Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
During His morning teaching in the temple as the Light of the world at the Feast of Tabernacles, He challenged the hostile leaders who had watched Him closely for years to convict Him of sin, knowing they would find nothing to condemn. He joined His sinlessness to His truthfulness received from God as the reason they should believe Him. From birth to the cross He remained spotless and pure, fully keeping the holy precepts of the law while clothed with humanity and tempted in all points as men are tempted, yet without sin in thought, word, or deed. That lifelong perfection, above both fallen and unfallen man, qualified Him alone to offer Himself without spot as Sin-bearer and Sin-pardoner to satisfy the law and ransom fallen man, and to stand as example and Teacher proving that obedience is possible. Their refusal to believe despite His works and the Spirit's convicting influence showed truth was unpalatable to them and that they did not hear God because they were not of God.
Setting and Challenge
The saying belongs to the morning discourse in the court of the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles, when He declared Himself the light of the world. After the evening sacrifice two lofty standards bearing great lamps had been kindled to light Jerusalem, in commemoration of the pillar of light that guided Israel in the desert and in hope of the Messiah's coming to shed His light upon Israel. As the sun rose above the Mount of Olives with dazzling brightness upon the marble palaces and the gold of the temple walls, He pointed to it to declare Himself the source of spiritual light who illumines the darkness of the world. It stands within His self-revelation as the Light of Life in John 8:12-59, joined to the healing in John 9 that shows that light in action.
There He challenged the Pharisees, scribes, and enemies who watched Him closely to convict Him of sin. They had searched His character for three years and wanted to accuse and kill Him, yet could find nothing for which to condemn Him. He spoke with authority and power, knowing they would find nothing to accuse Him of, for His life from beginning to close of ministry was blameless in self-denial and going about doing good, with no sin appearing and no selfishness marring word or act. He lived God's law and always did what pleased the Father, so His words were without fault, free from envy, worldly ambition, pride, or selfishness, a fact confirmed when Pilate found no fault in Him. He spoke truth fearlessly despite misrepresentation, opposition, malice, and falsehood, and because enemies could sustain no genuine charge of lawbreaking they resorted to a false charge.
In the same breath He asked why they did not believe Him if He told the truth given Him by God, presenting His sinlessness and truthfulness as reasons to believe. His opponents watched for grounds to condemn Him but could find none, yet refused to believe when He spoke the truth. Their rejection of the truth and desire to kill Him showed they were not following Abraham's example nor living as God's children, and by rejecting God's words they showed they were not of God. Their unbelief did not come from lack of evidence, for His works and the Spirit's convicting influence had given sufficient reason to recognize His divine nature, but they turned from the light and resisted the Holy Spirit, so that more evidence would only have hardened their unbelief. The same challenge therefore supports proclaiming truth with earnestness and assurance even amid opposition.
Sinless Life Demonstrated
He was personally spotless and perfect at every time in His life, pure from His birth as an infant in Bethlehem through His whole life of humiliation and suffering until He hung on the cross of Calvary and cried It is finished. From the beginning to the close of His earthly ministry He went about doing good, with no sin appearing in His life and no selfishness marring His word or act. His blameless life was marked by self-denial, and His challenge to His enemies and to the Pharisees to convict Him of sin was made knowing they had no charge to bring and would find nothing of which to accuse Him.
His life fully kept the law's holy precepts, for He lived God's law and always did what pleased the Father, magnifying and honoring the law as its living representative. Though His opponents searched for a fault that could condemn Him, they could find no sin or transgression or violation to prove against Him, including of the Sabbath. Instead of showing that He had broken the law they accused Him of being born in sin, and His words were without fault. His sinlessness is also confirmed by Pilate, who found no fault in Him, and those who still accuse Him of breaking the law align themselves with those who accused Him and then resorted to false witnesses because they could not sustain the charge.
He came in human nature with divinity clothed with humanity, becoming subject to the law and bearing human sickness, sorrow, and guilt without becoming a sinner. Tempted in all points as man is tempted, yet without sin, He lived the law that represents God's character and kept His Father's commandments. He knew nothing of sin by actual experience, standing before the world and before the Pharisees as the pure, uncontaminated, spotless Lamb of God. In the health of perfect manhood He identified Himself as one afflicted with suffering humanity in order to express His perfect love for humanity.
