W E E K T H R E E

When 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.’ ~ John 8:12 ~

As you read John 7–8, take time to notice the characters, their responses and the themes you encounter. How does God treat people and whom does he accept?

Notice …

7:1 – 7:26

JOHN 7 – 8

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No-one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

6 Therefore Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.’ 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is he?’

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people.’ 13 But no-one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

Jesus teaches at the festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’

16 Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?’

20 ‘You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ‘Who is trying to kill you?’

21 Jesus said to them, ‘I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.’

Division over who Jesus is

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no-one will know where he is from.’

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.’

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, ‘When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?’

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, ‘I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’

35 The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, “You will look for me, but you will not find me,” and “Where I am, you cannot come”?’

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’

41 Others said, ‘He is the Messiah.’ Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him.

Unbelief of the Jewish leaders

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’

46 ‘No-one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied.

47 ‘You mean he has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. 48 ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law – there is a curse on them.’

50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’

52 They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’

8:1 – 8:20

8 53 Then they all went home, 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered round him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no-one condemned you?’

11 ‘No-one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’

Dispute over Jesus’ testimony

12 When 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.’

13 The Pharisees challenged him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’

14 Jesus 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. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no-one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.’

19 Then 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.’ 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no-one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

Dispute over who Jesus is

When 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.’

8:21 – 8:44

21 Once 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.’

22 This made the Jews ask, ‘Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, “Where I go, you cannot come”?’

23 But he continued, ‘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; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.’

25 ‘Who are you?’ they asked.

‘Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,’ Jesus replied. 26 ‘I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.’

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, ‘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 but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.’ 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

Dispute over whose children Jesus’ opponents are

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

33 They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’

34 Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it for ever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.’

39 ‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered.

‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.’

‘We are not illegitimate children,’ they protested. ‘The only Father we have is God himself.’

42 Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.’

Jesus’ claims about himself

48 The Jews answered him, ‘Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?’

49 ‘I am not possessed by a demon,’ said Jesus, ‘but I honour my Father and you dishonour me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.’

52 At this they exclaimed, ‘Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?’

54 Jesus replied, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’

57 ‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ they said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’

58 ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Jesus heals a man born blind

Her story

Charis: ‘My identity isn’t what happened to me’

‘I lived with lots of sunsets and sunrises, greenery and mountains, with lots of animals,’ says Charis, reflecting on her childhood in North India. The youngest of three siblings, she was raised by missionary parents in a liberal household where she was emotionally secure.

When Charis was just 14, her father passed away. Her mother became depressed and did not speak for a long time. Charis remembers the three children suddenly having to grow up. They had to parent their mother. She felt like an orphan. A few months after their father’s death, the family moved to South India to the city where her father hailed from.

The extended family came together for the father’s first death anniversary. The gathering included her father’s sister’s husband, to whom Charis had been very close. She was his favourite child. That favouritism had different hues though. Taking advantage of the presence of so many people in the house, this uncle sexually exploited Charis. Repeatedly. ‘As much as I knew about sex, I didn’t know … I thought it only happened to older people,’ recollects Charis. ‘I was frozen. I didn’t tell anyone; I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I believed that nobody would trust what I said, so I became silent. I would wait for night time, for the dark, to hide and cry.’ She continues, ‘I lost myself in books. I channelled all my anger into reading and writing.’

However, even though the uncle was away, his dark influence remained. He would send Charis explicit letters. Eventually she told her extended family what had happened. Her worst fears came true: nobody believed her. The uncle turned it on her, saying she had pursued him and that she was lying. Her mom was asked to leave the house. ‘It was better to have not told anyone,’ she says. She felt unloved, hated, rejected and that life wasn’t worth living. Her mom did not support her either. She said that she was in no position to take a stand for Charis. Over time, Charis became this ‘sick girl’ at home. She was sick, and hence the way she was. People told her to just overcome. They threw Scripture verses at her. ‘Read the Bible, and you will be OK,’ they said. Some said she had an evil spirit in her and that this would not have happened if she were walking with God, and that she was sinful. She was made to repent for what happened. Such experiences re-victimised and re-traumatised Charis over and over.

When another man, her mother’s cousin, attempted to rape her, she decided to move out of her home and to another city. She completed her studies there and started working. The process of writing and journalling helped in her journey from darkness into light. She finally decided that enough was enough. She would no longer hide. She would confront reality. She wouldn’t allow her experiences to define her. ‘My identity’, she says, ‘isn’t what happened to me.’ She started talking publicly about her experiences, which helped many women to accept and share their own abuse experiences.

