it look like practically to follow Jesus daily rather than just affirm belief?
- The Pharisees were the most religious people of their day yet could not see God’s light in Jesus. How can we guard against the same kind of spiritual blindness in our own lives?
Scripture Focus: John 8:12-20 — Jesus declares himself the light of the world at the Feast of Booths. Supporting passages include Exodus 13:21-22 (the pillar of fire), Isaiah 9:2, 42:6-7, and 49:5-6 (messianic prophecies of light), Deuteronomy 19:15 (the law of witnesses), and John 5:31-47 (the Father’s corroborating testimony).
Outline
- Introduction
- Setting the Scene: The Feast of Booths
- Declaration: I Am the Life-Giving Light
- The Lamp-Lighting Ceremony
- Jesus’ Dramatic Claim at the Feast
- The ‘I Am’ Declaration and Its Old Testament Roots
- Isaiah’s Prophecies Fulfilled
- The Call to Follow the Light
- Objection: Your Solitary Testimony Is Invalid
- Response One: My Testimony Is Unique
- Response Two: My Testimony Is Corroborated
- Response Three: You Do Not Know God
- Application: Walk in the Light
- Closing Prayer
Introduction
Let’s pray. Lord God, we want to glory in the cross and not be ashamed of Jesus Christ, but to put him on display. Lord, I pray that you would shine the light of Christ this morning in this local congregation. Enable me, Lord, to declare Christ, and spirit work among us in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Universal Need for Light
Start off today. I want you to imagine something with me. Imagine a world with absolutely no light. There’s no sun, there’s no moon, there’s no stars, there are no candles, there are no lamps, there are no screens. The world has no lights. It’s pitch black. It’s total darkness. Imagine such a world.
And then let me ask you: could you live in that world? The answer is no. Not only would you not want to, you literally could not. Though blind people can still get along in a world that has lights that they cannot see, no one can live in a world with no lights at all.
And why is this? Because according to God’s original creation design, we need light to live. The light of the sun is what warms our planet so that we in our world do not simply freeze. Sunlight also is what grows plants on which animals feed, and then we eat both plants and animals. Sun rays cause our bodies to synthesize vitamin D, which is necessary for our health.
“According to God’s original creation design, we need light to live.”
Lights of various kinds help us to see and to know our surroundings so we can actually move and act in the world. And the beauty of light, especially sunlight, is necessary for our inner person to the point that if we are deprived of light for too long, we will find ourselves prone to discouragement and even hopelessness.
The Search for Spiritual Light
So then, because we need light to live, we could say that light is life-giving for us. But so far I’m only talking about physical light. There is another kind of light that we need, which all people are searching for in one way or another. And that’s spiritual light—light that is needed by our spirits.
What is this spiritual light? People would describe it in many ways. It is the light of truth, the light of justice, the light of freedom, the light of love, of joy, of peace, of holiness, of hope, or most simply, the light of life. We all long for true life, abundant life, that goes beyond this world and will last even forever.
We long for it like we long for physical light. Haven’t you felt that? Why is it that we long for true light for our spirits? Because we, in fact, do live in a world of darkness—not physical darkness, but spiritual darkness. And this darkness is not simply around us; it’s in us.
What kind of darkness is spiritual darkness? Surely this is something you have felt as well. The darkness of lies, of ignorance, of bondage, of misery, of hatred, of fear, of despair, of sin, and ultimately, the darkness of death. Death so pervades our world and even our own hearts so that we long for light.
We long for true light to dispel the darkness and all its manifestations and bring us into lasting life. More than we need physical light for our bodies, we need spiritual light for our souls. But where to find it? Many people simply don’t know.
“More than we need physical light for our bodies, we need spiritual light for our souls.”
Some think they have found this true light in various places: in pleasure-seeking, in worldly achievement, in philosophy, in a moral religious system, in an enlightened guru. But all these, like the fallen angel Satan, they have the appearance of life-giving light, but they are not true light. They cannot give the soul what it really needs, nor can they deliver from physical or spiritual death.
No. The only way to find true spiritual light is to go to him who is the creator of light. After all, God’s first recorded words in scripture are, “Let there be light.” And he was able to create physical light because he is spiritual light in himself, in his very being.
Just as we read earlier in the service, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And God did not hide his true light away from our dark world. He actually sent his light into our world in the most obvious way. Indeed, in our next passage in the Gospel of John, we will again see God’s amazing light identified and offered to all.
But we will also see, astonishingly, that when God’s true light is again put on such obvious display, many supposedly religious, light-seeking persons will say, “I don’t see God’s light.” Which will force us to ask the question: What do we see? What do you see? Do you see and do you follow God’s true light so that God’s eternal life is now manifest in your heart?
Setting the Scene: The Feast of Booths
Please take your Bibles and open to John 8. We’ll be looking at verses 12 to 20 today as we examine the life-giving light. The life-giving light. John 8:12-20.
