Over these last few months, even as I’ve been enjoying my new role as a stay-at-home-mom to our son, I’ve been heavily burdened by the darkness and injustice of the world we are raising him in. It seems like I’m being confronted daily by new evidence of prejudice and animosity in the world. It’s hard not to fall into a trap of pessimistic thinking and lose hope for the future.
You may be in that place too: struggling to find hope for an uncertain future for yourself, your family, your community, or the wider world. Hopelessness is a real temptation, but, as Christians, we have an unshakable hope that is built on the cornerstone of Christ. When we’re on the verge of despair, we need to plunge into God’s Word to soak in the reality of who Jesus is. We must receive the hope that the Gospel offers to a world broken by sin.
The passage we’re looking at today, John 8:12-30, is a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees, which reveals essential, hope-giving truths about who Jesus is.
After Jesus’ bold declaration in John 6 that he is the Bread of Life, the Jewish people became divided over his teachings (John 7). Some people believed him and began to follow him, but many of the other Jews thought that he was a heretic who was leading people away from the truth. The Pharisees fell into the latter group. They were so enraged by his public ministry that they wanted him dead and were plotting to have him killed. On many occasions, they publicly debated with Jesus over his teachings, attempting to discredit him.
In John 8:12-30, Jesus reveals foundational truths about himself that should inspire faith and hope in the Christian: Jesus sets us free from darkness, his authority is from God the Father, and to know him is to know God.
Jesus Sets Us Free From Darkness
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus certainly wasn’t pulling any punches here, was he? He boldly proclaimed something John previewed for the reader back in chapter 1: Christ is the source of life and of light in the world which will never be overcome (John 1:4-5). The powers of darkness can never truly kill those who have been filled with the new life he offers through his death on the cross, and the light of the truth of the Gospel can never be snuffed out. Followers of Christ are reborn and filled with the Holy Spirit, enabled to trust and serve God and becoming more like Christ as they prepare for eternal life after death.
Jesus' Authority is from the Father
When the Pharisees responded, they totally bypassed the substance of what Jesus said and instead question his authority to make such a statement about himself at all:
13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness 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. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”
The Pharisees were trying to trip Jesus up in something he said before: that his testimony about himself could not be true unless it was corroborated by another witness. This happened during another conversation they'd had about Jesus’ authority back in John 5. There, Jesus said, “30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.” The religious leaders were trying to discredit Jesus by throwing his words back in his face, but (once again) their hearts were blind to the truth and they missed the most important part of what he was saying. In John 5:30-47 and again here in 8:12-30, Jesus’ openly acknowledged that his authority doesn’t come from himself, it comes from God (5:36-37, 8:16,18,28-29). Christ knew that he had been sent by God to live on Earth and that he would return to him after his death and resurrection (v. 14) to reign with him forever in eternity. While the Pharisees judged people according to their own standards and self-imposed rules, Jesus’ judgments (and his authority to make them) are just and perfect because they originate from God (v. 15-18, 26, 28-29).
To Know Jesus is to Know the Father
19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Without equivocation, Jesus tells them that if they really knew him, they would know God too. John already primed us for this idea in 1:18: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” The Father and Son are in perfect unity with one another. To know one is to know the other. When we have eyes to see the truth of who he is, the Son will help us to see the Father as well. Through faith in Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, we have a relationship with him and are able to truly know God and be perfectly known by him.
The Pharisees were woefully blind to all of these truths about Jesus, and he warned them of the consequences of their unbelief:
21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “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, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Because they did not believe that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Pharisees were destined to die in their sins without access to eternal life with Jesus. As the religious elite of their day, they were pretty shocked and confused by his teaching:
25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “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 authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Everything Jesus said and did was in obedience to and for the glory of God the Father. Though the Pharisees were blind to this, Jesus knew that they would understand the truth when he was lifted up: at his death and resurrection and through his glorification at the Second Coming. The Pharisees hearts were too hard to receive Jesus' teaching at that time, but many other people who heard him responded and believed (v. 30).
It’s easy to become discouraged and even filled with despair when we put our hope in relationships, material security, or world affairs. As believers, we have hope because we know that Christ has brought light into the darkness of our wayward hearts, rescuing us from our slavery to sin. He was sent by God with complete divine authority to heal the world's brokenness for his own glory. Christ's death took the punishment our sins deserved so that we could be redeemed and restored to fellowship with God, knowing and being perfectly known by him.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. We too often take for granted how blessed we are to be able to read and study the eternal truths found in the scriptures. Thank you for sending Jesus to deliver us from the darkness of sin, redeeming us so that we could be a part of your family. Thank you for the everlasting hope we have because of your goodness. Amen.
Resource:
“I am the Light of the World” by John Piper on Desiring God.
Respond
How do you remind yourself of these truths about Christ's identity when you are tempted to give up hope? Which of these is most encouraging to you right now, and why?
