The Light and the Law Text: John 8:12-20
Introduction: The Arrogance of the Dark
We live in a world that loves the dark. Not the simple absence of photons, but a spiritual and intellectual darkness. Our age prides itself on its sophistication, but it is a sophistication that has mastered the art of calling darkness light and light darkness. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, and they do not want their deeds exposed. But it is more than that. They do not want their very thoughts, their foundational assumptions, exposed. The darkness provides cover. In the dark, every man can be his own god, his own lawmaker, his own source of truth. The darkness is permissive, it is flattering, and it is insulating.
Into this comfortable, self-imposed gloom, Jesus of Nazareth walks and makes an audacious, exclusive, and utterly intolerant claim. He does not say, "I am a light," as though He were one option among many. He does not say, "I can show you the light," as though He were a mere guide. He declares, "I am the Light of the world." This is a claim of cosmic supremacy. It is the Creator of light stepping into His creation. It is a declaration that all other lights are fraudulent, flickering candles at best, and deceptive fires leading to destruction at worst.
The conflict that follows this declaration is not a simple misunderstanding. It is a clash of two incompatible legal systems, two ultimate authorities. The Pharisees hear Jesus' claim and immediately reach for their rulebook. They want to subject the Light of the world to their procedural regulations. They want to put the sun on trial at midnight, using a faulty lamp to see if its light is "true." This is the perennial temptation of fallen man: to make himself the judge and to put God in the dock. But as we will see, God does not submit to cross-examination. He is the one who cross-examines us.
This passage is a courtroom drama. The charge is blasphemy, the evidence is Jesus' own testimony, and the defense is the co-testimony of God the Father. The verdict depends entirely on which court you recognize as having jurisdiction. The Pharisees sit as judges in the court of man, judging by the flesh. Jesus speaks as the Judge in the court of Heaven, revealing a truth that is absolute, self-attesting, and sovereign.
The Text
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness 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 am not judging anyone.
But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true.
I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.”
So they were saying to Him, “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 was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
(John 8:12-20 LSB)
The Sovereign Declaration (v. 12)
We begin with one of the great "I am" statements of Jesus.
"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'" (John 8:12)
The phrase "I am" is a direct echo of God's self-revelation to Moses at the burning bush. This is a claim to divinity, plain and simple. And what is He? "The Light of the world." This takes us right back to the beginning. Before God formed anything, before He filled anything, He said, "Let there be light." Light was the first thing spoken into the unformed creation. Here, the Word who spoke that light into existence now stands in the flesh and says, "That was me." He is not a created light like the sun or moon. He is the uncreated source of all light, both physical and spiritual.
This claim is therefore totalizing. If He is the Light, then everything apart from Him is darkness. There is no neutral ground, no twilight area. You are either in the light or in the darkness. And the promise attached is just as absolute. "He who follows Me will never walk in the darkness." To follow Jesus is to have your whole path illuminated. It does not mean you will understand everything at once, but it means you will never take another step in ultimate, damnable darkness. You will have the "Light of life," which means this light is not just something you see with; it is something that gives life itself. It is a regenerative light. It does not just show you the way; it makes you alive so you can walk the way.
The Procedural Objection (v. 13)
The Pharisees, hearing this majestic, world-defining claim, respond not with awe but with a procedural quibble.
"So the Pharisees said to Him, 'You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true.'" (John 8:13 LSB)
This is the response of a spiritual bureaucrat. They hear the voice of God and their first instinct is to check if He filled out the correct form. They appeal to a general legal principle that a man's testimony on his own behalf is not sufficient to establish a matter in court. They are technically correct on the human level, but they are catastrophically wrong on the divine level. Their error is applying a rule for creatures to the Creator. They are trying to use God's law to box God in.
This is the very essence of dead religion. It is a focus on the outward forms while being completely blind to the inward reality. They have the law, but they do not know the Lawgiver. They are so busy examining the lamppost that they do not notice the sun has risen. Their objection reveals their core problem: they believe they are qualified to sit in judgment over the Son of God. They have made themselves the standard, and so when the true Standard appears, they declare Him to be out of line.
The Divine Prerogative (v. 14-16)
Jesus' response is not to accept their terms of debate. He rejects the entire premise of their court.