For those using the few Bibles that are on page 1069. Recall the preceding context—what has come before this passage. If we exclude John 7:53 to 8:11, the account of the woman found in adultery, from the context (and the reason for that is because, as I explained to you last time, these verses are not found in the earliest manuscripts, the earliest copies of John, and therefore the story is likely not original to John), it’s unique in the New Testament in that way, just like Mark 16:9-20—just those two special, difficult, challenging passages.
If we exclude that section from the context, then we can see that in John 8:12 to 20, Jesus is still at the Feast of Booths, also called the Feast of Tabernacles. It is one of the three required religious feasts in Israel.
The Feast of Booths celebrates specifically God’s amazing provision for Israel as his people lived in tents or booths while they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness.
“The Feast of Booths celebrates God’s amazing provision for Israel as they wandered 40 years in the wilderness.”
We’re only about 6 months at this point before Jesus’ passion, his crucifixion. At this Feast of Booths, while teaching, Jesus has been engaging in a number of verbal tussles with his Jewish enemies, who are all the while hoping to seize and kill Jesus.
In round one (if you just glance back to John 7:10-36), Jesus engages in some divine apologetics, refuting the shallow reasons offered for not believing in him while exposing the real reason: the people do not know, do not love, and do not want the true God.
In round two (John 7:37-52), Jesus, on the feast’s last day, uses the feast celebration of miraculous provision of water in the wilderness to proclaim himself to be the source of living water. Anyone who thirsts can come and drink. He even proclaims himself (though the people did not understand it at the time) to be the source of God’s outpoured Holy Spirit that was promised to Israel by the prophets.
Now, Jesus’ opponents in round two (if you remember) do not respond directly to Jesus’ declaration about being living water. But the crowd does debate whether Jesus really could be the promised Messiah, while the priests and Pharisees, the religious leaders of Israel, unbelieving religious leaders, contemptuously dismiss Jesus’ words and all the people who are believing in Jesus.
Reading the Text: John 8:12-20
Our new text follows right on the heels of round two of Jesus and the Jews in the Feast of Booths. Let’s now read John 8:12-20, our passage for today.
John 8:12-20: “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.’ So the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying about yourself; your testimony is not true.’
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Even if I testify 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. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.
But even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone in it, but I am with the Father who sent me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am he who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.’
So they were saying to him, ‘Where is your father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also.’ These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one seized him because his hour had not yet come.”
John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
What we have in this passage is round three of Jesus’ discussion and debate with the Jews—that is, with the Pharisees and his other Jewish opponents. As with round two, round three opens with a wondrous declaration and an implicit invitation for all to come to Jesus and believe in him.
But unlike round two, this time the Pharisees respond directly to Jesus’ words with an objection. Jesus responds to their objection in a manner reminiscent of round one: first by showing why their objection is groundless, and second by exposing the real reason for their objection.
Thus we see the three-part structure of this passage, which will become the sermon outline: declaration, objection, and response.
The main idea of this passage is the following: In John 8:12-20, John reports Jesus’ third round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths so that you might by faith gain Jesus as the light of life and not keep walking in darkness.
John reports Jesus’ third round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths so that you might by faith gain Jesus as the light of life and not keep walking in darkness. It’s going to be one or the other.
Declaration: I Am the Life-Giving Light
Let’s take a closer look at each of the sections of our text, starting with the first one, which just covers verse 12.
First section: we can use the heading “Declaration: This is Jesus speaking. I am the life-giving light.”
Declaration: I am the life-giving light. Look at verse 12: “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
Now notice the word “again” in verse 12. This word tells us that Jesus is continuing here what he was doing before, back in John 7:37-39. Jesus speaks to the people in the temple court and invites them to believe, and he’s doing the same again here.
Now notice: this time Jesus does not proclaim himself to be the source of life-giving water, but instead the source of life-giving light. Now, as before, there is some notable historical context for this declaration from Jesus.
You see, another important part of the Jews’ celebration of the Feast of Booths was a commemoration of how God provided light for the people of Israel in the wilderness. And do you remember how God did that? It was by being a light for them in the darkness. He didn’t just give them light; he was their light.
To remind you: Exodus 13:21-22. Exodus 13:21-22 says, “The Lord—that is, the Hebrew Yahweh—Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”
Can you picture that situation? In Exodus, whenever Israel had to travel by night in God’s plan, God himself, in the form of a column or a pillar of fire, led the way and showed his people where they should go. And when their pillar of fire stopped traveling, it rested above the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle so that Israel always had the light of God’s presence in their camp at night.
“God himself, in the form of a pillar of fire, led the way and showed his people where they should go.”
Now that’s a pretty amazing happening, and definitely something worthy to remember and celebrate. However, God’s providing himself as literal light for his people in the wilderness also points to the greater reality that God provided spiritual life for his people all their days, even up to Jesus’ own time. He was their literal light, but he was also their spiritual light.
