Friday 17 July 2020

Psalm: Psalm 77

Background

Jesus continues to teach in the Temple whilst the Festival of Booths is taking place. Four large lamp stands in the Court of Women were lit for the festival and were said not just to provide enough light for the evening’s dancing but for the whole city.  Jesus, however, teaching in the treasury (verse 20), which was adjacent to the Court of Women, claims to provide light for the whole world. The 'I' in "I am” is expressed emphatically, as in a number of other key sayings in John’s Gospel. Light coming into the world to enlighten everyone was introduced as a theme in John 1:4 and 9, and the association of light with judgement has been presented to readers in John 3:19-21. Having here now clearly identified himself with the light for the world, Jesus will explore the theme more thoroughly in chapter 9 in connection to the healing of the man born blind and the debates that followed.

The Pharisees reject Jesus’s claim, because it was a clear principle of law that a single testimony could not establish truth (Deuteronomy 19:15), as Jesus himself had previously agreed (5:31). Here he eventually calls his Father as the second witness (verse 18), but first Jesus suggests it is unnecessary in his case. Recalling the discussion (7:41-42) about where he comes from, Jesus states his true origin and destiny as being with God. He is at one with God, and the testimony of God, by definition, cannot be externally validated by another.

“I judge no one” (v. 15) is not an absolute statement but means that he does not judge by their methods. As stated in John 5:30, Jesus does judge, but justly by God’s standards, as verse 16 now confirms.

The Pharisees’ actual or pretended misunderstanding of Jesus’s references to his Father proves that they do not know either Jesus or God.  For “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” you might compare John 14:7.“His hour had not yet come” (v. 20) repeats 7:30, and will continue in this Gospel as a principle governing Jesus’s decisions as well as an explanation of why intentions to arrest him are not successful.

To Ponder:

• “You judge by human standards” (v. 15). In what senses do you think humans judge in ways that are contrary to God’s judgements?
• Jesus is the light of the world. In what ways has his light had an impact on your life?
• Jesus’s “hour had not yet come” (v. 20). To what extent, if at all, do you believe that the things that happen in your life do so according to pre-set timing?