John 8:12-30
The Validity of Jesus' Testimony
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
13The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
14Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."
19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"
"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
21Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."
22This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"
23But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,[a] you will indeed die in your sins."
25"Who are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. 26"I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."
27They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." 30Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
The central part, and most important part of Jesus' life was the Father...Jesus lived for the Father...He follows God's will...Jesus teaches for God, His Father...Now Jesus (here in John) claims to be the unique Son of God...Now He explains one of the reasons, God is central to Him and why He lives and follows, and teaches for the Father...This is easy to understand from Jesus point of view that He is from the Father...But from man's point of view, He will get questioned...
The Pharisees challenged Him...Then He tells them who He is...The Pharisees find His statements hard to believe...The Law of Moses requires to witnesses...Jesus tells them He is one witness and the Father, who sent Him, is the other One (witness)...
Jesus says "where I go you cannot come"...Then He adds "you are from below, and I am from above...You are from this world; I am not of this world...I told you that you would die in your sins; if you did not believe that I am the One I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins"...The people ask, "Who are you, who is this man???...
Jesus proceeds to tell the people that when He is lifted up on the cross, then they will know who He is...He tells us when He is on the cross and dies on the cross, then we will know He is the One He claims to be and that on His own He does nothing...He just does what the Father has taught Him...The One who sent Him, is with Him...He has not been left alone, for I always do what pleases Him...
In these verses, we must believe Jesus is divine...No man can predict the future...Jesus tells us that He will be lifted up...He might mean that when He is lifted on the cross and later will be ascended to heaven by God...After He is lifted up then we can make a decision on who He is...He does nothing on His own...Jesus only does God's will...Unlike man, whom God has given free will, we do what we want...God could have made us more robotic and more loving and less evil, but He gave us so much free will...And even though God gives Jesus as much free will as any man, Jesus chooses to do nothing...Jesus will do only the things that God wants Him to do and what He has been taught by the Father...God's pure love has given and allows man to do almost anything he wants do on earth...We read and see this suffering everyday in our headlines...We read about terrible things happening in our headlines, and wonder why God has allowed so much free will...Jesus uses His free will only to do what He has been taught...Jesus tells us God is with Him, He does not leave Him alone, and He will do only what the Father pleases Him...Man given free will cannot control himself, and at times causes suffering and heartache...Jesus shows us that free will can be all good, if and only if, we do what is the will of God...
The Father's love is so great, that instead of making us more like Him we are allowed to make choices...We can choose to be more like Him...It is like the father on earth who loves his children...His love allows them to go out and succeed or fail...When we love our family and children we must allow this, unfettered love to happen...After we teach them and they are given a foundation, life is theirs...It is like the young bird, whose time now has come they must leave the nest...The Father could make every bird strong and perfect, and they all could fly away, far out of their nests...But each spring I see young birds who have fallen not far from the nest and has tried and failed...Our children must try this also...God's pure love allows for mistakes, failures, and sufferings...Yet it allows for wisdom, successes, and good health... Also, we are given a chance to learn of His great love...His great LOVE is much more than ours, but this is as good as analogy...While I believe man can give his entire love to family and friends, God is different...God is love...His love has to be filtered...We can receive only a small portion, a small slice...Jesus claims here in John, is one of those slices of our Father's love...
Jesus is the Light of this world...If we follow Him and know Him, we will know the Father better...The One and Only Son of God, like the one and only sun we have in the sky, would be the light of this world...He is the light of life...