The Lamp-Lighting Ceremony
Therefore, at the Feast of Booths, the Jews celebrated God’s being a light to his people with a special ritual. On the night of the first day of the feast, the Jews lit four giant golden lampstands in the court of the women in the temple.
That was the main area of Jewish worship in the temple grounds. It’s called the court of the women, but all the Jews would be passing through that area. That was as far as the women could go in worship, but that was the main area where people would be worshiping and gathering.
About in the middle of this court, they would set up four giant golden lampstands. According to rabinical writings, these lampstands were so tall and so bright when lit that they provided beautiful light for every house’s courtyard in Jerusalem. There’s light in the temple, but it’s spreading all over Jerusalem.
If you went outside to your house’s courtyard, you saw the light. It lit up everything around you. This would be reminiscent of what the pillar of fire did in the days of Moses.
“These lampstands were so tall and bright that they provided beautiful light for every courtyard in Jerusalem.”
When these lamps were lit during the feast, the Jews who were gathered there in the temple danced with torches around the lampstands while singing praise to God, while the temple musicians played. The lighting ceremony was considered one of the most joyful events of the feast. The Jews would often sing and dance for hours into the night when these lamps were lit.
We know that the Jews had this celebratory lighting ceremony on the first night of the feast. There’s some debate as to whether it happened on the other nights of the feast or not. But you can imagine on the last evening of the feast, if the lighting ceremony was indeed taking place again, there would be a certain bittersweet quality to it.
Yes, it’s again a joyful moment of celebrating God’s life-giving light to his people. But this was the last one. The light, the celebration—it’s soon coming to an end. The singing and dancing will have to stop. The great lights of Jerusalem will have to be extinguished.
Jesus’ Dramatic Claim at the Feast
Perhaps then, when the Jews are preparing to light the lamps for the last time in the feast, or perhaps just after they have been lit and people are starting to celebrate, or maybe just some other moment on the last day of the feast when people have been thinking about the light of God as commemorated in the feast, we have Jesus say what he does here: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
This is the second of Jesus’ famous “I am” declarations in the Gospel of John. We had “I am the bread of life” in John 6:48, but now we have “I am the light of the world.”
“This is the second of Jesus’ famous ‘I am’ declarations in the Gospel of John.”
The ‘I Am’ Declaration and Its Old Testament Roots
Once again, the phrase “I am” is emphatic in the original Greek. We could translate it as “I myself am the light of the world” or “I, even I, am the light of the world.” There’s emphasis on the “I.”
Also, once again, though the Greek phrase here, “ego a me,” is the correct way for anyone to say “I am blank” (he wants to say something about himself), Jesus’ phrase does carry overtones of the revelation of God to Moses in Exodus 3. You remember when Moses asks, “Whom shall I say has sent me?” God says, “I am who I am. Tell them that’s the one who sent you.”
Now this possibility of divine assertion is confirmed by what appears in the rest of the phrase. If he just said “I am” and then said something weird, we wouldn’t necessarily say he was claiming to be God. But notice what follows: Jesus proclaims himself to be light, but not just any light. He’s not merely “a light.” He is “the light.” And he’s not merely a light for Jerusalem or the light for Israel. He’s the light of the world. He’s for the whole world. He’s for all the people who dwell on the earth, both Jew and Gentile.
“He’s not merely ‘a light.’ He is ‘the light.’ And he’s not merely a light for Israel. He’s the light of the world.”
Further, notice what Jesus promises about himself as the light: “He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” That’s a pointed assertion to be making at the Feast of Booths. The Jews have just been celebrating how Israel followed God’s light in the wilderness and thereby found life. But here Jesus says if you follow me, you will be rescued from the darkness and have life.
“Light of life,” by the way, would mean either the light that brings life or the light is life, but the meaning is more or less the same either way.
So then, in the backdrop of this feast and its ceremony, and in the context of the Old Testament that declares God himself to be light and the one who brings life-giving light and salvation to his people, if all that is the backdrop, what is Jesus saying about himself? He can only be saying that he, Jesus, is God—God, even the Son of God—and the Messiah of God, the one sent into the world to be God’s life-giving light to all who believe.
Isaiah’s Prophecies Fulfilled
Kind of like the Nicene Creed says: “God of God, light of light.” And what Jesus declares about himself as the Messiah, it fits exactly with what the prophets foretold. Specifically, in Isaiah, just to read a few passages to you:
Isaiah 9:2 (probably remember this one around Christmas time): “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” Why? You read further in the passage: “Because a son will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and his name shall be called Mighty God,” and all the rest.
Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”
Isaiah 42:6-7: “The speaker of this verse is God himself: ‘I am Yahweh. I have called you in righteousness. I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.’ God said, ‘That’s what my servant, that’s what my special one, is going to come and do.’”
