Vs. 12 Jesus made some tremendous statements about Himself.
- John 4:13, 14 “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
- John 6:35 “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
- John 7:37, 38 “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
John 8:12 is another amazing claim that Jesus made about Himself.
Light at the Feast of Tabernacles.
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- During the wilderness wanderings, God appeared to the Israelites as a pillar of fire at night.
- One of the celebratory rituals of the Feast was the lighting of many large candlesticks and torches, remembering the physical presence of God in the pillar of fire.
- God was the light that lighted their lives and led them.
Light speaks of spiritual, moral, emotional, mental, philosophical direction.
- Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- Psalm 43:3 Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me.
Jesus purposely upstaged the local events at the Temple, and pointed people to Himself.
- Jesus claimed to be the spiritual, moral, and philosophical light that people needed to live life.
- The Pharisees understood the depth of such a statement, and challenged Jesus on His right to say such a thing
Vs. 13 They referred to Deuteronomy 17:6
- If a mere man makes such claims, he needs a witness to verify his claim.
Vs. 14-16
V. 14 Normally, 2 or more witnesses are needed among sinful men; not so with God the Son
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- V. 15, 16 People normally judge others according to what they see and hear.
- I judge no one- Jesus didn’t judge simply by using His own standards and evaluations.
- I (alone) judge no one. Whatever judgments Jesus made were in agreement with the Father.
Vs. 17, 18 John 5:31, 32 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.
Vs.19 This question was either confrontational or insinuating.
- Where is Your Father? “We want to question him”,or, “We know you are of illegitimate birth”
- Jesus answered on a higher plain- You don’t know my Father.
- NOTE- To know Jesus is to know the Father. Many claim to know God, but reject Jesus.
- John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
Vs. 20 This speaks of the time when Jesus would be taken and killed.
- It would not happen until the time ordained by God.
Vs. 21 I am going away- They wanted to get rid of Him, but He would leave on His own accord.
When Jesus goes away, light goes away.
- You will seek Me- You will continue to seek for who you think the true Messiah is
- You will die in your sin- (singular) You will die having rejected God’s forgiveness/Savior.
- Where I go you cannot come- As a result, they would never be able to follow Him.
Vs. 22 Notice how they missed this solemn warning, and asked a useless question.
- Note the derogatory suggestion they made about Jesus killing Himself
- They elevated themselves over Him, suggesting that they would never do such a thing
Vs. 23 Note the distinction that Jesus makes regarding those who refuse Him.
Their orientation was of the Earth, His was of Heaven, therefore, their opinion was wrong.
Everyone has the right to have an opinion, but not every opinion is equally valuable.
- “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” – Decca Recording Company on declining to sign the Beatles, 1962
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“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
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“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” — Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878
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A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.” — New York Times, 1936
- Mahatma Gandhi of India- “The soul of religion is one, but it is encased in a multitude of forms.”
- Bahai.org- “In reality, there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage in the evolution of the whole”.
- Hindu scripture by Swami Chidananda of Divine Life Society- “In whatever way men approach Me, even so do I go to them.”
Vs. 24 Deuteronomy 32:39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
Vs. 25, 26 They had proven to be insincere questioners regarding who Jesus was.
- From the beginning- From the beginning of my ministry. Their question was redundant.
Vs. 26I have many things to say and to judge concerning you- but that would come later.
Vs. 27 Jesus spoke plainly to them of His father, but their hearts were hardened and eyes blinded.
- Matthew Henry- Thus the plainest things are riddles and parables to those who are resolved to hold fast their prejudices; day and night are alike to the blind.
Vs. 28 They would lift Him up onto the cross (insist on His death)
- There would be earthquakes; the graves of saints would be opened, and they would rise.
- The veil in the Temple would be torn in two from top to bottom.
- Jesus would be resurrected after three days, and ascend to Heaven after 40 days.
- 50 days later, the Holy Spirit would be poured out on Pentecost; thousand would be saved
- In 70 A.D., Jerusalem would be totally destroyed, and thousands killed, as Jesus predicted.
- They would realize the wrong they had done; yet many would still not follow Him.
Vs. 29` Nevertheless, Jesus was not alone, and not a victim, but a willing sacrifice.
- I do nothing of Myself- Jesus constantly claimed to not act except on the prompting and leading of His Father.
V. 30 Matthew 6:22, 23 22“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!