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness 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 am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.'" (John 8:14-16 LSB)
Jesus essentially says, "My self-witness is an exception to your rule, because I am an exception to every rule. My testimony is true because I am the Truth." His authority is grounded in His divine origin and destination. "I know where I came from and where I am going." He has the view from eternity. The Pharisees, in contrast, are spiritually blind. They do not know His origin or His destination because they are judging "according to the flesh."
This phrase, "according to the flesh," is crucial. It means judging by outward appearances, by human standards, by worldly wisdom, by what you can see and touch and measure. It is the worldview of the materialist and the legalist. Because they can only see a carpenter's son from Nazareth, they cannot see the eternal Son of God. Jesus then says He is not judging anyone, meaning He is not judging by this fleshly standard. But He immediately qualifies this. When He does judge, His judgment is true, because it is not a solo performance. It is a unified verdict issued by Him and the Father who sent Him. This is the judgment of the entire Godhead, and it is therefore final and absolute.
The Two Witnesses (v. 17-19)
Jesus then condescends to use their own legal framework to make His point, and in doing so, He blows the framework apart.
"Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true. I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me." (John 8:17-18 LSB)
He grants their premise for the sake of argument. The law requires two witnesses. "Fine," Jesus says, "I have two." Who are they? Witness number one is Himself. Witness number two is God the Father. This is an explicit claim of equality with God. He places His own testimony on the same level as the testimony of the Father. For the Pharisees, this was not solving the legal problem; it was compounding the blasphemy. The Father bore witness to the Son at His baptism, at the transfiguration, and through the miracles He performed.
Their response shows they are still trapped in their fleshly thinking. "So they were saying to Him, 'Where is Your Father?'" They are looking for a physical man, Joseph perhaps, or some other earthly figure. They cannot conceive of the God of Heaven as His Father. Jesus' answer is a sharp rebuke that diagnoses the root of their unbelief: "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." This is a central teaching of the New Testament. You cannot have the Father without the Son. There is no generic, abstract knowledge of God available to those who reject Jesus Christ. To see Him is to see the Father. To reject Him is to be an orphan in the cosmos, with no knowledge of your true Father.
The Sovereign Clock (v. 20)
The final verse gives us the location and a crucial theological commentary on the event.
"These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come." (John 8:20 LSB)
This was not a private conversation in a back alley. Jesus made these staggering claims in the treasury, a public and heavily trafficked part of the temple complex. He was not hiding. He was teaching openly, making claims that were, by their standards, worthy of immediate arrest and execution. And yet, nothing happened. Why?
John gives us the reason, and it is the bedrock of our comfort and God's glory: "because His hour had not yet come." The Pharisees were not in charge. The temple guard was not in charge. The Romans were not in charge. God the Father was in charge. Jesus was not a victim of circumstance; He was following a divine script, operating on a divine timetable. His enemies were filled with rage, but their hands were tied by the sovereign decree of God. He would not be taken one minute before the appointed time, and when that time came, He would not be taken, but would lay down His life of His own accord. This is the absolute sovereignty of God over all the affairs of men, even their most rebellious and wicked intentions.
Conclusion: Stop Judging the Light
The confrontation in this passage is one that every human soul must face. Jesus stands before us and declares, "I am the Light of the world." Our natural, fleshly, Pharisaical response is to put Him on trial. We want to cross-examine Him. We bring our own standards, our own logic, our own sense of fairness, and we judge Him. We say, "Your claims are too exclusive. Your demands are too high. Your witness about yourself is not sufficient for me."
But the gospel call is a call to lay down our gavel. It is a call to step out of the judge's bench and into the light. We must recognize that we are the ones in darkness, not Him. We are the ones who are blind, not Him. Our judgment is according to the flesh and therefore faulty, while His judgment is according to divine truth and is therefore perfect.
To become a Christian is to stop cross-examining the Light and to start following it. It is to confess that you have been walking in darkness and to ask for the Light of life. It is to agree with God's testimony about His Son. When you do that, you will find that you do not just see the Son, but for the first time, you will truly see the Father also. And you will find that your life is no longer governed by the impotent rage of sinful men, but by the sovereign and gracious timing of a God whose hour is always perfect.