Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I myself may testify concerning myself, my testimony is true, in that I discern from where I have come and to where I am going away. In fact you have not discerned from where I have come or to where I am going away."
Jesus’ maintains that his statement ‘I am the light of the world’ is true – because he knows from where he has come and to where he is going. Is there a suggestion here that those who listen to Jesus may themselves not know where they’ve come from or where they’re going? Are his hearers in darkness, in particular, each about the origin and destiny of his or her “me”? As well as about the origin and destiny of Jesus?
“You judge with reference to the flesh; I myself am judging no-one."
What is it ‘to judge with respect to the flesh’? Is my judgment skewed through my propensity to veer towards what is good for me personally – that is, towards my comfort?
What then is it like ‘to judge no-one’? Have you noticed how much judging there is today? The newspapers are full of folk judging (and condemning) one another, individually or in groups. Jesus didn’t judge the woman in John24.
"And in fact even if I may judge, my judgment is true, in that I am not alone, but I and the Father having sent me. And in fact in your own law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I myself am the one testifying concerning myself, and the Father having sent me testifies concerning me.”
If Jesus were to judge (one day?) his judgment would be the truth. He explains why that is so. I’m fully persuaded that ‘the truth’ eludes us all as human beings. That doesn’t stop our unending judgment of others.
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