The Light of Resurrection

The Eschatology of John Part 18: John 8

Throughout the writings of John, light and resurrection are closely intertwined. As we saw in the introduction to these articles, light and life are two key terms, opposite death and darkness, that we need to watch out for if we are to better understand the eschatology of John.

In the texts today from chapter 8, we will see the connection between light, life, the world above, the Father’s presence, truth, and freedom.

A Word on the Exodus

In the Exodus, God blessed the people by sending bread from heaven (John 6), water from a Rock to nourish the people (John 7), and a Light to guide them by night (John 8). After Jesus introduces all three of these themes in his various encounters in John, he offers the people a new kind of freedom, a freedom rooted in the grace and truth that comes through him (John 1:17).

These Exodus motifs are important to track because the Exodus was all about resurrection. Any time the people returned to the land, they experienced a resurrection. In Ezekiel 37, Isaiah 25-28, Daniel 12, and Hosea 13, redemption is resurrection and resurrection is redemption.

So we shouldn’t be surprised when we see light and freedom discussed in the same context as eternal life. They all go hand in hand.

Never Walk in Darkness

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Eventually, we will study 1 John in our ongoing discussion of the eschatology of John. Since John begins his first letter with a few comments on walking in darkness versus walking in light, I think it makes sense to point out this connection for you here.

This passage is also a continuation of what was discussed in the “prologue” to the gospel:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. John 1:5

Jesus entered the darkness, but he was not of the darkness. Jesus entered the world, but he was not of the world.

This is the kind of life to which he is inviting his disciples.

Notice the strong idea here that they would “never” walk in darkness. How could Jesus make such a definitive statement? How could he be so sure? Doesn’t our weakness and sin and seemingly constant errors disprove Jesus’s assertion here?

I don’t think so. Because without Jesus revealing who God actually is, we would have a much different relationship with our weakness or brokenness. Paul describes this anxious way of living as a “body of death” in Romans 7.

But now that we know who God actually is, our weakness is not a cause for shame or self-abasement; instead, our weakness is perfected in Jesus’s strength. We know we are loved, we are precious, we are sought after, and that we are pleasing to God. In this way, we will never walk in darkness.

We can always know that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

I Am Going Away

Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” John 8:21

Where was Jesus going? Is he talking about his death? Is he talking about ministering to the gentiles? And why would they die in their sins? What’s going on here?

Jesus explains…well, sort of:

He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are from this world, I am not from this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” John 8:23–24

This passage ties a lot of themes together. Let’s start with “above” and “below.”

Above and Below

Back in John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be “born from above” if he wanted to enter the kingdom of God. In a later explanation of this, the narrator of John wrote,

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. John 3:31

Since “flesh and blood” cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, Nicodemus needed to experience a rebirth through the Spirit. He couldn’t depend on his heritage or his education to secure a place in the kingdom of God. He was of the earth, of the flesh, and he needed to be born from above, of the Spirit.

As long as Jesus’s audience thought in earthly or fleshly terms, they would remain in their sins, “the sin of the world” as John the Baptist called it in chapter 1. That is, they would look for Jesus, but they would look for him in all the wrong places: as someone who would create a new nation, as someone who would solve all of their physical needs through magical water and bread, and as someone who would rule with an iron first in a restored Davidic kingdom.

But if they would be born from above via the Spirit, they would believe in and follow Jesus wherever he would lead, even the cross.

Of the World, Not of the World

The distinction between above and below is no different than this next comparison: “of the world” and “not of the world.” This is a distinction that Jesus would later apply to his disciples in John 17. In John’s epistles, as well as Paul’s epistles, there is talk of “the form of this world passing away…”

Jesus is saying that they are part of something temporary, something that will fade away. And while God loves the world (John 3:16), there is a sense it which it has come under judgment (John 12:31). That is, a decision would need to be made. Would people hang on to the world below, or would they be reborn into a world above.

When Jesus spoke of above, below, and different relationships to the world, I don’t think he had in mind the physical creation. Even in Paul’s day, he saw all things that had been made by God as “good” (1 Timothy 4:4). Instead, we may think of these terms in a spiritual sense: is one living for the flesh or living for God? Is one continuing to prop up the barriers between Jew and Greek, bond and free, and male and female, or are they participating with Jesus in the rupturing of these differences in a reconciled family of God?

Will they share a bucket with the Samaritan woman? Will they associate with the sinners and publicans? Will they touch the lepers? Will they call women as disciples? Will they run to sit with eunuchs as they ride their chariots? Will they entertain angels?

