I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me. (John 8:18 NAS95)
Jesus made an outlandish claim, at least for the Jews of His day. The Pharisees immediately took issue with His assertion to be the Light of the world. In a nice way, these leaders called Him a liar by challenging the veracity of what Jesus said. Jesus could see both their hearts and the presence of Someone else: His Father. In fact, Jesus stated, in accordance with the Law, two Persons do testify to the truth of His statement, “I am the Light of the world.” Jesus treated His Father as really present in that moment and as really speaking, testifying to those engaged in the conversation. Jesus said His Father “testifies,” right now, in their midst, present tense. His language has poignance and clarity.
Jesus refers to Himself as the Light of the world, and I can’t help but wonder if part of being the Light includes His deep sense of God’s presence with Him. A deeps sense, a real awareness, a trained attentiveness to God’s love, activity and interaction in every passing moment that Jesus wants us to enter as well. It even appears, while the Pharisees rejected it, Jesus assumed they could not deny His Father’s testifying to them — after all, that probably formed the reason for their challenge, to push away the truth they so desired to deny by calling Jesus a liar. Yet the Father, in love, still desired to draw them to His Son, so He testifies. The Light of Jesus shows us a loving Companion continually present to us, One Who interacts and with Whom He interacted as just as visible as those He saw. Jesus as the Light shows us God’s loving interaction companions us wherever we go, just as it did with Him.
For Reflection:
“As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever.” (Psalms 41:12 NAS95)
- What happens when you take time to notice God’s presence to you?
- What would help you grow in your attentiveness to God’s presence to you throughout your day?
