Light
This week's study is on John 8:12-18:
These are some good verses about Jesus. He shares the truth about him being the light of the world, and the authorities are like "Fake news! Fake news!" Jesus' words about himself sound lovely, but the Pharisees' position actually makes more sense. If you see one man by himself making grandiose claims, you're naturally going to be sceptical. And that's where your opinion will stay if all you look at is the man making the claims.
The Pharisees judged by outward appearances. Someone follows the rules and is polite and serves others, therefore they're a good person. Someone else is inconsistent, sometimes too blunt, and doesn't often help, therefore they're a bad person. The outward appearance is often all we have to go on in a worldly sense. How do you really know who is good or bad? Who is a good Christian and who is just acting. There have been plenty of cases in history where we thought someone was an ideal role model, only to find out later they were depraved. Other times we've been sure certain people were defective or evil, only to find out later they were actually misunderstood.
When Jesus says he doesn't judge anyone, and that the Pharisees do judge, he means to judge in a condemning sense. The Pharisees would ostracise someone or look down on him based on who they thought he was. A blind man must have done something to deserve it. People who didn't wash their hands ceremonially before dinner were sloppy in other areas too. Someone who had a diverse circle of friends was polluted and needed to be shunned. This is the dimly-lit world Jesus walked into when he proclaimed himself to be the light of the world. But as we know, people who say that sort of thing rarely turn out to be legit. So they judged (condemned) him too.
But Jesus doesn't condemn us, even though he has the greatest claim to do so. Rather than casting us into darkness he sheds his light on us. If he has to make a judgment, it's with full knowledge from heaven and earth, not just what his eyes tell him, like we judge. It's a very different dynamic.
God's judgment is self-consistent, as is his testimony. The father backs up the son and the son backs up the father. So when Jesus says that he is the light of the world, and that we can have that light, he is to be believed.
So from these verses we know that Jesus is merciful and does not condemn us based on outward appearances and misunderstandings, and that he brings light and hope.
Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees objected, “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people do not know where I came from or where I am going. You people judge by outward appearances; I do not judge anyone. But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate, because I am not alone when I judge, but I and the Father who sent me do so together. It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I testify about myself and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
These are some good verses about Jesus. He shares the truth about him being the light of the world, and the authorities are like "Fake news! Fake news!" Jesus' words about himself sound lovely, but the Pharisees' position actually makes more sense. If you see one man by himself making grandiose claims, you're naturally going to be sceptical. And that's where your opinion will stay if all you look at is the man making the claims.
The Pharisees judged by outward appearances. Someone follows the rules and is polite and serves others, therefore they're a good person. Someone else is inconsistent, sometimes too blunt, and doesn't often help, therefore they're a bad person. The outward appearance is often all we have to go on in a worldly sense. How do you really know who is good or bad? Who is a good Christian and who is just acting. There have been plenty of cases in history where we thought someone was an ideal role model, only to find out later they were depraved. Other times we've been sure certain people were defective or evil, only to find out later they were actually misunderstood.
When Jesus says he doesn't judge anyone, and that the Pharisees do judge, he means to judge in a condemning sense. The Pharisees would ostracise someone or look down on him based on who they thought he was. A blind man must have done something to deserve it. People who didn't wash their hands ceremonially before dinner were sloppy in other areas too. Someone who had a diverse circle of friends was polluted and needed to be shunned. This is the dimly-lit world Jesus walked into when he proclaimed himself to be the light of the world. But as we know, people who say that sort of thing rarely turn out to be legit. So they judged (condemned) him too.
But Jesus doesn't condemn us, even though he has the greatest claim to do so. Rather than casting us into darkness he sheds his light on us. If he has to make a judgment, it's with full knowledge from heaven and earth, not just what his eyes tell him, like we judge. It's a very different dynamic.
God's judgment is self-consistent, as is his testimony. The father backs up the son and the son backs up the father. So when Jesus says that he is the light of the world, and that we can have that light, he is to be believed.
So from these verses we know that Jesus is merciful and does not condemn us based on outward appearances and misunderstandings, and that he brings light and hope.
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