life = the life. I.) "Calvin's Commentary on the Bible". BibliographyVincent, Marvin R. DD. But, having obtained mercy of the Lord, he now discerns the evil of such a life: he begins to see, that “to be thus carnallyminded is death:” and that there are objects infinitely nobler than those he has regarded, and more deserving his attention. Malachi 4:2. The appearance of a deliverer who could set him free from his plague, was the appearance of a Light. Now the world needs to recognise that One has come Who is that Light. The darkness that prevailed is justly styled by the prophet, “gross darkness.” The most learned philosophers could not absolutely determine whether there were a God; or, if there were, whether there were one or many. Because he enlightens the eyes of wise men by the traditions. Sinai in fire. 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." We ought not to fear, therefore, lest it leave us in the middle of the journey, for it conducts us even to life The genitive of life, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, is employed, instead of the adjective, to denote the effect; as if he had said, the life-giving light We need not wonder that such gross darkness of errors and superstitions prevails in the world, in which there are so few that have their eyes fixed on Christ. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/john-8.html. Even if the gorgeous illumination occurred on the second day only of the feast, yet an allusion to it would fall in with the people’s thought readily enough; the lamps were not yet removed, and in their near neighbourhood the Lord now spake.”. Such was the state of the whole Gentile world when He appeared, whom the prophecy announced as "a light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." Others take a different view, putting the discourses in John 8:12-20, and even that also in John 8:21 ff., on the day named in chap. BibliographyJamieson, Robert, D.D. God has said, and experience proves, that “there is no peace to the wicked.” Every man in his unregenerate state is in bondage to the fear of death, and more or less under the terrors of a guilty conscience. It must also be observed, that the power and office of illuminating is not confined to the personal presence of Christ; for though he is far removed from us with respect to his body, yet he daily sheds his light upon us, by the doctrine of the Gospel, and by the secret power of his Spirit. If anything significant of this kind had taken place, the Apostle would not have left us to guess about it. BibliographySimeon, Charles. ‘For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.’ How does the ‘life’ which Christ took become the ‘life’ of any particular believer; or, which is the same thing, of all believers connectedly, i.e. All Rightes Reserved, Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855. Around these the people danced with great rejoicing. He “opens the eyes of our understanding;” and “shines into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.” He not only causes “the day to dawn,” but is also “the Day-star arising in our hearts [Note: 2 Peter 1:19. "Commentary on John 8:12". Speaking then through the cloud of the flesh, the Light unfailing, the Light of wisdom says to men, I am the Light of the world. "Commentary on John 8:12". But we must first ascertain what necessity there is for seeking this light; for men will never present themselves to Christ to be illuminated, until they have known both that this world is darkness, and that they themselves are altogether blind. 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. Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. And these were in gross darkness before the coming of Christ, about the Divine Being, concerning the object, nature, and manner of worship; the Scriptures, the law, and Gospel; the Messiah, and his office and work; the Spirit of God, and his operations of grace; the resurrection of the dead, and a future state; now Christ came to be a light of the Gentiles, as well as the glory of his people Israel: our Lord seems to have respect to the prophecy of him, in Isaiah 42:6, as well as alludes to the sun in the firmament; whose light is diffused to all the nations of the earth, and not confined to one spot of land only: but since Christ was the minister of the circumcision, and was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, it may be asked, how could he be the light of the Gentiles? The issue of "I am the light of the world" here, is the "Ye shall die in your sins," in ver. John 7:14). "Commentary on John 8:12". In that case, it must have been mentioned expressly at the end of ver. "Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition)". BibliographyWhedon, Daniel. Comp. He who does not follow, does not trust. ( α) He declares Himself to be the Light, and appeals to the witness of the Father and of Himself (John 8:12-20).]. Begone, ye shades of night! CHRYS. Not λύχνος , a lamp, as John the Baptist (John 8:35). ‘It came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these.’ He is either a Stone of stumbling or a sure Foundation, a savour of life or of death, and which He is depends on ourselves. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/shh/john-8.html. "Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible ". While the feast lasted, and the remembrance of the ceremonies was fresh, the allusion would be perfectly natural. 