And then one more: Isaiah 49:5-6: “This is spoken from the perspective of the servant of the Messiah: ‘And now,’ says Yahweh, ‘who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of Yahweh, and my God is my strength. He says, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”‘”
Do you see this dramatic declaration that Jesus is making at the Feast of Booths? He is announcing himself as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies and the perfect incarnation of God’s life-giving light.
Now this isn’t new to us in the Book of John. Our author has already identified Jesus as God’s true light in the prologue, back in John 1:1-18. But we can see now that John didn’t invent that description for Jesus. He didn’t think, “That’s a good way to describe him.” No. John heard that from Jesus’ own mouth. Jesus declares himself to be God’s life-giving light.
The Call to Follow the Light
Is that relevant to you? It should be. Because are you looking for light? For true light? Light for your soul that can rescue you from darkness? The passage reveals: come to Jesus. He not only gives such light, but he is that light. He gives you himself.
Believe in Jesus, and Jesus promises you will be delivered from true darkness—from lies, from ignorance, from misery, from fear, from sin, from death, from false hope. Only Jesus is God’s true light. Therefore, only Jesus gives abundant, eternal life to those who will believe in him.
“He not only gives such light, but he is that light. He gives you himself.”
But do you notice the phrase that we see in John 8:12? “He who follows me.” This phrase is equivalent to what Jesus says in John 7:38: “He who believes in me.” That’s when he was talking about himself as living water. “He who believes in me”—they’ll get this. This is an equivalent phrase.
But notice the emphasis here in John 8:12 with the word “follow.” The emphasis is on perseverance and obedience. You don’t just believe; you follow. That’s what it means to truly believe.
To bring back the light metaphor: you don’t come to God’s light, get a good look, admire it for a little while, and then go back to the darkness. No. Like Israel in the wilderness, once you’ve got the light, you follow him wherever he goes, wherever he directs you.
“You don’t come to God’s light, admire it for a little while, and then go back to the darkness. You follow him wherever he goes.”
Why? So that you may enjoy abundant life. You may enjoy eternal life. You must follow the light.
So the question from God’s spirit to you, based on this verse, is: Are you following Jesus? Do you truly follow Jesus? Plenty of people say that they believe, but they don’t actually follow Jesus. What about you?
Do you see the light of life, God’s own light, in Jesus? If so, then are you willing to give up darkness—anything, everything that is darkness in your life? Are you willing to give it up so that you may follow him? Are you willing to give up the false lights so that you may follow him?
It’s a free offer. It’s an amazing invitation from Jesus. You come, you get this, you follow, you’ll have life. But no, you cannot cling to darkness at the same time.
Objection: Your Solitary Testimony Is Invalid
Well, as we see, Jesus has once again made quite a dramatic claim, a startling claim, considering the context of the feast. And this time the Pharisees are going to object, which is what we see in our next section, which covers just verse 13.
Verse 13: we have “Objection: Speaking from the Pharisees. Your solitary testimony is invalid.”
Objection: Your solitary testimony is invalid. Look at the verse: “So the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying about yourself; your testimony is not true.’”
Now this is interesting. The Pharisees, no doubt hoping to prevent the crowd from listening to Jesus or believing in him, do not accuse Jesus of blasphemy. They do not try to disprove his claim to messiahship. They instead try to dismiss Jesus’ words based on a technicality.
“The Pharisees do not try to disprove his claim. They instead try to dismiss Jesus’ words based on a technicality.”
Jesus, such a momentous claim that you’re making—it needs supporting testimony to be taken seriously. After all, just because someone makes an assertion about himself, that doesn’t make that assertion true. Since you appear to offer only self-testimony, your declaration is invalid and not worth considering.
Perhaps the Pharisees, in making this objection, are drawing upon a principle in God’s law. Deuteronomy 19:15 says this: “On the evidence of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed.”
The Pharisees’ Cheap Tactic
Now I think I told you before: this principle from God was originally given for the prosecution of capital crimes in court. A person could not be put to death unless there were two or three witnesses. That’s why this principle appears.
If that was the original intent of this principle, then obviously it was not given as a rule that nobody should ever be believed about anything anywhere without supporting witnesses. “I don’t believe you. You don’t have a witness. Just talking about it looks nice today.” That’s not the idea of God’s scripture.
But apparently the Pharisees are trying to treat Jesus’ assertion of messiahship like it’s a court claim. “Hey, you need a witness if you’re going to make that kind of claim.”
Furthermore, the Pharisees likely are trying to use Jesus’ own words against him. You might remember back in John 5:31, Jesus admitted, “If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not true.” You may see John 8:13 is practically the same words, just with switched pronouns.
“Hey, Jesus, you admitted before that solitary testimony is not believable. And look, that’s precisely what you’re giving. You’re doing it again. We, therefore, and the rest of the Jews have no reason to accept your new grand assertion as true, as even you yourself have confessed.”
But I can imagine Jesus heaving a big sigh as he hears this objection from the Pharisees. I don’t know if he did that. I don’t want to put words in or a sigh in Jesus’ mouth. But I can imagine it. Why? Because Jesus has already dealt with this same objection both in John 5 and since then.
