New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John vol. 2. William Barclay
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on purely human grounds. I do not judge anyone. But if I do form a judgment, my judgment is true, because I am not alone in my judgment, but I and the Father who sent me join in such a judgment. It stands written in your law that the witness of two persons is to be accepted as true. It is I who witness about myself, and the Father who sent me also witnesses about me.’ They said to him: ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered: ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you had known me you would know my Father too.’ He spoke these words in the treasury while he was teaching in the Temple precincts; and no one laid violent hands upon him, because his hour had not yet come.
THE scene of this argument with the Jewish authorities was in the Temple treasury, which was in the Court of the Women. The first Temple court was the Court of the Gentiles; the second was the Court of the Women. It was so called because women might not pass beyond it unless they were actually about to offer a sacrifice on the altar which was in the Court of the Priests. Round the Court of the Women there was a colonnade or porch; and, in that porch, set against the wall, there were thirteen treasure chests into which people dropped their offerings. These were called the Trumpets because they were shaped like trumpets, narrow at the top and swelling out towards the foot.
The thirteen treasure chests all had their allotted offering. Into the first two were dropped the half-shekels which every Jew had to pay towards the upkeep of the Temple. Into the third and fourth were dropped sums which would purchase the two pigeons which a woman had to offer for her purification after the birth of a child (Leviticus 12:8). Into the fifth were put contributions towards the cost of the wood which was needed to keep the altar fire alight. Into the sixth were dropped contributions towards the cost of the incense which was used at the Temple services. Into the seventh went contributions towards the upkeep of the golden vessels which were used at these services. Sometimes a man or a family set apart a certain sum to make some trespass or thank-offering; into the remaining six trumpets people dropped any money that was left after such an offering had been made, or anything extra which they wished to offer.
Clearly the Temple treasury would be a busy place, with a constant flow of worshippers coming and going. There would be no better place to collect an audience of devout people and to teach them than the Temple treasury.
In this passage, Jesus makes the great claim: ‘I am the light of the world.’ It is very likely that the background against which he made it made that claim doubly vivid and impressive. The festival with which John connects these discourses is the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths (John 7:2). We have already seen (John 7:37) how that festival’s ceremonies lent drama to Jesus’ claim to give to people the living water. But there was another ceremony connected with this festival.
On the evening of its first day, there was a ceremony called the Illumination of the Temple. It took place in the Court of the Women. The court was surrounded with deep galleries, erected to hold the spectators. In the centre, four great candelabra were prepared. When the dark came, the four great candelabra were lit and, it was said, they sent such a blaze of light throughout Jerusalem that every courtyard was lit up with their brilliance. Then all night long, until cock-crow the next morning, the greatest and the wisest and the holiest men in Israel danced before the Lord and sang psalms of joy and praise while the people watched. Jesus is saying: ‘You have seen the blaze of the Temple illuminations piercing the darkness of the night. I am the light of the world, and for anyone who follows me there will be light, not only for one exciting night, but for all the pathway of life. The light in the Temple is a brilliant light, but in the end it flickers and dies. I am the light which lasts forever.’
THE LIGHT THAT PEOPLE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE
John 8:12–20 (contd)
JESUS said: ‘He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but he will have the light of life.’ The light of life means two things. The Greek can mean either the light which issues from the source of life or the light which gives life. In this passage, it means both. Jesus is the very light of God come among men and women; and he is the light which gives them life. Just as the flower can never blossom when it never sees the sunlight, so our lives can never flower with the grace and beauty they ought to have until they are irradiated with the light of the presence of Jesus.
In this passage, Jesus talks of following himself. We often speak of following Jesus; we often urge others to do so. What do we mean? The Greek for to follow is akolouthein; and its meanings combine to shed a flood of light on what it means to follow Jesus. Akolouthein has five different but closely connected meanings.
(1) It is often used of a soldier following his captain. On the long route marches, into battle, in campaigns in strange lands, the soldier follows wherever the captain may lead. Christians are the soldiers whose commander is Christ.
(2) It is often used of a slave accompanying his master. Wherever the master goes, the slave is in attendance upon him, always ready to spring to his service and to carry out the tasks he gives him to do. He is literally at his master’s beck and call. Christians are the slaves whose joy it is always to serve Christ.
(3) It is often used of accepting a wise counsellor’s opinion. When people are in doubt they go to the expert, and if they are wise they accept the judgment they receive. Christians are people who guide their lives and conduct by the counsel of Christ.
(4) It is often used of giving obedience to the laws of a city or a state. To be useful members of any society or citizens of any community, we must agree to abide by its laws. Christians, being citizens of the kingdom of heaven, accept the law of the kingdom and of Christ as the law which governs their lives.
(5) It is often used of following a teacher’s line of argument, or of following the gist of someone’s speech. Christians are people who have understood the meaning of the teaching of Christ. They have not listened in dull incomprehension or with slack inattention. They take the message into their minds and understand, receive the words into their memories and remember, and hide them in their hearts and obey.
To be followers of Christ is to give body, soul and spirit into the obedience of the Master; and to follow him is to walk in the light. When we walk alone, we are bound to stumble and grope, for so many of life’s problems are beyond our solution. When we walk alone, we are bound to take the wrong way, because we have no secure map of life. We need the heavenly wisdom to walk the earthly way. Those who have a sure guide and an accurate map are the ones who are bound to come in safety to their journey’s end. Jesus Christ is that guide; he alone possesses the map to life. To follow him is to walk in safety through life and afterwards to enter into glory.
THE LIGHT THAT PEOPLE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE
John 8:12–20 (contd)
WHEN Jesus made his claim to be the light of the world, the scribes and Pharisees reacted with hostility. That claim would sound even more astonishing to them than to us. To them it would sound like a claim – as indeed it was – to be the Messiah, and, even more, to do the work that only God could do. The word light was specially associated in Jewish thought and language with God. ‘The Lord is my light’ (Psalm 27:1). ‘The Lord will be your everlasting light’ (Isaiah 60:19). ‘By his light I walked through darkness’ (Job 29:3). ‘When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me’ (Micah 7:8). The Rabbis declared that the name of the Messiah was Light. When Jesus claimed to be the light of the world, he was making a claim than which none could possibly be higher.
The argument of this passage is difficult and complicated, but it involves three strands.
(1) The Jews first insisted that a statement such as Jesus made could not be regarded as accurate because it was backed by insufficient witness. It was, as they saw it, backed by his word alone; and it was Jewish law that any statement must be founded on the evidence of two witnesses before it could be regarded as true. ‘A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offence that may be committed. Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained’ (Deuteronomy 19:15).