12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony 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. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Reflection Questions

John 8:12-13
• Reflect on Jesus’ words: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

• Do I agree with Jesus’ assessment that this world is in need of light?

• How has following Jesus led me out of darkness and into the “light of life”?

• If this is indeed who Jesus is, how does this affect how I view my life and approach my future?

John 8:23-28
• Reflect on the anguished heart with which Jesus would have spoken v. 24: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

• What about the cross (where Jesus was “lifted up”) causes people to know that Jesus is indeed the one he claimed to be (v. 28)?

• If Jesus is truly known only through the cross, how important is it for Christians to meditate on Jesus and his death on the cross?

John 8:29
• What are the reasons for Jesus’ confidence against all the opposition?