Die in Your Sins

This part of the passage could be translated “for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I AM.” Could this be another reference to the Exodus? A lot of people seem to think so.

If the “I AM” part isn’t a reference to the Exodus, then the first part of the passage definitely is, for the people would have remembered how an entire generation “died in their sins” during the wilderness wanderings.

While the following interpretation isn’t precise, I think you’ll get the idea:

The people in the wilderness worshipped what was “below” and “of this world” when they made a golden calf out of the borrowed gold of the Egyptians. While Moses was “above” on the mountain receiving the Law which was “not of this world,” the people were committing the sin that would lead to their deaths in the wilderness.

The Truth Shall Make You Free

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31–32

”What is Truth?”

Well, in John 17:17, Jesus prayed that God would sanctify his disciples through truth because “Thy word is truth.”

I used to use these two passages to say something like “the only way you will be set free from your sins is if you come to a correct interpretation of the Bible, which is God’s word and truth.”

This sounds good if you’re really confident in your interpretation of the Bible like I was, but if you’ve had a dose of humility, then you may see how such an interpretation would mean that anyone who wishes to be sanctified and set free from sin and death would need to have the right resources, the right version of the Bible, high reading comprehension skills, and the ability to put it all together consistently.

Because of this, I used to only use “approved” resources and books, such as a Strong’s concordance and Thayer’s lexicon. I only read the approved Bible: the KJV (and maybe Young’s Literal Translation). And I prided myself on being a “Bible answer man.” I wanted to be able to answer any Bible question with such a high level of accuracy and confidence that my skills would be sought after by people all around the world.

Then I ran into Truth.

Again, I ask, “what is Truth?”

Truth isn’t a collection of letters, visions, histories, laws, and poems. Truth isn’t a single version of the Bible. Truth isn’t even a set of doctrinal propositions that are to be universally believed. Truth isn’t a particular eschatological framework.

The Truth is a person, Jesus.

In John 17:17, Jesus defines God’s Truth as God’s Word. Didn’t John tell us who, not what, that is in John 1:1-14? In John 14:6, Jesus plainly says that he is the Truth. Even in John 8, the passage we are in now, Jesus says, “…if the Son makes you free…” (John 8:36).

We’ve Never Been in Bondage?

They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” John 8:33

In Nell Irvin Painter’s book The History of White People, she points out how one of Britain’s patriotic songs boldly claims “Britons never shall be slaves” (p. 37). This declaration actually conceals a history in which Englishmen and women had been enslaved throughout the ages.

I get the same impression here in John 8:33. This assertion is beyond believable. I really can’t imagine why they would make such an empty declaration, unless this part of the conversation is supplied by John to make a theological point and not a literal historical account of the word-for-word conversation between Jesus and his disciples.

Regardless, their forgetfulness concerning their actual history pointed to a greater amnesia concerning their spiritual state: without the Truth, that is, without the Son, they had no way to really get to know the Father.

For those of us “raised in church,” do we sometimes think that we’ve never been in bondage to anyone?

Children of Abraham

Their claim to perpetual freedom stemmed from their ancestry. With Abraham as their ancestor, how could they have ever been enslaved? Despite the obvious contradictions here, let’s see how Jesus handles this objection.

Jesus starts by affirming their ancestry (John 8:36) Yet, unlike Abraham, they did not do what they had “heard from the Father” (John 8:38-39).

The people then backpedal and claim that the only Father they have is God (John 8:41). This statement is ironic because it was for this very claim that they sought to kill Jesus not long before this in John’s narrative (John 5:18).

Jesus handles this claim by pointing to their fruit: “If God were your Father, you would love me” (John 8:42). Instead, Jesus claims that there real Father is “the devil.”

Here’s why:

You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

This is super important. Please reread this slowly!

He was a murder from the beginning. Instead of bringing life, light, and truth “in the beginning” (John 1:1), the devil brought death, darkness, and lies. In Genesis 3, the original murder took place through the original lie. When Jesus comes and claims to be the Truth that sets one free, he is claiming to be the Truth that reveals the lie of the accuser and frees the people from death. He is the Light of the Resurrection.

This means that the people have the opportunity to receive a better life than that physical life of Abraham:

“Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” John 8:51

“Will never taste death…” How about that?

Yet, we die. Our cemeteries are full. Or are they? As Jesus had to explain to Martha (Mary?) in John 11, Jesus is the Resurrection. Those who are in him live even if they die because Jesus has redefined what it means to live and what it means to die. Jesus has transformed the way we view everything. He has set us free from the fear of death:

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. Hebrews 2:14–15