Introduction
Last week we were looking at verses 30 to 52 of John chapter 7 and we thought about three things. We thought about the confusion that existed among the people about the Lord Jesus. And we thought about the opposition that existed among the people to the Lord Jesus. And then we thought about what the Lord said about the Holy Spirit and how the Lord invites us to come to him in order to receive the Holy Spirit. And we all need more of the Holy Spirit in our lives, because the Holy Spirit is able to fill us with more and more life and love and joy and zeal for God and his glory so that more and more we’ll live for God and not for ourselves.
That was last week. Today we’re going to spend our time on verses 12 to 30 of chapter 8. And you might be wondering: What about verse 53 of chapter 7 and verses 1 to 11 of chapter 8? Aren’t you going to read and preach on those verses?
Well, if you’ve reading the NIV, you’ll see that there’s a line above and below those verses and in square brackets the translators have written: ‘The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53–8:11.’ And if you’re reading the ESV, you’ll see something similar. And the reason the NIV and ESV translators have bracketed out those verses is because Bible scholars think that John 7 verse 53 to John 8 verse 11 was not part of what John wrote originally. Those verses are not part of John’s gospel. So, when people were copying John’s gospel many hundreds of years ago, someone decided to add in this little story about the Lord Jesus and the women caught in adultery. We don’t know who added it. We don’t know why he added it. And we don’t know why he added it here. But we do know that it was a later addition and therefore it’s not part of John’s gospel.
Now, it might very well be a true and accurate account of something the Lord Jesus did. John himself tells us at the end of this gospel that the Lord Jesus did many other wonderful things which are not recorded in this book. So, I’m not saying this is a made-up story. Nevertheless, since it’s a later addition, then it’s not part of Holy Scripture. And since it’s not part of Holy Scripture, then I’m not going to preach on it.
And it’s important for you to know that. When I stand up to preach, I am duty-bound to preach God’s word and God’s word alone. And I would be failing in my duty if I preached something which was not part of God’s word. I want to preach in such a way that you can be confident that whenever you come here, you’re going to hear a sermon based on God’s word and on God’s word alone. And when you invite your friends and neighbours to church, you can be confident that they too will hear a sermon based on God’s word and on God’s word alone. We want people to hear God’s word, because we believe that God works through the reading and preaching of his word to convince and convert sinners to faith in Christ and to build up believers in holiness and comfort. So, that’s why we’re skipping over the story of the Lord Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. I’m not saying it’s not true. I’m just saying that it’s not part of Holy Scripture. And since it’s not part of Holy Scripture, then I shouldn’t preach on it.
And so, we’ll skip over those verses and move straight to John 8 verses 12 to 30.
Verse 12
In verse 12 the Lord said to the people: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
The Lord’s words here about being the light of the world echo what we read in the opening verses of John’s gospel, where it says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning and all things were made through him. And in him was life and that life was the what? That life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome the light.
And when we were studying those verses I explained that the Eternal Word of God gives life to every person. He gives us our life in this world. But he not only gives us our life; he also gives us light. That is to say, he enlightens us and gives us the knowledge of God. He is continually making God known to us through the things around us. He’s continually revealing to us that God is real and he’s great and we should worship him.
But we live in a fallen world. The world is not the way it’s supposed to be, because the world is now filled with darkness. So, in the beginning, everything was very good. And Adam knew God. But then Adam disobeyed God and sin and death came into the world. And now, instead of knowing and worshipping God as we should, we suppress the truth about God. Paul says in Romans that we suppress the truth by our wickedness. In other words, we suppress it because we’re wicked by nature. Because we’re sinners by nature, we suppress the truth about God. And instead of worshipping God, we worship false gods.
But then do you remember what else John said in those opening verses? He said the darkness has not overcome the light. It can’t destroy the light. So, the light continues to shine despite the darkness, bearing witness to the truth about God. Furthermore, the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. So, John spoke about a time when the light was coming into the world in a new way. The light was coming into the world as one of us. The light was coming as the man, Jesus Christ.
And with that background, we read the words of the Lord Jesus in verse 12 of chapter 8: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ The Lord Jesus Christ is the true light which John was speaking about in chapter 1. And he is the light of the world, because he has been shining continually in the world from the very beginning to give us the knowledge of God.
And now the light of the world has come in a new way, because he’s come into the world as one of us. And he has come to make God known to us. He’s come to lead us out of the darkness and to show us the overflowing goodness and love of God. He’s come to reveal to us the greatness of God’s wonderful grace and mercy and his willingness to give everlasting life to everyone who believes in the Saviour. And so, the Lord Jesus is also the light of life, because he’s the light which brings life. Whoever follows him by believing in him will live with God for ever.
And so, what we read about the light in John 1 forms part of the background to the Lord’s words here in chapter 8. However, we also need to remember when the Lord said these words about himself in chapter 8. When did he say these things? Well, he said these words when he was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. And during that Feast, water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and brought by procession through the streets of the city and up to the altar in the temple where it was poured out. I mentioned that last week. But they not only poured out water during the feast, but they also lit four huge lamps in the temple. And the people used to dance throughout the night with burning torches in their hands. And as they danced, they sang songs of praise to God. Some historical sources say that this dancing went on all week long during the feast and wherever you went in the city of Jerusalem you could see the glow coming from the temple area.
