The
Light Testifies
By Sharon Amari
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."
So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness
about yourself; your testimony is not true."
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. You judge
according to the flesh; I judge no one. 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. In
your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am the one who
bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about
me."
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."
These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the
temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. (John
8:12-20, ESV)
What
did Jesus imply when He declared himself to be the light of the world and
whoever follows Him will have the light of life? Why did Jesus answer the Jews
the way He did when they said to him that his testimony is not true? I believe if we study the dialogue
between Jesus and the Jews and pay close attention to the responses of Jesus to
them, we will be able to reach profound conclusions about Jesus’ claims. In declaring himself to be the light of
the world, Jesus is affirming his deity and establishing the fact that He is
truly the Messiah who came to save the world. He is claiming to be the source
of light that gives life, a quality of God alone who has life in himself. In this text, we shall see that Jesus
attributed to himself a critical and important characteristic of God as it is
established in the books of the Old Testament. Reading further in the dialog
between Jesus and the Jews, we shall see that Jesus points to his pre-existence
and his unity with the Father.
Muslims
claim that Jesus never declared that He is God. This is one of their main
objections to the Christian faith.
Unfortunately, they continuously fail to understand the significance and
meaning of Christ’s proclamations. Unlike Muslims, I believe that the Jews
understood the meaning and implications behind Jesus’ declarations in this
text, since they became furious and challenged His claim. We read in another text that they
attempted to stone him to death after they understood the “I AM” phrase that He
pronounced (John 8:58). The High Priest torn his clothes when Jesus pronounced
the phrase found in the book of Daniel about the “Son of Man seated at the right
hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64). Therefore, Jesus did
not attribute to himself ambiguous characteristics with no meaning or
foundation. His claims about himself are established characteristics of deity
known and understood by His audience who knew the Old Testament writings. It
is beyond the scope of this article to provide internal and external evidence
to the validity of Christ’s declarations.
The goal here is to point the reader to the fact that by uttering the
phrases that Christ uttered to the Jews in this text, Jesus indeed is claiming
deity.
I am the light of the
world.
We also learn that the
Servant of the Lord, the Messiah, is appointed to be a light to the whole
world, to bring salvation to all the nations as we read in the following Old
Testament passages:
-The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them
has light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)
Arise, shine, for your light has
come, and the glory of the LORD has risen. (Isaiah 60:1)
-I am the LORD; I have called
you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you
as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations. (Isaiah 42:6)
-And
there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day
nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from
Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea1 and half of them to the
western sea. It shall
continue in summer as in winter.
And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will
be one and his name one. (Zechariah
14:7-9)
Therefore we see that
“light” was also used in a specifically messianic sense. As C.K. Barrett writes “it is used of
the light which shines upon the Messiah and is bestowed by him upon the
righteous, the Light is a name of the Messiah” (Barrett P.337).
With all this background,
this supreme and exclusive claim of Jesus to being the light of the whole world
startled the Pharisees and offended them (RWP). The Jewish framework is truly
transcended as Jesus embodies and assumes this Old Testament language
(Schnackenburg 189, F.F. Bruce 188).
R. Schnackenburg argues that the genitive in the Greek expression
“phos-tou-cosmu” or “light of the world” is objective, and therefore should be
translated as ‘light for the world’ (Schackenburg P.190). When Jesus declared himself to be the
light of the world or light for the world, He therefore, assumes here a
well-known character of God (Adam Clark). Additionally, He is declaring himself
to be the Messiah that came to bring light to all the nations as the Word
incarnate.
It is important to note
that Jesus had called his followers “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14),
but that was light reflected from him. Jesus, the Logos, is called the true
light of men as we read in John 1:9: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming
into the world” (RWP). Those who
believe in him, therefore become “sons of light” (John 12:36) because they
become “children of God” (John 1:12).
R. E. Brown puts it as follows:
When Jesus proclaimed that
He is the light of the world it is a proclamation in the most absolute sense.
For though He gives His disciples the same title, they are only "light in
the Lord" (Eph 5:8); and though He calls the Baptist "the burning and
shining light" in John 5:35, yet he was not that Light, but was sent to
bear witness of the true light (John 1:8.) Under
this magnificent title Messiah was promised of old (JFB).
No wonder we see the Jews
greatly offended. They understood
Jesus’ declaration very well.
Jesus: The Source of Life
Whoever follows me will
not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life
God
is the source of life. The
ownership and the ability to give life is a quality or function of God alone.
We read in Psalms 36:9 “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we
see light.”
Those
who follow Jesus will have “to-phos-tase-zoes” or the light of
life. The light that Jesus
imparts, says F.F. Bruce, is the ‘light of life’ because it is “life-giving.”
Even before the Word
became incarnate, the life that He eternally possessed ‘was the light of men’
as we read in John 1:4: “In him was life, and the life was the light of
men.” When the eternal Logos became incarnate, the true light has come into
the world, providing salvation for everyone (F.F. Bruce 188). Jesus promises the person who follows
him through faith ‘the light of life’ that gives true life- God’s eternal
life. The Greek genitive “tase-zoes” defines the promised light more specifically as the life that frees a
person from the sphere of death. The declaration of Jesus thus conforms with
the basic formula “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal
life” (John 3:16, Schnackenburg 191).