He was wholly without sin, with no evil in thought, word, or deed, no deceit on the tongue, and no unholy thought ever polluting the heart. Those watching Him closely could find nothing for which to condemn Him, including envy, worldly ambition, pride, or selfishness. Never a word of prevarication or untruth passed His lips, and Satan watching for the first departure from heaven's law could find no inconsistency between His teaching and His daily life. No one could convict Him of sin because His example was perfect with not one inconsistent act.
In His life on earth He developed a perfect character by perfect obedience to His Father's commandments, living as a man in perfect obedience to God with a pure, virtuous, and holy character. As the living representation, embodiment, and head of humanity under the holy law He could stand before a nation of witnesses with this challenge because He was without sin, in perfect obedience to every requirement of truth. Truth never languished on His lips and never suffered in His hands, and every precept He taught was an exposition of His own life. He was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and the mighty principles of truth fell from His lips with the freshness of a new revelation, spoken with an earnestness proportionate to its infinite importance and to the momentous results depending on its success. His perfect obedience meant that truth never failed in His words or actions.
The challenge holds true even as He died on the cross as a criminal, the Holy Sin-bearer, the Just dying for the unjust, offering Himself without spot to God. Hanging on the tree, mocked and abused without retaliation against His persecutors, He could still issue the challenge to the priests, scribes, rulers, and the whole host of Satan and his angels to convict Him of sin, and He could challenge angels and men. No one there amid taunts and revilings could convict Him of any sin, for His agony came from bearing the punishment due to transgression, though He Himself was sinless. His restraint in not sealing the lips of scoffers, paralyzing the hand that struck Him, or flashing righteous indignation on the mocking soldiers who forced a crown of thorns on Him was a marvel and mystery to angels.
Significance and Response
No other man who ever walked the earth could have issued this challenge, for His character alone was noble, spotless, perfect and undefiled. He stood in the express image of the Father, in the form of God and equal with God, of superior value above fallen man and even above unfallen man. He was personally spotless and perfect at every time in His life, pure from birth as an infant in Bethlehem through a whole life of humiliation and suffering until He hung on the cross of Calvary crying It is finished. That lifelong sinlessness and divine perfection qualified Him to be at once Sin-bearer, Sin-pardoner, and sin-burdened, sin-stained Surety, bearing the sins of others and not His own and offering Himself without spot to God. His voluntary life was therefore a sacrifice of sufficient value to satisfy the claims of God's perfect law, to atone for human sin, to ransom fallen man, and to rescue, elevate and restore him to his first estate.
Living as a man in perfect obedience He kept the law of God in humanity, lifting the guilt of sin from sinners while Himself standing under the condemnation of the Lawgiver. His pure, holy and virtuous character, with never a word of prevarication or untruth and no inconsistency between teaching and daily life, proved false Satan's charge that man cannot keep the law of God and removed Satan's excuse, the probation granted to the race proving Satan a liar. It revealed to the heavenly universe, to unfallen worlds and to sinful men that God has made every provision, so that through imputed righteousness received by faith all who receive Him can show loyalty by keeping the law, become partakers of the divine nature, be made righteous, have God's moral image restored, and receive complete salvation and everlasting life. He came not only as sacrifice for sin but as example, Teacher, educator and plain pattern to copy, educating by words and showing by practice in lifelong obedience how to obey God, fulfilling all the claims of the law and defeating efforts to make truth void and the law an imperfect bondage. In Him the world sees what man may and can be, for He did not love sin but loved the sinner, coming to reveal God's love while truth as His authority gave force to His requirements, commandments and reproofs.
His record is true and His judgment true because He knows whence He came and whither He goes and the Father is with Him, yet when He spoke truth given Him by God the Pharisees refused to believe Him. Their rejection and desire to kill Him showed they were not following Abraham's example, were not living as God's children, were not connected with God, and did not recognize God's voice in His Son. They could not understand His speech and could not hear His word because truth was unpalatable to them, they misinterpreted Him, turned from light, and resisted sufficient evidence from His works and the Spirit's convicting influence to recognize His divine nature. Their refusal proved they did not hear God because they were not of God but were of their father the devil who abode not in the truth, and more evidence would only have hardened such unbelief.
