The Stubborn Rebellion of the Willfully Blind

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true.  I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come

The first occasion I had to really ponder this phrase of willful blindness was in my own legal circumstances. According to Wikipedia: Willful blindness is a term used in law to describe a situation in which a person seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally keeping himself or herself unaware of facts that would render him or her liable or implicated. In United States v. Jewell, the court held that proof of willful ignorance satisfied the requirement of knowledge as to criminal possession and importation of drugs. I thought it was interesting what followed: Although the term was originally—and still is—used in legal contexts, the phrase “willful ignorance” has come to mean a situation in which people intentionally turn their attention away from an ethical problem that is believed to be important by those using the phrase (for instance, because the problem is too disturbing for people to want it dominating their thoughts, or from the knowledge that solving the problem would require extensive effort).

The same judge who informed the parties behind closed doors that our case “would not be about religion, because religion is not relevant,” also, for whatever reason, did not give the jury a willful blindness instruction for their deliberations regarding our case. Looking back, I find this ironic and strangely prophetic (for lack of a better word). The passage above shows us a great example of true willful blindness. As believers, you and I do not have blind faith. We are eyewitnesses because our eyes have been opened to see the Light of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We witness and testify to the truth every single day!

The context of our passage is the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. The lighting of the lamps were to remind the people in the temple of how the Lord led His people out of Egypt by a pillar of cloud by day and, specifically, a pillar of fire by night so that they were able to continue to travel by day or by night (darkness). Taking the occasion to point to His deity, Jesus exclaims, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” The hair on the back of the Pharisees goes up immediately! Their first reaction is to try and divert the subject by using Jesus’ own words against Him. Back in John 5:31-32, Jesus says, If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true (admissible as legal evidence). There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. A principle for establishing truthfulness on the basis of two or more witnesses was found first in verses like Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15. Jesus’ miracles testified to who He was, as did the witness of John the Baptist, and the Father. The purpose of the book of John was written for this purpose (John 21:24-25). So, now the Pharisees want to twist His words and try to use them against Him. They say, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” The fact was that there had been many witnesses to establish the truth that Jesus spoke, but they chose not to believe it, so they would put up any argument they could think of to divert the real issue at hand. That issue was, what are you going to do with Jesus who is God?

Jesus’ answer is brilliant! Ignoring their baseless argument, He continues to give testimony as to why His witness is true. He says, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true…” “for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.” He can say that He is the Light of the world and that he who follows Him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life because He knows where He came from and where He is going. They cannot refute that testimony because they don’t know where He came from or where He is going, even though they should. The Pharisees are spiritually blind and can only see things from an earthly perspective, so they can only understand Jesus’ words in that way.

Jesus knows where He is going. Just as God, through Moses, led the children of Israel out of Egypt on their journey to the Promised Land, Jesus is the only one who can lead us out of our slavery from sin and the world. He alone knows how to get us to the eternal destination of the kingdom of heaven. In another “I am” statement, Jesus will testify in John 14:6 that He is “the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” He knows the way to heaven because that is where He came from. In 8:42 Jesus says He had proceeded forth and had come from God because God sent Him. In the face of all that Jesus experienced in this life, He kept this perspective found in John 13:3—He came from the Father and was going back to the Father. (Also see, John 16:28) Jesus tells the Pharisees, basically, that they cannot judge what is true and not true regarding Him because they know nothing about Him. Without solid evidence they could see with their eyes, they could not make an accurate ruling. Their judgment was baseless. Jesus says, “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.” They couldn’t judge the truth of Jesus’ words because they had no eyes to see the truth. They were judging Him purely from their fleshly lusts of envy, hatred, and pride.

Jesus goes on to say: “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” Jesus says that He has two witnesses—Himself and the Father. (See John 5:37-38 and 1 John 5:9) Jesus is telling these who profess to be the representatives of God on earth, that they do not even believe the Father’s testimony regarding Him. If they knew their Scriptures as they tried to get people to believe they did, they would know that Jesus only did the will of the Father. (See John 5:30) The hearts of the Father and Son beat as one! I love the subtle reference to the fact that it is in their own law where it is written that the testimony of two men is true.

Interestingly, they do not ask, “Who is your Father?” They ask, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus takes the argument right back to the heart of the matter by answering the question He knew they were deliberately not asking. He says, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” The real problem is that they did not know God.

If any words Jesus could have spoke would have roused their anger to a fervent rage, it would have been for Jesus to accuse them in front of the people of not knowing God. These were the blind leaders of Israel professing to lead the people of God to their heavenly destination. In all reality, they were willfully blind guides and hypocrites—titles Jesus lambasted them with in Matthew 23. In the name of God, they were only leading people to hell.

This portion of the text ends with a clear statement on God’s providential timing and sovereign control. These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

As we testify to the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will encounter people who have been part of religious systems their whole lives who choose to follow blind guides who lead them to hell rather than the Light of the World who can lead them to heaven. The Pharisees were the deceivers—false teachers pointing people to heaven, when they, in fact, weren’t going there themselves. The deceived may have believed their lies for so long that they have become willfully blind as well. Unless the Lord opens their eyes to see the truth, they will continue to walk in darkness. When their stubborn, rebellious arguments are thrown up as roadblocks masking their hard hearts, we must focus on one question: Who is Jesus? Ours is not a blind faith. We believe His testimony is true. Our confidence, as believers, is that we know and follow the one who knew where He came from and where He was going. And we know where He is right now.