John 8:12–30

Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father

¹²Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.” 

¹³The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.” 

¹⁴Jesus replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. ¹⁵You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. ¹⁶Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. ¹⁷Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.” 

¹⁹The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?” 

Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 

²⁰Jesus spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come. 

²¹Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me. But you will die because of your sin. You can’t go where I’m going.” 

²²Then the Jews asked, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?” 

²³Jesus said to them, “You’re from below. I’m from above. You’re from this world. I’m not from this world. ²⁴For this reason I told you that you’ll die because of your sins. If you don’t believe that I am the one, you’ll die because of your sins.” 

²⁵The Jews asked him, “Who did you say you are?” 

Jesus told them, “I am who I said I was from the beginning. ²⁶I have a lot I could say about you and a lot I could condemn you for. But the one who sent me is true. So I tell the world exactly what he has told me.” ²⁷(The Jews didn’t know that he was talking to them about the Father.) 

²⁸So Jesus told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you’ll know that I am the one and that I can’t do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me. ²⁹Besides, the one who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me by myself. I always do what pleases him.” 

³⁰As Jesus was saying this, many people believed in him.