In fact, Jesus’ words in John 5:31, which the Pharisees have appeared to cherry-pick and are now using against them, are originally followed by this statement from Jesus: John 5:32, “There is another who testifies of me, and I know that the testimony which he gives about me is true.”
The Pharisees conveniently forgot that part—the part where Jesus insists that he does not, in fact, give solitary testimony about himself, but he has plenty of witness. He has a complete witness from a trustworthy other.
By the way, this cheap tactic is still used today to dismiss Christianity. How many times have you heard people repeat the same old arguments against the Bible or against Christ or against Christianity, even though those arguments have been thoroughly and sufficiently dealt with before? But that’s what people do. It’s an easy out.
“People repeat the same old arguments against Christ even though those arguments have been thoroughly dealt with before.”
Now Jesus conceivably could have chosen not to answer this tired old objection from the Pharisees. It’s ridiculous. But perhaps for the sake of the crowd, which he did not want to see so easily misguided, Jesus decides again to dismantle the foolish argument that has been laid before him.
And in verses 14 to 20, we see Jesus give his response—a really three-part response to the Pharisee objection. I’m going to make each one of those responses, each one of those parts, a sermon point. So we’ll look at response one, response two, response three.
Response One: My Testimony Is Unique
Starting with the first response in verses 14 to 15:
Response one: “Jesus speaking. My testimony is unique.”
Response one: My testimony is unique. Look at verses 14 and 15: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.’”
Notice here that Jesus, even apart from any corroborating testimony, insists that his self-testimony is both true and valid. It is worthy to be accepted by all his hearers.
Notice the reason Jesus gives for making that claim: “For I know where I came from and where I am going.”
Now at first glance, that seems kind of like an odd justification. I mean, “I know where I came from and where I am going,” but that doesn’t automatically make me believable in everything that I say. So why should that reason convince Jesus’ hearers that his self-testimony is definitely valid?
Well, we must answer that question as it relates to Jesus. From where did he come, and where is he going? Jesus came from God, and after his crosswork, he is going back to God.
Is there anyone else like that? No. What does that mean? It means Jesus’ testimony is suddenly put into a separate category from any other testimony you might see or receive from man.
Jesus is not just a man making amazing claims. He is the Eternal Word made flesh. He is the sent one. He is the explainer of God, the one who had the glory of God and is going back to the glory of God. He is the Son of God himself.
“Jesus is not just a man making amazing claims. He is the Eternal Word made flesh. He is the Son of God himself.”
God doesn’t need corroborating testimony. He’s God. Whatever he says is obviously and automatically true and worthy to be believed.
Light Is Self-Validating
Actually, here again is where the light metaphor is instructive. How do we know that there is light—light of the visible spectrum—in a room, for example, this room? Do you need to consult some textbook to tell you? Do you need to hire an expert witness to say, “Is there light in this room?” and he says, “Yep, there is definitely light in this room”? You don’t need that.
Why not? Because you can see it. You can tell just by looking.
Light, true light, makes itself obvious. If there’s light somewhere, as there is in here, you will see it. If there’s no light somewhere, what will you see instead? Darkness. You could say, therefore, that light has a self-validating testimony. You don’t need somebody to tell you about light. It’s obvious. Light is there because you can see it.
“Light, true light, makes itself obvious. If there’s light somewhere, you will see it.”
The same is true for Jesus. The true light of God doesn’t need some witness to prove his nature as light. God’s light should be obvious when you see it. More specifically, in Jesus’ case, recognizing Jesus as God’s light should be obvious when you hear the words and when you behold the works of Jesus. They shine the light of God. It should be obvious.
Yet apparently the Pharisees don’t see the light of God in Jesus, as is obvious from their objection. In fact, Jesus says they don’t know where he comes from or where he was going. They don’t recognize his uniqueness as the one from God who’s going back to God.
Yet these are Israel’s popular religious leaders. How could they, of all people, fail to see the light of God?
Judging According to the Flesh
Well, Jesus diagnoses the deeper issue in verse 15. He says the Pharisees “judge according to the flesh.” That is, they base their conclusions and even their condemnations merely on what they desire and what they are able to reason in their fallen human nature.
You see, like the natural man spoken of in 1 Corinthians 2:14, the supposedly pious Pharisees cannot see, cannot understand, and cannot accept the truth of God because it appears as foolishness to them. They are still enslaved to their base desires. They still think with broken minds. They still prefer the darkness over the light, despite what they say.
In other words, why is it that they cannot see the life-giving light of God? It’s because they are blind—culpably blind. That is, they don’t see because they won’t see. Jesus doesn’t fit their reasonable expectations as to what the Messiah should be. Jesus doesn’t fit their desires as to what the Messiah should be.
“They are culpably blind. They don’t see because they won’t see.”