8:3 And the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman taken in adultery; and having set her in the midst, 8… As long as the pillar was motionless, no man stirred. Why then is he called R. Nehorai? Darkness bears with it the ideas of ignorance, danger, and sin: light implies knowledge, guidance, safety, and holy purity (chap. for "the Sun of righteousness" hath Once again we shall find this mould, in which the truth shapes itself, in the ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles. This was in the Court of the Women, the most public part of the temple. Both the prominence given to His own personality, and the tremendous claims He advances for Himself, are hard to reconcile with any conception of His nature and work except one,-that there we see God manifest in the flesh. John 8:20. αὐτοῖς, unto them—those with whom in this series of events He commonly had to do, and with whom He deals, in ch. John 7:37; but against this is not only the πάλιν of John 8:12 and John 8:21, but the οὖν, which in both places bears an evident reference to some preceding historical observation. BibliographyScofield, C. I. The light of the world must needs be its Creator. 1917. Nay, at bottom, the light which is full of glory is therefore inaccessible, and the thick darkness in which He dwells is but the ‘glorious privacy’ of perfect light. "Commentary on John 8:12". The light of the world ( τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου ). II. "Commentary on John 8:12". "Dedignabitur salvare" says Augustin, "qui dignatus est creare?" References: John 8:12.—H. This expression also is in favour of the reference. John 8:28.) For though He gives His disciples the same title, they are only "light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8); and though He calls the Baptist "the burning and shining light" (or "lamp" of his day, Joh 5:35), yet "he was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light: that was THE TRUE Light which, coming into the world, lighteth every man" (Joh 1:8, 9). "Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament". They conceived that there were some beings superior to themselves; and them they called gods: but the characters they assigned to them, were such as would disgrace the lowest of the human race. (α)He declares Himself to be the Light, and appeals to the witness of the Father and of Himself (John 8:12-20).]. John 12:35; 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 1 John 1:5, etc.). 1974. For those who scorned the only Saviour, the darkness continued, and even increased more and more. ‘The glory’ had ceased from the house that now stood on Zion, and the light from between the cherubim. But the figure, corresponding as it essentially does with the thing signified, had been given long before, and was quite a familiar one in the prophetic view of the idea of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:1; Isaiah 42:6; Malachi 4:2). So as Christ is most aptly compared to light, and spoken of under that notion; as for his own innate glory, so for the communicativeness of himself to creatures; which latter appeareth to be chiefly here intended: for he saith, that he who followed him, believing his doctrine, and obeying his precepts, living according to his direction and his example, should not be at a loss how to guide himself, nor remain in the darkness of sin, ignorance, and spiritual death; but should have that light which bringeth life along with it, and is sufficient to guide a man in all the works of a spiritual life, and at last bring him to life eternal. BibliographyNicoll, William R. "Commentary on John 8:12". This teaching may have taken place on the day after the feast, which was also a day of great celebration. It is also strengthened by the unmistakable allusion in the previous chapter to another portion of the ceremonial of the Feast, where our Lord puts forth another of His great self-revelations and demands, in singular parallelism with that of our text, in the words, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.’ That refers to the custom during the Feast of drawing water from the fountain of Siloam, which was poured out on the altar, while the gathered multitude chanted the old strain of Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.’ It is to be remembered, too, in estimating the probability of our text belonging to these Temple-sayings at the Feast, that the section which separates it from them, and contains the story about the woman taken in adultery, is judged by the best critics to be out of place here, and is not found in the most valuable manuscripts. He is standing in the Treasury near to the court of the women (Note on John 8:20), where for the six nights last past there had been a great light, reminding those who could read its meaning of the greater light which illumined the footsteps of their fathers. "Commentary on John 8:12". You may bring these words against Nestorius: for our Lord does not say, In Me is the light of the world, but, I am the Light of the world: He who appeared man, was both the Son of God, and the Light of the world; not, as Nestorius fondly holds, the Son of God dwelling in a mere man. There is really no need to suppose any special suggesting cause, not even the reading of Isaiah 42; for though the Scriptures were read in the synagogues, we have no proof that they were read in the temple.