http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 1 Discourse: Light of the World John 8:12-30
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 2 Text: John 8:12-30, Discourse: Light of the World 12. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 13. The Pharisees challenged him, Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid. 14. Jesus answered, Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I came from or where I am going. 15. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me. 19. Then they asked him, Where is your father? You do not know me or my Father, Jesus replied. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. 20. He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come. 21. Once more Jesus said to them, I am going away, and you will not look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. 22. This made the Jews ask, Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, Where I go, you cannot come?
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 3 23. But he continued, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. 25. Who are you? they asked. Just what I have been claiming all along, Jesus replied. 26. I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. 27. They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28. So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. 30. Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. Commentary: John 8:12, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. I. Jesus was now in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles on the temple grounds. A. The temple celebration included a ceremony in which four huge candlestick torches were lit in the Court of the Women which were visible all over Jerusalem. B. The scenes to be studied in this lesson evidently took place after dark and provided a natural opportunity for Jesus to proclaim that he is the light of the world.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 4 C. John 1:4, 5, 7-9, In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. D. John 3:19-21, This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. E. Jesus compared light (righteousness) with darkness (sinfulness). II. The present opponents of Christ are the Pharisees. III. The Old Testament foretold that the Messiah would be the light of the world. A. Isaiah 49:6, It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. B. Isaiah 42:6, I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 5 C. Malachi 4:2, But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. John 8:13, The Pharisees challenged him, Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid. I. The Pharisees are here the prime adversaries of Jesus as they were on numerous other occasions. II. These Pharisees contended that Christ s claims about himself could not be believed without corroborating witnesses. A. John 5:31, 32, If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. B. God the Father is the witness that verifies the truthfulness of what Jesus said. C. John the Baptizer was a secondary supporting witness. John 8:14, Jesus answered, Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I came from or where I am going. I. Jesus contended that he knew where he came from and where he was going. II. With or without witnesses, truth was truth!
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 6 III. The Jews did not have the faintest idea of where Jesus had come from nor where he was going. John 8:15, You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. I. You judge after the flesh; that is, on the basis of worldly and carnal considerations. II. Jesus judged no man on the basis of worldly and carnal considerations. John 8:16, But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. I. Jesus and the Father agreed that true and righteous judgment would be pronounced on the world. II. Jesus and Jehovah witness in unison against the sins of the world. John 8:17, 18, In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me. I. Your law spoke to the Pharisees high regard for the law and their particular interpretation of it. II. The law, for confirmation of facts in a case, required two witnesses. III. Jesus said he and his Father were both witnesses of what he was saying.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 7 IV. Scriptures: A. Deuteronomy 17:6, On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. B. Numbers 35:30, Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. John 8:19, Then they asked him, Where is your father? You do not know me or my Father, Jesus replied. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. I. Having heard the mention of Jesus Father, the Jews wanted to know where his father was. II. III. Jesus said the Pharisees did not know either him or his Father. To know one (Jesus or the Father) was to know the other! IV. The Jews thought Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary. A. They did not know where he came from; that is, from God via the virgin birth. B. John 7:27, But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from. C. Matthew 13:55, Isn t this the carpenter s son? Isn t his mother s name Mary and aren t his brothers James,
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 8 Joseph, Simon and Judas? (Jacob, Joseph, Simon and Judah) D. Luke 3:23, Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli. (Eli) V. Only God the Father could be the Father of such a one as Jesus. John 8:20, He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come. I. This area, the treasury, was a part of the Court of Women in the temple. A. In this area were some large boxes used to receive offerings of the people. These boxes came to be called the treasury. B. The regular meeting place of the Sanhedrin was nearby. II. Teaching here in the midst of the Jewish activities posed no present danger to the Lord because God providentially cared for Jesus and the time for his crucifixion had not come. John 8:21, Once more Jesus said to them, I am going away, and you will not look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. I. The Pharisees could not go to heaven with Jesus because they were going to die in their sins.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 9 II. John 7:33, 34, Jesus said, I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come. John 8:22, This made the Jews ask, Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, Where I go, you cannot come? I. The Pharisees mockingly and with sarcasm said that Jesus was talking of suicide for in that way they would be unable to follow him. II. The Pharisees were insulting. They were totally devoid of courtesy and kindness and any interest whatsoever in searching for truth. John 8:23, But he continued, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I. The Pharisees were from this world, below, the Satanic realm. II. Jesus was from above, from heaven. III. It was as likely that a mule would appreciate Handel s Messiah as it was that these Pharisees would appreciate the teaching of Jesus the Messiah. John 8:24, I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. I. All who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, will die in their sins. II. John 6:60, On hearing it, many of his disciples said, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 10 III. For the Pharisees this statement that belief in the Messiahship of Christ was the only way to avoid dying in their sins was surely one of these hard sayings! John 8:25, Who are you? they asked. Just what I have been claiming all along, Jesus replied. I. The Pharisees asked Jesus, Who are you? Jesus answered, I have been telling you that over and over in many different ways from the beginning of my ministry! II. If Jesus had answered his enemies directly, they would have charged him with blasphemy and brought him to trial pre-maturely. III. Luke 10:22, All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. John 8:26, I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. I. Jesus had been asked who he was. He replied here that he knew and was going to tell the whole world who they were! II. Jesus spoke of their corruptness in many places: A. Matthew 23:13, 23, 25, 29, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! B. John 8:44, You belong to your father, the devil...
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 11 John 8:27, They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. I. The Pharisees had thorough knowledge of their particular legalistic view of things, but they didn t even understand that Jesus was here speaking of the Father. II. Their religious system had blinded them to the divinity of Jesus. John 8:28, So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. I. When Jesus had been lifted up; that is, crucified, these Pharisees would finally know who he was. II. Acts 6:7, So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. John 8:29, The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. I. God the Father had sent Jesus into the world. A. The Father had not left Jesus alone. B. Jesus always did the things which were pleasing to his Father. II. In this time of rejection by the Jewish religious leaders Jesus took solace in the fact that God was with him.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 12 John 8:30, Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. I. As the people listened to the debate between Jesus and the religious leaders, many saw the clear difference between the two and believed in Jesus as the divine Son of God! II. Christian faith, which is trust, includes everything Jesus wants us to do.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 13 Light of the World Questions 1. Jesus said, I am the of the. Whoever follows me will never in, but will have the of. 2. The law stipulated that the of men is. Who were the two witnesses in this situation? and 3. Jesus further said, I am, and you will for me and you will in your. Where I, you. 4. Jesus had told them they would in their if they did not Jesus was the one he to be. 5. Even as Jesus, many put their in him. What is saving faith?