God’s Guiding Word: Love
Introduction
John 8:12–30: In the debate between Jesus and his opponents, Jesus is questioned about who his father is, and he draws upon the Divine Name, “I Am Who I Am” to define his connection to God, his Father. John’s Gospel includes seven of Jesus’s “I Am” sayings (6:35, 48; 8:12; 9:5; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:5), and today’s reading begins with one of them.
Scripture Reading
12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”
13 The Pharisees said to him, “Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.”
14 “No,” Jesus answered, “even though I do testify on my own behalf, what I say is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You make judgments in a purely human way; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I were to do so, my judgment would be true, because I am not alone in this; the Father who sent me is with me. 17 It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.”
19 “Where is your father?” they asked him.
“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
20 Jesus said all this as he taught in the Temple, in the room where the offering boxes were placed. And no one arrested him, because his hour had not come.
21 Again Jesus said to them, “I will go away; you will look for me, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I am going.”
22 So the Jewish authorities said, “He says that we cannot go where he is going. Does this mean that he will kill himself?”
23 Jesus answered, “You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that ‘I Am Who I Am’.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked him.
Jesus answered, “What I have told you from the very beginning. 26 I have much to say about you, much to condemn you for. The one who sent me, however, is truthful, and I tell the world only what I have heard from him.”
27 They did not understand that Jesus was talking to them about the Father. 28 So he said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that ‘I Am Who I Am’; then you will know that I do nothing on my own authority, but I say only what the Father has instructed me to say. 29 And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”
30 Many who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.
Today’s Key Verse: John 8:12b
“I am the light of the world,” [Jesus] said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”
Reflect
Reread verse 12. What does it mean to you to “have the light of life” by following Jesus? How does Jesus respond when he is asked about his father (verse 19)? Jesus draws upon God’s Divine Name in his confrontation with the religious leaders. Reread verses 27–29. What does Jesus say to the Jewish authorities about his relationship with God?
Pray
Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world, and I have the light of life because I choose to follow you. You have revealed God’s love to me and made me a child of God. Teach me to live in the light of your love and to reflect your love in my daily encounters with others. Amen.
Tomorrow’s Reading
John 8:31–59: Jesus’s opponents accuse him of having a demon in him.