But the abuse and trauma have left their mark on Charis. She became a very careful person, hyper-vigilant, and her boundaries were very strong and rigid. She suffered flashbacks and struggled with sexual intimacy in her marriage. She has difficulty trusting men. This is how she sums up her life’s journey: ‘I used to see myself as lonely, broken, shameful, not someone to be liked or loved. I doubted myself. But now, I feel strong. I can make decisions. I am more secure. This will not define me. I feel loved. God is not shocked, and he has given me the courage to stand, though some of the answers, I may never understand.’

Her hope is to restore others and to love them – no matter what – and to not judge them. Her message to women out there is, ‘It’s OK. It’s not your fault. It doesn’t define you. God’s plan for you doesn’t change, and he will fulfil his plan for you through Jesus.’

People told her to just overcome. They threw Scripture verses at her.

Her story

Why Would I Lie, Mama?

by Twyla David

I tried to say it, but I was too blue
I tried to hide it, but the pain only grew
I tried to tell you, but you didn’t understand
You couldn’t see beyond my feet full of sand.

I tried to explain, but the words were not sufficient
My face and expressions were not efficient
You were not listening, you were so distant
I needed you, your love and assistance.

With all the courage that I could muster
I saved my truth for you to hear
Everything was unclear,
Why didn’t you believe me, Mama dear?

My heart broke even more
When you asked me what clothes I wore?
I told you he closed the front door
Then you said, ‘Tell me more.’

I told about the pain I bore
That it was early morning, four.
But I could see how you tried to ignore
and asked me about my maths test score
That was the last time I saw the seashore.

Will my faith ever restore?
If you can trust me, I will soar high
I will travel, I will explore, I will fly
Don’t you trust the apple of your eye?
Tell me, why would I lie?

Reflect

Light that reveals, affirms and liberates

This claim by Jesus, when examined, begins to reveal many associated truths. For one thing, Jesus is making an exclusive claim. He is the light of the world. That is, there is no light apart from him. He is not one of the lights of the world, but the only one. So, while whoever follows him will have the light of life, there is no alternative source of light for those who choose not to follow him. It is either Jesus or darkness. The only hope to dispel darkness is the light that Jesus is.

What implications could this have for abused women? For example, how would this claim of Jesus speak to the darkness in the life of a person who has been abused and whose dignity violated?

His light is a revealing light. He probably says to her, ‘My child, even though the violence against you was wrought in the dark, my eyes see you because in me is the light that reveals every evil deed.’ He sees as clear as day the things the abused woman is afraid to utter to anyone, lest she face further abuse of a different kind from society.

His light is an affirming light. He dispels the distortions of darkness that tell her that she is to blame. In the account of the healing of the man born blind in John 9, blindness being a metaphor for darkness, Jesus makes the same claim: ‘While I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ (John 9:5). The disciples were busy trying to pin the blame for his blindness on either the blind man himself or his parents. But Jesus was intent on displaying God’s glory in his life by replacing the blind man’s darkness with light! After his encounter with Jesus, the blind man could not only see, but was brought to the true freedom of worshipping Jesus, the light of the world.

And so, his light is a liberating light.

We in the church today find ourselves hesitant to explore the darkness of the evil of abuse in our midst or in our neighbourhood – is that really our business?

Often, we in the church today find ourselves hesitant to explore the darkness of the evil of abuse in our midst or in our neighbourhood – is that really our business? Or maybe we are too preoccupied with pinning blame where it doesn’t belong, as the disciples did. Or we may feel paralysed by the complexity of the problem and, in some cases, it costs too much to get involved. Jesus invites us to be bearers of his light that will dispel such darkness. The words of Paul to ‘put on the armour of light’ (Romans 13:12) resonate in this context as a call to repel the distortions of disabling blame and shame, and to affirm the preciousness of each person who is perhaps suffering alone. He challenges us to confront the subtle darkness of counterfeit well-being that attempts to replace Jesus as the only source of light. He empowers us to draw together in worship of him, who alone is the mighty deliverer, the light of the world.

Engage

How does God treat people and whom does he accept?

  1. Identify

a) Look at the painting Rise, Beloved on page 22. Where is your eye drawn to first?

b) In ‘Her Story’, how did Charis’ community respond when she tried to tell them about her trauma?

c) In the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), how did Jesus’ words and actions reveal, affirm and liberate her?

  1. Interpret

What kinds of darkness have you experienced in your life? How have you known the light of Christ in your darkness?

  1. Involve

a) What might keep people from acknowledging the dark realities of abuse?

b) When someone comes to you and tells you their story of trauma, how might you respond?

  1. Intercede

a) As you’ve engaged with this week’s portion, are there any compelling questions you are wrestling with?

b) How could you turn them into a conversation with God? meone comes to you and tells you their story of trauma, how might you