The Light of the World, the Father, and the Son of Man: John 8:12-59

This chapter has long confounded many who are believers in Yeshua. Not only that, but it has also caused a great deal of concern for modern Jewish people who look at this verse from the perspective that Yeshua condemns their Jewishness. Because this text is one of several that are a type of proof text for the Trinity, many modern Jewish people dismiss texts such as this, and the New Testament as a whole. Modern Jews also look at passages such as this and see what sounds like Yeshua rejecting the Torah and declaring Himself to be above the Torah. While neither of these arguments properly express what Yeshua is talking about, it is absolutely imperative to understand the Yeshua IS proclaiming to be Messiah. In Yeshua's declaration of Himself as Messiah, He also describes how Messiah is the Yod-He-Vav-He, or Adonai.

First, there is a textual concern that must be mentioned: Neither the Aramaic texts, such as Peshitta, nor the earliest Greek manuscripts contain John 7:53 through 8:11. For those who have the translated Aramaic English New Testament Bibles with commentary, you may want to read "The Woman of John 8" in the appendix. This is not the main idea here, though. What can be seen is that if one reads from John 7:52 and immediately then reads John 8:12, it can be seen that Yeshua directly responds to the criticism that no prophet could come out of Galilee. Yeshua responds with "I am the Light of the world."

In a very enlightening interview, there is a book by John Ronning called The Jewish Targums and John's Logos Theology. IN this book, Ronning discusses that the book of John was most likely written to the audience of non-believing Jews who used Targums as their primary source text. Ronning explains well what are the Targums, how Yeshua explains that He is Messiah using the concept of the Aramiac phrase "the Word of God." This phraseology signifies that God is the Word. Whatever Yeshua says about "the Word," this is a euphemism for God. Read http://blogs.christianbook.com/blogs/academic/2010/03/12/jewish-targums-johns-logos-theology-an-interview-with-john-ronning/ I believe you will learn something new not only about Jewish literature, but also the origin and audience of the book of John. His thesis is that the Greek term "logos," which is the word for "word" has a different connotation when considered from an Aramaic point of view. The Greek would have been the translation. But as you read the article, pay attention to the examples that he gives from John, then specific wordings that he finds interesting from the Torah. Ronning compares the translation John to the Targums. (The best way to explain the Targums is that they are themselves both translation and interpretations of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Aramaic. The Targums do not translate word-for-word, they translate concepts and stories in a modified way. What is interesting is that the Targums were written BEFORE Yeshua, so it helps us to understand some of the academic traditions of the 1^st Century scholars.) So when John was being written, his Scriptural text was more likely the Aramaic Targums and the Hebrew Torah rather than the Greek Septuagint. (Granted, all three say the same thing in different languages, but the vocabulary of John matches best the Targums.)

With this understanding, phrases and words in John can be better explained. First, there is the discussion of "the light of the world" in John 8:12. In John 7:2, we learned that Yeshua's brothers were heading to Jerusalem for "the feast of booths," otherwise called Sukkot. One term for Sukkot was "the festival of lights." The menorahs would have been lit and all throughout Jerusalem, people were camped in their sukkot and there would have been a great amount of light at night all throughout the city. In addition, we remember that Chanukah was also called "a festival of light." Remember, Chanukah was a late Sukkot, because once the Maccabees cleansed the Temple and began to make offerings, they reenacted the festival of Sukkot, just a couple months later. In the context of Sukkot, though, the "light of the world" refers to Israel's purpose to be a light to the nations. As just one example, we read in Isaiah 2:5, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD." In context, Isaiah 2:3
"…and many peoples shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Thus, the context for "the light" has something to do with being a light to the nations. That light also represents truth, which also fits this context.

In John 8:13-20, we see that the Pharisees and Yeshua were debating what constitutes an appropriate witness in Jewish court. (One must understand, they are not in court yet. At Yeshua's trial before His death, we see that the false witnesses stand in contrast to the two witnesses that Yeshua is discussing: Himself and His father.) The question about how Yeshua could be His own witness is very profound to the Pharisaical leaders. They did not understand how Yeshua could testify about Himself. They also did not understand how Yeshua was using the term "father." This is also confusing for us today as well. In this text, it is usually assumed that "father" refers to God. But if the Jews were God's chosen people, and these Pharisees were keeping the Torah, how then was it that they did not understand what He was talking about? Didn't they know the Father? In this passage, what Yeshua is talking about is the Torah. The witness of the Father comes through the Torah, and the Pharisees did not "know" this because they had turned the Torah into something different than the Word of God. Their Torah was legalistic rulings, often called "the Traditions." However, Yeshua was saying that if they had understood what was in Torah, than they would "know" Yeshua. In both cases, "knowing" is an experiential knowledge, not simply understanding of information. If the Pharisees understood Torah, than they would have seen that Yeshua was Messiah. In conclusion, Yeshua is a witness due to the signs and miracles that He has shown, specifically, the healing on the Sabbath miracles. "The Father" is a reference to God's Word, more specifically, the Torah. Only John do all of these terms mean the same thing.

In John 8:31-47, again there is a discussion about truth, God's Word, and the father. Again, what underlies the discussion is the Torah. However, Yeshua is also explaining something further about the Pharisee's teaching, namely that they were sinners. Yeshua explains that the only way to be free from sin is through belief in Him. He says this very plainly in 8:34-36. This was a surprise to the Pharisees because they believed that simply being a child of Abraham caused them to be free. They believed that their obedience to traditions was necessary, but their salvation was assumed. The nations had to be saved, but Abraham's descendents were covered. But Yeshua all throughout His teachings show that all man has sinned. (Paul had to explain this, too, in Romans 3:23.) It was profound to think that the Jews who were practicing their religious faith were sinners. Their teachings about salvation were superficial and were based upon ethnicity. Yeshua's message not only made them look bad in the eyes of the people, but His message also scared them a great deal, because He has removed their false security in their salvation. In John 8:42-44, Yeshua points out that the reason they do not understand what He is saying, which is in accordance with Torah, is because they do not hear the Torah. They are more interested in worldly status and outwardly religious expressions. Yeshua tells them that their father is the devil. So Yeshua's Father is the Torah and truth, their father is the deceiver and lies. In other words, they were guilty of using Torah for their own selfish purposes and lying about words of Torah to gain worldly status. They had reduced the meaning of Torah to nothing, which was the function of the devil, to lie, cheat, deceive, and murder.

Yeshua concludes this whole discussion in 8:58 by accepting the fact that He was greater than Abraham. He equates Himself with God, "before Abraham was born, Iam," which is clearly why in 8:59 they picked up stones to stone Him. Yeshua was explaining Torah throughout these passages. "The Word," "my Father," "the truth," "testify," and other words led people to understand that He was Messiah as described in Torah. But Torah must be properly understood in order to apply the use of this Scripture. Reading Torah/Bible is not enough. Having external actions that cause one to look religious does not lead to salvation. Only belief in Messiah as described in Torah leads to freedom. Many Jewish people understood what Yeshua was talking about. In 8:30, it says that "many came to believe in Him." Believing always comes from the heart, not from understanding. In order to believe, simply studying Torah is not enough. To understand Torah, knowing Yeshua as the Messiah is necessary. Otherwise, Torah becomes a way to lie and deceive others.