No matter how much light, no matter how much evidence is put before them, these Pharisees will not see Jesus as anything special, and certainly not the life-giving light of God. They refuse to see. All they see instead is an upstart Galilean rabbi who is morbidly interested in overturning pious religious tradition and leading the whole nation of Israel to ruin, which is why they want to get rid of him.
Worse than judging by mere appearances (which Jesus warned against in John 7:24), the Pharisees judge according to the flesh, and therefore they cannot see God’s life-giving light.
Jesus Came to Save, Not to Judge
Jesus adds at the end of verse 15: “I am not judging anyone.” Which is an odd statement, since the conclusion that the Pharisees judge according to the flesh itself seems like a judgment from Jesus. “I’m not judging anyone, but what did you just say about the Pharisees?”
Certainly, in verse 15, Jesus intends to contrast himself with the Pharisees. “This is what you do; this is what I do.” But what exactly is the contrast? What does Jesus really mean?
It could be that Jesus means that he doesn’t judge anyone like they do—that is, according to the flesh. That’s pretty obvious. Jesus is regularly associating with sinners and giving them the life-giving gospel. Pharisees can’t understand that. “How can you hang out with these tax collectors and immoral women?” So certainly Jesus doesn’t judge like they do.
But is that really what Jesus is saying? It sounds like he’s not judging at all. I think more likely what Jesus is getting at is that he’s stressing a point that he has made before and he will make again. That is, Jesus did not come into the world the first time to judge, but to save. Judgment will come. Jesus has even said that before.
God’s life-giving light will eventually be withdrawn. But now is not the time for the Son to judge, to assess each person and pronounce sentence on each person. Now is the day of salvation.
“Jesus did not come into the world the first time to judge, but to save. Now is the day of salvation.”
Yet the stubborn Pharisees turn their faces away from God’s light and thereby consign themselves to the future judgment. However, though Jesus’ primary mission in his first coming is to save and not to judge, such does not mean that Jesus cannot accurately diagnose the hard-hearted spiritual condition of his hearers or that he cannot warn them of the judgment that is sure to fall upon them.
When Jesus makes such an assessment, even in his first coming, he is worth listening to. Not only because Jesus is God’s light, but because of a second reason that Jesus is about to explain. And this is a reason that he has explained before.
Response Two: My Testimony Is Corroborated
The first response from Jesus to the Pharisees is that his testimony is unique. Here’s his second response in verses 16 to 18.
Response two: “My testimony is corroborated.”
My testimony is corroborated. Look at those verses again, verses 16 to 18: “But even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone in it, but I am the Father who sent me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am he who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
Notice the reason Jesus gives in these verses for why his testimony should be believed: God the Father testifies alongside the Son and leaves no doubt that what the Son proclaims is true.
“God the Father testifies alongside the Son and leaves no doubt that what the Son proclaims is true.”
How does the Father testify on behalf of Jesus? Jesus doesn’t explain fully here because he already did back in John 5:32-47. Remember when we looked at that section? Jesus explains that the Father testifies on behalf of the Son in the Son’s words because they are the Father’s words. Jesus doesn’t say anything unless it came from the Father. So the Father testifies through the words of Jesus.
The Father also testifies of his Son Jesus in the Son’s works. Jesus says he doesn’t do anything unless the Father gave him to do it and is doing it with the Son. And Jesus says the Father testifies on behalf of the Son through the Old Testament scriptures, which are about Jesus.
Ultimately, truly, the Son was never solitary in his testimony. The Father was always testifying on behalf of his Son. The Pharisees’ inability, therefore, to see the light of God in Jesus becomes all the more inexcusable, as Jesus himself points out in verse 17.
Even Your Own Law Strengthens Jesus’ Case
Now notice the way Jesus does this. He begins the verse by saying, “Even in your law.” Which is interesting for two reasons.
First, Jesus says “your law,” even though he’s referring to God’s Old Testament scriptures. Why does Jesus distance himself from his people’s and God’s law in this way? That’s a tricky question. We can’t say for sure. Though perhaps he’s merely seeking to distance himself from their improper interpretation of God’s law by their religious tradition.
If we examine the rabinical writings, apparently they did take that rule about two or three witnesses and they applied it in all sorts of situations which seem to go beyond what the scriptures originally intended. So perhaps that’s why Jesus says “your law.”
But a second interesting aspect in that phrase is the way Jesus uses the word “even.” “Even in your law,” he says. By that word, Jesus indicates that he does not concede the Pharisees’ assertion that two witnesses are always required to prove an authoritative claim.
However, by citing the law—the one that they’re holding to, the one that they’ve misinterpreted—Jesus shows that even when that rule from God is improperly invoked, it only strengthens Jesus’ case and it only exposes the Pharisees’ failing in hypocrisy.
Jesus, as the true light, doesn’t need another witness. But if you’re going to use God’s law unfairly to demand one, well, guess what? Jesus has another witness: the Father who sent him. What are you going to do with that?