So, at the feast, people were thinking about light. And the lights they lit at the feast were to remind them of something that happened back in the days of Moses, when the people were in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. In those days, God appeared to them in the glory-cloud. It was a cloud of fire which signified the presence of God. When they saw the glory-cloud, they knew God was with them. And the glory-cloud went ahead of them on their journey to show them the way to the Promised Land.
And so, during the feast, when the people were surrounded with bright lights and when they were thinking about God’s glory-cloud in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus said to them: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ In the days of Moses, when the people saw the glory-cloud, they knew God was with them. They knew God was dwelling in their midst in the wilderness. But now God has come to dwell among them in a new way. He has come to dwell among them, not in the glory-cloud, but in the person of his Son. God the Son has come to dwell on earth with his people.
And just as God once led his people to the Promised Land by means of the glory-cloud, so God had come in the person of his Son to lead his people to the Promised Land of Eternal Life. In the past, God’s people had to follow the glory-cloud. Now God’s people have to follow the Lord Jesus. And we follow the Lord Jesus by believing in him. When we believe in him, he — as it were — takes us by the hand and he will lead us all the way to heaven.
And God the Son came down to earth in this way because of God’s abundant love for his people. Instead of leaving us in the darkness, instead of leaving us in our sin and misery and in the darkness of our unbelief, he came down to us in the person of his Son to reveal his goodness and love and his grace and mercy and his willingness to give us new life and everlasting life and happiness in the new and better world to come.
Verses 13 to 20
But instead of believing in him, the Pharisees challenged him. Do you see that in verse 13? And in the verses which follow they challenged him again and again.
In verse 12 they complain that he’s appearing as his own witness and his own witness is not valid. In other words, they think he needs someone else to corroborate what he’s saying. They think there needs to be someone else to back him up and confirm that he’s speaking the truth. It’s like when you want to open a bank account, and you need to supply several documents to confirm your identity. They want the Lord to provide more proof before they will accept what he’s saying.
And he answers them by saying that his testimony is valid, because he knows where he has come from and where he’s going. So, I can speak knowledgeably about Bangor, because it’s where I grew up. It’s where I come from. I can also speak knowledgeably about Naas, because it’s where we lived for 11 years. And the Lord Jesus can speak knowledgeably about God and about heaven, because that’s where he has come from and it’s where he will return. And so, his witness is valid. They should listen to him.
But then he also says that he does in fact have someone to corroborate what he says. There is someone who can back up his words. And it’s his Father. He says in verse 16 that he stands with his Father who sent him. And in verse 17 he says that he himself is one witness and his Father is another witness. And so, there is someone who can corroborate the things he says. And instead of challenging him, they should listen to him and believe in him.
But since he mentioned his Father, they challenge him in verse 19 to produce his Father. ‘Where is your father?’ In other words: ‘Go and get him. Let’s hear what he has to say.’ And, of course, they don’t realise that he’s talking about God the Father. And we’ve seen this kind of misunderstanding before, haven’t we? When the Lord was taking to Nicodemus about the new birth, Nicodemus thought he was talking about a physical re-birth and not a spiritual birth by the Holy Spirit. When the Lord was talking to the Samaritan woman about living water, she thought he was talking about H2O and not the Holy Spirit. When the Lord was talking to the multitude about the bread of life, they thought he was talking about ordinary bread and not himself. And when the Lord refers here to his Father, the people think he’s talking about a human father and not his Heavenly Father.
And the Lord answered them by saying that they don’t know him or his Father. And, of course, they don’t know him or his Father, because we live in a fallen, sinful world and by nature we repress the knowledge we have of God. We shove God out of our thoughts. And when we do think about him, we come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn’t believe in him. We explain him away.
And that’s the way everyone would remain if it were not for God’s overflowing goodness and love. Because of God’s overflowing goodness and love, he sends his Spirit into our lives to give us the new birth so that we’re able to believe the good news about the Lord Jesus and we’re able to trust in him for salvation. And so, the Holy Spirit enables us to know the Lord Jesus. And when we know the Lord Jesus, then we know his Father too. And that’s what the Lord says in verse 19: ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ Knowing the Son means we know the Father.
And that’s because the Father and the Son possess one and the same divine being, so that they are identical to one another except that one is the Father and the other is the Son. Apart from that one difference, they are the same in every way. And so, they possess one and the same overflowing love for sinners like us. And they possess one and the same grace and mercy and compassion as well. And they possess one and the same willingness to save all who repent and believe the good news. Since they possess one and the same divine being, they are equally resolved and committed to rescuing us from our sin and misery in this world and from the path that leads to destruction. And so, when we know the Lord Jesus and when we experience for ourselves his love and grace and mercy and salvation, then we have experienced for ourselves the Father’s love and grace and mercy and salvation.
