John 8:12-20 – A summary
- R. T. Tippett
- Jul 31, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 4, 2021
It is worthwhile to note that the Episcopal Lectionary does not schedule anything from John’s eighth chapter to be read aloud and/or preached. The Roman Catholic schedule includes reading John 8:12, on two occasions (one Lent, one after the Epiphany ordinary), with both paired with other Gospel readings. John 8:12 states: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” One can assume that the reason for this omission is someone has determined that nothing worth speaking about is contained within John’s eighth chapter (even though this is the only place where one finds Jesus saying, “I am the light of life.”) Certainly, that assumption would be erroneous. As I read and wrote what came to me (from a higher voice within) from John 8:12-20, I could see myself as Jesus, amid a world of disbelievers. Instead of Pharisees calling me a sinner, it is Christians. They see themselves as self-righteous. They see me as sacrilegious. Whereas a true Christian should welcome a fellow Christian with love, they reject me through ignorance [they ignore everything I write]. Whereas a true Christian should listen to what I have to say; and, if I were wrong in what I say, a true Christian should lead me to see where I was wrong, so I could see clearly enough to write the truth. However, the Christians I know treat me with less respect than did the Pharisees treat Jesus – as all Jews, regardless of sect affiliations. I had one man confront me (with my wife, his priest) by saying, “I cannot tell anyone I know what you say.” His reasoning was [I intuit], “No one else says what you say, so you must be wrong, or there would be someone to second your opinion.” That was the argument used by the Pharisees against Jesus. That man, just like the Pharisees could only see the flesh of Jesus, could only see measly old me as one man in the flesh, talking crazy talk. Thus, he, like them, could not see the source of my words as being the same as those spoken by Jesus, which was the Father.