Therefore,
Jesus, the true light has life in Himself and gives life to those who follow
Him and believe in Him because He is God himself who alone is the source of
life. This characteristic of life giving, He shares in it with God the Father
as we read in John 5:26: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has
granted the Son also to have life in himself.” Not only is He the source of eternal life, but he has
authority to give life in the resurrection of the dead as we read in John 5:21: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also
the Son gives life to whom he will.”
Even if
I bear witness concerning myself, my testimony is true because I know where I
came from and where I am going
The immediate question that
occurred to my mind was why did Jesus answer the Jews the way He did when they
told him that his testimony is not true since He bears witness about himself?
Why didn’t he say: “my testimony is true because I know that ‘I am He’” instead
of: “I know where I came from and where I am going?” What is the significance of Jesus’
phrase? I believe that Jesus’
unique answer points to His pre-existence with the Father and to His return to
the Father after the resurrection.
Notice here that Jesus uttered the same words in other texts:
I came from the Father and have
come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father. (John 16:28)
Jesus, knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was
going back to God. (John
13:3)
How long ago was Jesus with the Father and what was His
status with the Him? The prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17:5 helps us answer
these questions:
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had
with you before the world existed.
Jesus
was with the Father before the world existed. He is the eternal
Logos that we read about in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God and the Word was God.” From eternity He was always
with God, in loving fellowship with the Father. Additionally, He shared in the
glory of the Father, the glory that He always had before the foundation of the
world. This is why Jesus’ testimony is
true. He is in the position to
witness alone concerning Himself because He is the eternal Son of God. Within the ordered world of humans there is no doubt
that the testimony of a man about himself needs to be supplied by the evidence
of others because of his fallen human nature (Newbigin p. 103). Contrary to
this fact, Jesus’ testimony about himself does not need to be supplied by other
witnesses because He knows where He came from - from the bosom of the Father
and where he is going to -to sit at the right hand of the Father- He knows His
identity that He is truly the unique Son of God.
1. United
with the Father in Judgment.
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.
God is recognized as “the
Judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25). He is the Righteous Judge. All His judgments are just and
true. Revelation 16:17 says: “Yes,
Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” In responding to the Jews, Jesus in this passage declares that his judgment is true because He does not judge alone, but with the Father
who sent Him. In other words, Jesus is identifying
Himself with the Father in that just as the Father judges and His judgment is
always true, so the Son also judges and His judgment is true because He and the
Father are united in status and function.
As F.F. Bruce argues, Jesus’ judgment is true and right because He
reached it in fellowship with the Father and in oneness of mind with the one
who had sent Him (Bruce p.189.)
The Phrase “I am not alone” notes John Calvin, adds weight to the
confirmation that Jesus is different than any ordinary person and must be seen
in the light of the office he holds or the Status He shares with the Father
(Calvin p. 209).
I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father
who sent me bears witness about me.
C.K.
Barrett notes that the article with marturw/n in egw, eimi o` marturw is to be noted. The meaning is almost ‘I am he that
is in a position to witness’ (Barrett P. 339).
D.A.
Carson writes:
The words egw, eimi o` marturw/ do not identify Jesus as a
particular individual (someone called the testifier or the like) as they
identify his peculiar qualifications: he is peculiarly the one who testifies,
with full qualifications for doing so. (Carson
P. 340)
Jesus is qualified to testify
alone because of who He really is. And since He is in that position to testify
alone concerning himself, He therefore is in the same status as His Father.
Additionally, He is united with the Father in their testimony for the Father also
testifies concerning his beloved Son.
Jesus said in John 5:37: “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness
about me.” After
Jesus was baptized, God the Father testified and declared that this is His
beloved Son in whom He is well pleased (Mark 1:11).
After Jesus was asked by
the Jews to identify his father, He concluded His dialog with them by saying
"You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know
my Father also." I think
this is also an appropriate phrase to conclude my discussion. Knowing the Son
is the prerequisite to knowing the Father because as John writes in 1:18 that “no one has ever seen God; the only God (the beloved
Son), who is at the Father's side, he has made him
known.” We have seen that Jesus’ proclamations and responses
to the Jews in John 8:12-20 are rich in background and meaning. The phrases
that Jesus pronounced were not without any foundation, but all point to His
deity. He is the eternal Son of God who from eternity was always in existence
with the Father sharing His glory and united with Him in function and status.
He is the true light that imparts life to whoever believes in Him. He is the
eternal Logos who became flesh and the messiah whose light brings
salvation to all the nations. Therefore if they knew Jesus, they would have
known the Father also because Jesus is the image of God who came to reveal the
Him.
Abbreviations and References
Barrett C.K.
Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John, (The Westminster Press, 1978)
Beasley-Murray George
R. Beasely-Murray, John, (Word Biblical Commentary, Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
Bruce F.
F. Bruce, The Gospel & Epistles of John (William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1983).
Calvin John
Calvin, John (Crossway Books, 1994).
Carson D.
A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1991).
Clark Adam
Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible (E-Sword Software version,
no pages provided.)
Gill John
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible (E-Sword Software version, no pages
provided.)
JFB Jamieson,
Fausset and Brown Commentary (E-Sword Software version, no pages provided.)
Newbigin Lesslie
Newbigin, The Light Has Come (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)
RWP Robertson’s
Word Pictures (E-Sword Software version, no pages provided.)
Schnackenburg Rudolf
Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John, (The Seabury Press, 1980)