Again, therefore, Jesus spake to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world; he who is following me shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of the life.'John 8:12 Additional Translations
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleThen spake Jesus again unto them - Allowing the story about the woman taken in adultery to be authentic, and to stand here in its proper place, we may consider that our Lord, having begun to teach the people in the temple, was interrupted by the introduction of this woman by the scribes and Pharisees; and now, having dismissed them and the woman also, he resumes his discourse.
I am the light of the world - The fountain whence an intellectual light and spiritual understanding proceed: without me all is darkness, misery, and death. The Divine Being was, by the rabbins denominated, The light of the world. So in Bamidbar Rabba: "The Israelites said to God, O Lord of the universe, thou commandest us to light lamps to thee, yet thou art The Light of The World: and with thee the light dwelleth." Our Lord, therefore, assumes here a well known character of the Supreme Being; and with this we find the Jews were greatly offended.
Shall not walk in darkness - He shall be saved from ignorance, infidelity, and sin. If he follow me, become my disciple, and believe on my name, he shall have my Spirit to bear witness with his, that he is a child of God. He shall have the light of life - such a light as brings and supports life. The sun, the fountain of light, is also the fountain of life: by his vivifying influences, all things live - neither animal nor vegetative life could exist, were it not for his influence. Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, Malachi 4:2, is the fountain of all spiritual and eternal Life. His light brings life with it, and they who walk in his light live in his life. This sentiment is beautifully expressed and illustrated in the following inimitable verse (all monosyllables except one word) of that second Spenser, Phineas Fletcher. Speaking of the conversion of a soul to God, he says: -
"New Light new Love, new Love new Life hath bred;
A Life that lives by Love, and loves by Light:
A Love to him, to whom all Loves are wed;
A Light, to whom the sun is darkest night:
Eye's Light, heart's Love, soul's only Life he is:
Life, soul, love, heart, Light, eye, and all are his:
He eye, Light, heart, Love, soul; He all my joy and bliss."
Purple Island, Can. I. v. 7.
Some suppose our Lord alludes to the custom of lighting lamps or torches, on the first day of the feast of tabernacles. But as these words seem to have been spoken the day after that last and great day of the feast, mentioned John 7:37, they may rather be considered as referring to the following custom: It has already been observed, that the Jews added a ninth day to this feast, which day they termed, The feast of joy for the law; and on that day they were accustomed to take all the sacred books out of the chest where they had been deposited, and put a lighted candle in their place, in allusion to Proverbs 6:23 : For the commandment is a Lamp (or Candle) and the law is life: or to Psalm 119:105 : Thy word is a Lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path. If this custom existed in the time of our Lord, it is most likely that it is to it he here alludes; as it must have happened about the same time in which these words were spoken. See Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. xxi.
As the Messiah was frequently spoken of by the prophets under the emblem of light, see Isaiah 60:1; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 9:2, the Pharisees must at once perceive that he intended to recommend himself to the people as the Messiah, when he said, I am the light of the world.
The rabbins think that the Messiah is intended in Genesis 1:8, And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. "From this we may learn that the holy and blessed God saw the light of the Messiah and his works before the world was created; and reserved it for the Messiah, and his generation, under the throne of his glory. Satan said to the holy and blessed God, For whom dost thou reserve that light which is under the throne of thy glory? God answered: For him who shall subdue thee, and overwhelm thee with confusion. Satan rejoined, Lord of the universe, show that person to me! God said, Come and see him. When he saw him, he was greatly agitated, and fell upon his face, saying, Truly this is the Messiah, who shall cast me and idolaters into hell." Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 6. This is a very remarkable saying; and, as it might have existed in the time of our Lord, to it he might have alluded in the verse before us. The thing itself is true: the Messiah is the light of the world, and by him Satan's empire of idolatry is destroyed in the world, and the kingdom of light and life established. See several similar testimonies in Schoettgen.
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I am.
John 1:4-9 In him was life; and the life was the light of men...
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light...
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come on you...
Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death...
Isaiah 42:6,7 I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people...
Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel...
Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen on you...
Hosea 6:3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come to us as the rain...
Malachi 4:2 But to you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth...
Matthew 4:14-16 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying...
Luke 1:78,79 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us...
Luke 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
Acts 13:47 For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set you to be a light of the Gentiles...
Acts 26:23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light to the people...
shall not.
John 12:35,46 Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come on you...
Psalm 18:28 For you will light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Psalm 97:11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light?...
2 Peter 2:4,17 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness...
Jude 1:6,13 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation...
shall have.
John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.
Job 33:28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
Psalm 49:19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it...
John 8:12 Parallel Commentaries
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