Chapter BY Chapter

Jesus, The Light of the World

(Jesus Claims to be God 5 times in one Teaching)

 

John 8:12-59

 

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

 

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.  You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.  But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.  In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

 

Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

 

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”  He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

 

Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

 

This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

 

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

 

“Who are you?” they asked.

 

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied.  “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

 

They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.  So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.  The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”  Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

 

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

 

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.  I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

 

“Abraham is our father,” they answered.

 

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.  As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.  You are doing the works of your own father.”

 

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

 

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.  Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!  Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?  Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

 

The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

 

“I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.  I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.  Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

 

At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.  Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

 

Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.  Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

 

“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

 

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”  At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”

 

*******  

 

WHERE: In the temple courts

WHEN: Just after the Feast of Tabernacles

WHO: Jesus

WHAT: Teaching the people, the Jews that had believed in him

WHY: To know the truth

HOW: Argue with the Pharisees

 

Notice how that Jesus intends to teach the people, the Jews that believed in him, yet the Pharisees keep interrupting and challenging him.

 

Prior to this, at the start of Jesus’ ministry, the entire nation was looking for the Messiah.  The deity of the Messiah was not a question – it was a statement!

 

So, why are the Pharisees opposing Jesus so much?  Oh yeah, he ruined their profiteering operation… And all the people were following him rather than them.

 

The gospel of Matthew ends with the disciples worshiping Jesus on the mountain where they were told to meet him just before he gives them the great commission.

 

The gospel of Luke ends with the disciples worshiping Jesus as he ascends into heaven.

 

The gospel of Mark ends with Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. 

 

But, none of these gospels soundly answers the question, “Did Jesus teach that he is God?”  The gospel of John answers that question soundly, especially in chapter 8.

 

Jesus begins to teach the people by saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

 

Previously, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”  By this he meant that those that believe in him, will be raised by him on the last day. 

 

Here, Jesus is claiming that whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  What does he mean here?

 

Is Jesus saying that if we follow him, we will have a magical light that will never be extinguished????

 

No.  Jesus is saying that if we follow him, we will have the light of life.  This means that as we follow Jesus, we will have guidance in life. 

 

Later, Jesus explains what he means by saying, “I am the light of the world” by saying, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

 

This is about as far as Jesus gets in his teaching about the light of the world.  The rest of the passage is about the argument that the Pharisees keep pursuing.  They obviously don’t want people to follow Jesus.

 

First, the Pharisees challenge Jesus’ authority.  “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” They said. 

 

Jesus counters this argument by pointing out 2 things that validate his testimony.

1. His testimony is true because he knows where he came from.

2. His testimony is valid because it is confirmed by the Father.

   • The Father validated the teachings by his own voice coming out of heaven.

   • The Father validated the teachings of Jesus by confirming it with all the miracles that Jesus did.

 

The Pharisees then taunt Jesus by saying, “Where is your father?” 

 

Jesus answers by saying “You do not know me or my Father.  If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 

 

This is the first time in this passage that Jesus claims to be God.  Those that heard it understood it that way is attested to by the fact that it says, “Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.”

 

Now Jesus taunts them by saying, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”  Jesus is saying that they will die in their sin and cannot come to heaven.

 

The Pharisees then taunt Jesus back by saying, “Will he kill himself?”

 

Jesus continues by saying, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

 

This is the second time in this passage that Jesus claims to be God.  By saying, “If you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”  Jesus claims to be God.  The passage leaves no doubt that the ‘HE’ in this sentence refers to God.  Jesus just said that if you knew him, you would know his Father, and they equated this Father with God.  Furthermore, later on, the Pharisees say that the only Father they have is God.

 

The Pharisees taunt Jesus once again by saying, “Who are you?”

 

Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”

 

This is the third time that Jesus claims to be God in this passage.  He does this by saying, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he.” 

 

Then Jesus says, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”  This is a fourth claim to being God.

 

Notice that even as Jesus speaks, many believed in him.  The Pharisees are doing their best to turn people away from Jesus, but even more people believe in him. 

 

The Pharisees interrupt Jesus again when they say, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

 

The answer Jesus gives is that they are slaves to sin, and that they are doing what they have heard from THEIR father, and he goes on to say that their father is not God, but the devil.

 

The Pharisees go on to accuse Jesus of being demon possessed. 

 

The argument brings comments about Abraham in the conversation.  Jesus says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” 

 

The Pharisees say, “You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham!” 

 

Jesus replies, “Before Abraham was born, I am!”   We know without a doubt that this is a claim to deity because the Pharisees picked up stones to stone Jesus.  This is the fifth and most powerful claim of deity in this passage.  Notice that it is more than a claim of pre-existence.  If Jesus was only talking about Pre-existence, he would have said, “Before Abraham was born, I was.”  There is something very specific about using the words. “I am” in relation to God. 