“Even when that rule from God is improperly invoked, it only strengthens Jesus’ case and exposes the Pharisees’ hypocrisy.”
And it’s not like, “Oh, the Father gave testimony, but it stopped now.” No. Notice the verb tenses in verse 18. They’re present tense. Jesus says, “I am he who testifies presently, and the Father testifies presently.” It’s an ongoing witness.
They were still witnessing in the time that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. And what they are still witnessing today, by the Spirit, by the scriptures, the Father and Son are still giving testimony that Jesus is God’s life-giving light.
Therefore, friends and brethren, we also have no excuse for refusing to believe that testimony of God or for insisting that we do not see God’s light in Jesus. The testimony of God’s light is unique and self-validating. And as if that weren’t enough, the Father of light has corroborated it.
So what will you gain by continuing to resist God’s light?
Response Three: You Do Not Know God
But perhaps someone will say, “I hear all that you’re saying, pastor, but I still don’t see any light in Jesus.”
Well, Jesus has one more response to the Pharisees in verses 19 to 20. And it’s one that you must pay heed to as well.
Response three from Jesus: “You do not know God.”
You do not know God. Look at the beginning of John 8:19: “So they were saying to him, ‘Where is your father?’”
Where Is Your Father?
Just stop right there. Note the verb tense of this beginning part of the verse. “They were saying to him.” This is the imperfect tense. It indicates an ongoing action in the past. In other words, they didn’t ask Jesus this question once. They kept asking him, “Where is your father? Where’s your father, Jesus? Where’s your corroborating witness? This father that you speak of—why did the Pharisees ask this question, and why do they ask it of him more than once?”
It’s possible that they simply do not understand what Jesus is saying. That’s happened before in this gospel. They do not understand what Jesus is saying. But they’re getting more and more riled up by his words and impatient for a clarifying answer, so they keep on asking this question: “Where’s your father?”
“They didn’t ask Jesus this question once. They kept asking him, ‘Where is your father?’”
But it’s also possible that this question is not genuine. That is, it’s instead a proud and hateful attempt to mock Jesus. How so?
Well, consider two possible angles. One angle would be having to do with the fact that Jesus’ human father, Joseph, is already dead. Considering his absence outside of the infant narratives, Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, likely died before Jesus’ public ministry began.
Thus, when the Pharisees hear Jesus appeal to his father’s corroborating testimony, they only think of Joseph. And therefore they mock Jesus for appealing to someone who is obviously dead. “Where’s your father, Jesus? Is Joseph going to come back from the dead to vindicate you, to witness for you? Where is he, Jesus? Tell us.”
Another angle would have to do with the unusual circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Let’s not forget: Mary was pregnant with Jesus before Joseph married her. The Bible reveals that this pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit, apart from any sexual union.
But what did Mary’s relatives and neighbors think? Certainly there were some unusual circumstances at the birth of Jesus Christ—pretty wonderful. But did everyone believe Mary when she told them about Jesus’ origins? Did everybody believe Mary when she told them the message of the angel Gabriel? Or did some, even many, think that Mary was just lying from shame or perhaps she was traumatized into believing a fantasy?
To this day, the unbelieving rumor about Jesus’ birth is that he is the product of immorality—either Mary voluntarily slept with someone or she was raped. So perhaps that’s what’s going on here in verse 19, when the Pharisees keep asking Jesus, “Where is your father?” What they’re really saying is, “Who’s your daddy, Jesus? Is your long-lost father going to show up and give testimony about you? You don’t even know who he is. Where’s your father?”
“To this day, the unbelieving rumor about Jesus’ birth is that he is the product of immorality.”
No Knowing God Without Knowing Jesus
Or whatever the motivation for their question, notice Jesus’ profound answer in the rest of verse 19: “Jesus answered, ‘Neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also.’”
Notice that Jesus doesn’t answer as we and probably the Pharisees expect. It doesn’t say, “My father is in heaven,” or “My father is here in my words and works.” Rather, Jesus communicates the fact that you Pharisees are asking the question that you are shows that you neither know me nor my father.
How could Jesus say that? Well, we can just look back. What Jesus already told the Jews in John 5: God the Father and God the Son are intimately united so much so that the Son’s words and works are the Father’s words and works. Whereas Jesus will tell his disciples later, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. We’re that intimately united.”
So then, Jesus tells the Pharisees, and he tells us: No matter how religious you think you are, no matter how convinced you are that you have found true light and you can teach others about it, if you’re asking, “Where’s your father, Jesus? Who can testify to your claims? Who can prove that you really are the Messiah?” you reveal that you don’t really know Jesus.
You don’t really know God. And you don’t really have eternal life. You don’t have the light. You’re still in darkness.
As we’ve seen from this gospel before, there is no knowing God and therefore no eternal life without knowing Jesus Christ. Let anyone tell you, “I love God, but I don’t love Jesus.” You don’t love Jesus? You don’t love God. You don’t know Jesus? You don’t know God. Because the Father and the Son are intimately united.
