I Am the Light of the World

12 ^lAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^m“I am the light of the world. Whoever ⁿfollows me will not ^owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

13 So the Pharisees said to him, ^p“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^qmy testimony is true, for I know ^rwhere I came from and ^swhere I am going, but ^tyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 ^uYou judge according to the flesh; ^vI judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, ^wmy judgment is true, for ^xit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father¹ who sent me. 17 ^yIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^zthe Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^a“You know neither me nor my Father. ^bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in ^cthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^dno one arrested him, because ^ehis hour had not yet come.

21 So he said to them again, ^f“I am going away, and ^gyou will seek me, and ^hyou will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, ⁱ“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, ^j“You are from below; I am from above. ^kYou are of this world; ^lI am not of this world. 24 I told you that you ^mwould die in your sins, for ⁿunless you believe that ^oI am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, ^p“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^qhe who sent me is true, and I declare ^rto the world ^swhat I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that ^the had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^ulifted up the Son of Man, ^vthen you will know that ^wI am he, and that ^xI do nothing on my own authority, but ^yspeak just as the Father taught me. 29 And ^zhe who sent me is with me. ^zHe has not left me alone, for ^aI always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, ^bmany believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^c“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will ^dknow the truth, and the truth ^ewill set you free.” 33 They answered him, ^f“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^geveryone who practices sin is a slave² to sin. 35 ^hThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ⁱthe son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^jyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 ^kI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^lfrom your father.”