 

This reminds us of Exodus 3:13-14, where it says:

 

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

 

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

 

So Jesus was claiming the very name of God.

 

Now, we have to ask why Jesus chooses to use this name to refer to himself.  God has many names, including “God Most High.”  It seems like it might have been more conclusive to use that name. 

 

Now, going back to Exodus 3:14, the pronunciation of ‘I am’ is “eh-yeh.”  We don’t really find eh-yeh used very much in the Old Testament.  But we do find something like it.  We find that Yahweh is used 6,870 times in the Old Testament.  The Jews have always claimed that this name means, “I am.”  Now Yahweh is different than Eh-Yeh and so, this makes us curious as to why this is used so much in the Old Testament.

 

Yahweh is called the tetragram, meaning 4 consonants.  YHWH.  The Jews revered it so much as ‘the name’ of God, that when they come to this name, they do not pronounce it, but replace it with HASHEM, which means “THE NAME.”

 

So, it is possible that the Jews have lost the true pronunciation as well as the true meaning of this name since they only carried through the consonants, and not the vowels.  The surprising thing about this name for God is that it is found before Exodus 3:14.  So, it could have a different meaning. 

 

We find Yahweh in Genesis 2:4, where it says, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when YAHWEH God made the earth and the heavens.”

 

We find Yahweh in Genesis 14:17-22 where it says:

 

“After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

 

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,

 

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

    Creator of heaven and earth.

20

And praise be to God Most High,

    who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

 

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

 

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to YAHWEH, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

 

So, here we have the use of the name YAHWEH being used from the beginning of the writing of Genesis, and Abraham uses this name before the “I AM” is revealed to Moses.  Here, Abraham is using this name while Melchizedek is the high priest of God Most High.  Melchizedek was also king of Salem, which was later renamed Jeru-salem.  Is it possible that Melchizedek used this name before Abraham?

 

The answer is YES!  We find this name in use in writings and archaeology before Abraham.  We find this name in Hebrew and Aramaic writings and archaeology before Abraham.  The problem with Hebrew and Aramaic is they only used consonants and assumed you knew the vowels.  But, there were Egyptian, Greek, and cuneiform translations of these writings.  Greek, Egyptian and cuneiform had vowels.  And these documents show that the vowels were: AH-OO-EH.  So, the full pronunciation of this word is YAHUWEH.  When you translate that from Hebrew, it means: I WAS, I AM, I WILL BE.

 

Now, a few passages in the Old Testament come to light knowing the full meaning of this name.  One is Judges 13:15-21:

 

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”

 

16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)

 

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

 

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord. 

 

Another passage that is especially enlightened and in direct relation is Genesis 18, where YAHUWEH reveals himself to Abraham. 

 

“YAHUWEH appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

 

3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes YAHUWEH, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

 

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

 

Notice        that Abraham calls the 3 men ‘YAHUWEH.’ 

 

Notice that when Abraham asks YAHUWEH to stay and be refreshed, the 3 men answer in unison. 

 

Notice that the text in Genesis 18 alternates between using the singular and plural for YAHUWEH as in verses 9 & 10:

 

“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

 

“There, in the tent,” he said.

 

Then he said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

 

YAHUWEH knows that Sarah laughed in verse 13.

 

In verse 14, YAHUWEH says, “Is anything too hard for YAHUWEH?”

 

YAHUWEH is equated with the 3 men in verses 16 and 17.

 

“When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.  Then YAHUWEH said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”

 

YAHUWEH is equated with the 3 men in verse 22:

 

“The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before YAHUWEH.”

 

YAHUWEH is used 12 times in Genesis 18.  This name for God is intrinsically linked to Abraham’s experience.  Abraham’s experience was that God revealed himself as a trinity of beings. 

 

When Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” he could have used the word eh-yeh.  It would have been even more effective if he used the word YAHUWEH.  This would have used the very name of God that was highly revered by the Jews.  This name was also intrinsically linked to Abraham, the topic at hand.  This was also intrinsically linked to the revelation that God is a trinity.  Something that the Jews knew.  They knew that the Messiah was to be God in the flesh.  They did not seek to kill Jesus because they had a legitimate reason to counter his teaching.  They sought to kill Jesus because they preferred to promote themselves and their profiteering over any revelation from God.

 

Jesus is the light of the world.  He came to be your light in your life to guide you.  If you adhere to his teachings, you will have this light.  Part of Jesus’ teaching is that he is God.  This is an integral part of his teaching.  We need to believe this to receive his gift of atonement.  Jesus’ teachings are from God.  We can rely on them 100%.  They lead to eternal life.