“There is no knowing God and therefore no eternal life without knowing Jesus Christ.”
The Hour Had Not Yet Come
Well, how do the Pharisees react to Jesus’ words? Look at verse 20: “These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one seized him because his hour had not yet come.”
We learn here that Jesus has been speaking in the treasury, which is likely another reference to the court of the women—that section of the temple. There were various chests with trumpet-like openings spread around the court of the women for the people to give money towards the temple, so you could call it the treasury. It’s where people gave money.
As I said earlier, this court was the most active part of the temple, which means that many people, many worshippers of God, were assuredly passing through and potentially listening to this conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees. After having their hypocrisy and foolishness exposed again in such a public form, we can bet the Pharisees are likely angrier than ever with Jesus and again determined to seize and kill him.
But they don’t. And neither does anyone else in the crowd. Why not? Because, as the text says, Jesus’ hour—it is the hour of the cross, leading to the Son’s glorification—has not yet come. In God’s sovereignty, the hour will come in just about six months. But for now, God’s life-giving light continues to shine among a stubborn people a little while longer.
“God’s life-giving light continues to shine among a stubborn people a little while longer.”
Application: Walk in the Light
What about us? What about you? This passage is, as I’ve said, written so that you will by faith gain Jesus as the light of life and you will no longer walk in darkness.
Have you fulfilled that purpose? Have you begun to follow Jesus? Have you believed in Jesus? Have you received the light of life? Has Jesus lit up your heart so that you have become a child of light who now walks in the light, demonstrated especially as we heard earlier from 1 John, and that you are a loving person? Do you love your brothers and sisters?
I told you in the beginning that none of us could live in a world of literal darkness. But did you know that such a world does exist? In the most terrifying poetic justice, the Bible reveals that for all those who reject God and insist they do not want his light, they will ultimately be given what they’ve asked for in a place that the Bible calls hell.
We know hell as a place of fire and burning, and that is not inaccurate. But the Bible also describes hell as a place of utter darkness, where there’s absolutely no light. Darkness really is appropriate for hell, is it not?
If the place of God’s kind presence is light and eternal life, then the place that does not have an ounce of such kindness from God must be darkness and eternal death.
Heed the kind word of the Lord to you today. It’s no accident that you’re here. It’s no accident that you’ve heard this passage. Jesus Christ himself has shined his light on you. The Holy Spirit has put the life-giving light of God on display.
Why? So that you would believe. You would gain the light of life, and you would no longer walk in darkness.
“It’s no accident that you’re here. Jesus Christ himself has shined his light on you.”
Respond to the kind purpose of God while the light shines among you.
Closing Prayer
Let’s close in prayer.
Lord, it is such joy and blessing to walk in the light. Many of us can think back to those times in our lives when we did not know you. The metaphor that perfectly describes what that state is, is darkness. It just felt like we were stumbling in the dark.
We were looking for light. We thought we found it in various places. We thought we even found it in sin, in our own way. But it was just more darkness. And we were stumbling, and we were hurting ourselves, and we were on the path to death.
But then you shined your light on us. You brought your word to us. You showed us Jesus Christ. And now we see. Now we say, “This is the truth. Here is life. It is God. It is God’s Son, who can save me from the darkness, who can save me from my sin and save me from the just wrath of God forever.”
Thank you, Lord, for your light.
If there are any today, Lord, who have not yet found you in your light, or rather, Lord, that you have not found yet in your light, I pray, God, that you would draw them. I pray, Lord, that they’d say, “I don’t want the darkness. I want the light. I want the light of life.” I pray, God, that you would do that today.
But for us, God, who have found the light, I pray, God, that we would walk just as you command in your scriptures, as children of light. That we would not say, “I know the God of light. I am in the God of light,” and yet walk in darkness. Because your spirit-led writer John already told us that if we say that, we lie and do not practice the truth. The people of light do not continually walk in darkness.
God, where darkness has attached itself again in our lives, Lord, I pray that we would repent. That we would throw off the darkness. We’d come to our wonderful Advocate, the life-giving light, Jesus the Savior, and we say, “Lord, I’m sorry that I’ve sinned in this way. I repent. I’m not going to do this anymore because I want you. I want to follow you wherever you go. You are the light.”
I pray that be true in our congregation, Lord. And I pray it be more true than ever. And that as the people of light, as the children of light, we would shine before this world, before the people in our families who don’t know you, before the people in our families that do know you but need encouragement, for the people in our workplaces, Lord, the people that we meet. I pray, Lord, that we would shine you.
You have made us into lights. But we don’t have our own light. We just shine as reflectors, as little lamps of him who is the true light. Forgive us, God, for where we have blocked that light with our own sin. And we have distorted that light with a hypocritical life.
Lord, let your people repent. And let us walk in the light as you are in the light, that this people might see. And that they, those that don’t know you yet, Lord, might repent and believe in Jesus.