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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[Music] 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 amen 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 p black it’s total darkness imagine such a world and then let me ask you could you live in that world the answer of course is no not only would you not want to you literally could not though blind people can still get 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 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 so then because we need light to live we could say that light is lifegiving for us but of course so far I’m only talking about physical light there is another kind of light that we need really 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 and in summary 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 so 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 lifegiving light but they are not true light they cannot give the soul what it really needs nor can they can 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 the 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 that 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 please take your Bibles and open to John chapter 8 we’ll be looking at verses 12 to 20 today as we examine the lifegiving light the lifegiving light John 812 to 20 for using the few Bibles that’s on page 1069 recall the preceding context what’s come before this passage if we exclude John 7:53 to 811 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 story is likely not original to John it’s Unique in the new Testament in that way just like Mark 69-20 just those two special difficult challenging passages if we exclude that section from the context then we can see that John 812 to20 or we can see in John 812 to20 that Jesus is still at the Feast of booths or also called The Feast of Tabernacles it is one of the three required religious feasts in Israel the Feast of Boos remember it 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 we’re only about 6 months at this point before Jesus passion his crucifixion and at this Feast of Boos 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 to 36 Jesus we saw engages in some Divine apologetics refuting the shallow reasons offered for not believing in him while exposing the real reason which is the people do not know do not love and do not want the true God and round two John 737 to 52 Jesus on the feasts last day uses the feast celebration of miraculous provision of water in the wilderness to Proclaim himself to be the source of Living Water and 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 they do not respond directly to Jesus declaration about being living water but the crowd does debate whether Jesus really could be the promised Messi while the priests and Pharisees the religious leaders of Israel unbelieving religious leaders they contemptuously dismiss Jesus words and all the people who are believing in Jesus our new text follows right on the heels of that round two of Jesus and the Jews in the Feast of booths so let’s now read John 8:12 to20 our passage for today John 8:12 to20 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 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 what we have in this passage is round three of Jesus discussion SL 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 overall the three-part structure of this passage and what’s going to become the sermon outline we have declaration objection and then response the main idea of this passage is the following in John 812 to20 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 the darkness it’s going to be one or the other 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 to39 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 lifegiving 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 Boos 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 it says the Lord 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 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 therefore at the Feast of booths the Jews celebrated God’s being a light to his people with 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 would be the main area of Jewish Worship in the temple grounds it’s called the court of the women but all 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 and according to rabinal writings these lampstands were so tall and so bright when lit that they provided beautiful light for every House’s Courtyard in Jerusalem so there’s light in the temple but it’s spreading all over Jerusalem and if you went outside you went to your your House’s Courtyard you saw the light it lit up everything around you and this would be reminiscent of what the pillar of fire did in the days of Moses furthermore when these lamps were lit during the feast the Jews who were gathered there in the temple they 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 and the Jews would often sing and dance for hours into the night when these lamps were lit now 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 day of the feast or rather the last evening of the feast if the lighting ceremony was indeed taking place again there would be a certain bittersweetness 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 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 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 648 but now we have I am the light of the world 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 I am 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 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 point in 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 it 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 lifegiving 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 kind of like the nyine 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 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 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 426 and 7 Isaiah 426 and7 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 495 and6 Isaiah 495 and6 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 boo he is announcing himself as the Fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies and the perfect incarnation of God’s lifegiving 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 you know 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 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 and 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 but do you notice the phrase that we see in verse 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 a 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 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 you willing to give up the false lights so that you may follow on 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 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 they 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 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 they are drawing upon a principle in God’s law Deuteronomy 19:15 says this Deuteronomy 19:15 on the evidence of two or three Witnesses a matter shall be confirmed 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 on less than 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 88:13 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 ah as he hears this objection from the Pharisees I don’t know if he did that I’m I don’t want to put words in or a sign in Jesus’s 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 they’re originally followed by this statement from Jesus John 5:32 there is another who test 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 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 and I’m going to make each one of those responses there each one of those parts a sermon point so we’ll look at response one response two response three 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 come from and where I’m going I’m sorry I know where I came from and where I 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 convinced 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 well Jesus has already begun to reveal the ancient this gospel and he’s going to come back to it 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 therefore 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 and God doesn’t need corroborating testimony he’s God whatever he says is obviously and automatically true and worthy to be believed actually here again is where the light metaphor is instructive let think about this how do you know that there is light light of the visible spectrum in a room for example this room how do you know that there is light in this room do you need to consult some textbook to tell you do you need to hire an expert witness to say 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 you know light is there because you can 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 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 cond naations 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 21:14 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 so 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 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 it 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 lifegiving light 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 I mean 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 sounds like he’s not judging at all so 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 lifegiving 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 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 and 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 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 Sun and leaves no doubt that what the sun proclaims is true how you might ask 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 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 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 rabinal 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 words 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 falling 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 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 you know 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 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 verse 19 so they were saying to him 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 you say there’s a witness in your father where’s 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 of course the Bible reveals that this pregnancy by the 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’s 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 or whatever the motivation for their question notice Jesus profound answer in the rest of verse 19 Jesus answered you know 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 where 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 again 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 and 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 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 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 because apparently 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 of Jesus and the Pharisees so then 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 6 months but for now God’s lifegiving light continues to shine among a stubborn people a little while longer so what about us and 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 the darkness have you f 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 first John and that you are a loving person you love your brothers and sisters you know 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 or 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 and darkness really is appropriate for hell is it not for 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 so 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 lifegiving light of God on display why so that you would believe you would believe you would gain the light of life and you would no longer walk in darkness respond to the kind purpose of God while the light shines among you let’s close in prayer Lord it is such joy and blessing to walk in the light oh Lord many of us can think back to those times in our lives when we did not know you and 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 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 we 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 so 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 might those that don’t know you let yet Lord might repent and believe in Jesus