And because of their love and grace and mercy and their willingness to save us, God the Father sent his Son into this dark world as one of us to give up his life on the cross to pay for all that we have done wrong and to make peace for us with God. And because of their love and grace and mercy and their willingness to save us, God the Son came into this dark world as one of us to give up his life on the cross to pay for all that we have done wrong and to make peace for us with God.
Verses 21 to 30
In verse 21 the Lord said that he was going away and they will look for him. He said something similar in last week’s passage and he means that he will go away from them when he ascends to heaven after his death and resurrection. Whether they look for him in Judea or in Galilee or in some far off place, they will not find him, because he’s going from earth to heaven.
So, they won’t be able to find him here on earth. And then, he says, they will die in their sins. He means that if they continue as they are, if they continue in their unbelief, then they will die in the state of sin and misery into which we’re all born and in which they will remain unless they turn from their sin in repentance and turn with faith to the Saviour for salvation and eternal life. But if they continue as they are, if they continue in their unbelief, then they will die in their sin. And that will mean they cannot go to where he is, because he has gone to heaven and they will be shut out of heaven for ever. They will be shut out of heaven and shut out of the presence of God and his goodness to live in unspeakable sorrow and suffering for ever. And that’s what will happen to every person who does not trust in Christ for salvation.
And the Lord repeats his warning in verse 24. He said to them they they will die in their sins if they do not believe that he is ‘the one I claim to be’. Now, the words ‘the one I claim to be’ have been added by the translators. What the Lord actually said is: ‘you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he.’ And what does he mean when he refers to himself as ‘I am he’? Well, this is the way God referred to himself in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. In Isaiah, someone asked: ‘Who has done this?’ And the answer is: ‘I, the LORD … I am he’. And in another place he says: ‘I am he who blots out your transgressions’. And in another place: ‘Even to your old age, I am he.’ And in another: ‘I am he. I am the first and I am the last.’ And in another: ‘I, I am he who comforts you.’ That’s how the Lord referred to himself in the Old Testament.
And here’s the Lord Jesus referring to himself in the same way. And that means he’s making clear that he is the God of Israel, the one who appeared to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and to Moses and to the people of Israel as the Lord Almighty. He’s the one who rescued his people from their captivity in Egypt. And now the same Lord, the God of Israel, has come down from heaven in the person of his Son to rescue his people from our sin and misery and from the path of destruction and to bring us into God’s presence in the world to come.
‘Who are you?’ they ask in verse 25. So: You’re telling us to believe in you. But who are you? And the Lord replies, ‘Just what I have been telling you all along.’ That’s not the best translation, because what he really said is: ‘Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.’ And when he says ‘from the beginning’, he might simply mean from the beginning of this speech. So, who am I? Well, I’ve been telling you who I am for the last several minutes. But perhaps he means something else. Since he’s the true light that has been shining continually throughout time to give us the knowledge of God, then perhaps he means ‘from the beginning of creation’. So, from the beginning of creation, he’s been revealing himself to the world. From the beginning of creation, he’s been revealing to the world that there’s a God who deserves our worship.
And because of the darkness in the world, because of the sin and unbelief in the world, he has much to say to us about judgment. That’s in verse 26. But the time for judgment has not yet arrived, because the reason he came into the world was to tell the world what he has received from his Father. And the Father sent him into the world to proclaim, not a message of judgment, but a message of hope and of salvation and of eternal life in the presence of God for all who will believe.
And the Father has sent him into the world, not only to preach, but to be lifted up on a cross. And the Lord refers to the cross in verse 28. They, the people, will lift him up, because they hate him and want to destroy him. But nevertheless, his Father in heaven sent him into the world to suffer like this, because it was God’s will for him to pay for all that we have done wrong with his life. It was God’s will for him to suffer the wrath of God in our place.
And the Lord says in verse 28 that when they’ve lifted him up to die, then they will know that ‘I am he.’ Not everyone will know it. In fact, most will not know it. Nevertheless, many will come to know and believe that the man they lifted up to die on the cross was in fact the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, who has come to earth as one of us in the person of his Son to suffer and die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
And while he was on the earth, he always did what pleased his Father. That’s in verse 29. And it pleased the Father to crush him and to cause him to suffer, because there was no other way to deliver us from our sin and misery and from death and destruction but by his death on the cross in our place.
Conclusion
And look how the passage ends. John tells us that even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
And though the Lord is now in heaven, he continues to speak to us today. He speaks to us today through the reading and preaching of his word. He comes to us in the reading and preaching of his word and he reminds us of all that he has done for us. And he reminds us of why we ought to believe in him. And he reassures us that whoever believes in him will live even though we die. He comes to us in the reading and preaching of his word and he reassures us that if we believe in him, then God will forgive us for all that we have done wrong.
He comes to us in the reading and preaching of his word and he persuades us of his love and his grace and his mercy and his calls us to come to him and to believe in him. He comes to us in the reading and preaching of his word and he teaches us that he is the light of the world and if we follow him, he will lead us out of this dark world with all its sin and misery and into the joy and happiness of heaven, where we will see God and know his love for ever and for ever.
Sermons and Stuff 