The whole chapter gives this lesson to His followers, who will meet in their own lives just such rejection as Jesus met. Such darkness does not come from God, for God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, but comes as shade comes by obstruction between the soul and God. The same blindness continues now, where people lack the Spirit of God to take in what should be said and need a view of God's infinite majesty and holiness to feel deficiency of spiritual understanding, needing plain, direct, decided testimony in institutions just as in Christ's day. Stirred by Satan, unbelieving Jews regarded His words and works as of satanic origin, treating the word of God as the word of the enemy, and the same spirit is repeated in all who in this day of probation close eyes to light and ears to evidence, calling God's heaven-sent messages of warning faultfinding and accusing and shutting the door of the heart so that whatever God sends cannot be received.
His life left enemies unable to prove any charge, so He spoke truth fearlessly despite misrepresentation, opposition, malice and falsehood, and His enemies, unable to sustain a charge of lawbreaking, resorted to a false charge by false witnesses. His sinlessness and truthfulness are therefore reasons to believe, and the verse supports proclaiming truth with earnestness and assurance even amid opposition. Those who still accuse Him of breaking the law align themselves with those accusers. Even as He hung on the cross mocked and abused He did not retaliate, and the guilt of those in highest places who betrayed sacred light and sacred responsibilities was greater than that of Pilate, Herod and the soldiers who acted in ignorance without the light given to the nation.
The verse also sets the standard of purity for one retiring from responsibility as a judge. It means being able to challenge any accuser and prove freedom from turning aside from righteousness to accept bribes and from staining the record as one who does judgment and justice. Few retiring judges can say it, as Samuel said it when taking leave of Israel.
During His morning teaching in the temple as the Light of the world at the Feast of Tabernacles, He challenged the hostile leaders who had watched Him closely for years to convict Him of sin, knowing they would find nothing to condemn. He joined His sinlessness to His truthfulness received from God as the reason they should believe Him. From birth to the cross He remained spotless and pure, fully keeping the holy precepts of the law while clothed with humanity and tempted in all points as men are tempted, yet without sin in thought, word, or deed. That lifelong perfection, above both fallen and unfallen man, qualified Him alone to offer Himself without spot as Sin-bearer and Sin-pardoner to satisfy the law and ransom fallen man, and to stand as example and Teacher proving that obedience is possible. Their refusal to believe despite His works and the Spirit's convicting influence showed truth was unpalatable to them and that they did not hear God because they were not of God.
Setting and Challenge
The saying belongs to the morning discourse in the court of the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles, when He declared Himself the light of the world. After the evening sacrifice two lofty standards bearing great lamps had been kindled to light Jerusalem, in commemoration of the pillar of light that guided Israel in the desert and in hope of the Messiah's coming to shed His light upon Israel. As the sun rose above the Mount of Olives with dazzling brightness upon the marble palaces and the gold of the temple walls, He pointed to it to declare Himself the source of spiritual light who illumines the darkness of the world. It stands within His self-revelation as the Light of Life in John 8:12-59, joined to the healing in John 9 that shows that light in action.
There He challenged the Pharisees, scribes, and enemies who watched Him closely to convict Him of sin. They had searched His character for three years and wanted to accuse and kill Him, yet could find nothing for which to condemn Him. He spoke with authority and power, knowing they would find nothing to accuse Him of, for His life from beginning to close of ministry was blameless in self-denial and going about doing good, with no sin appearing and no selfishness marring word or act. He lived God's law and always did what pleased the Father, so His words were without fault, free from envy, worldly ambition, pride, or selfishness, a fact confirmed when Pilate found no fault in Him. He spoke truth fearlessly despite misrepresentation, opposition, malice, and falsehood, and because enemies could sustain no genuine charge of lawbreaking they resorted to a false charge.
In the same breath He asked why they did not believe Him if He told the truth given Him by God, presenting His sinlessness and truthfulness as reasons to believe. His opponents watched for grounds to condemn Him but could find none, yet refused to believe when He spoke the truth. Their rejection of the truth and desire to kill Him showed they were not following Abraham's example nor living as God's children, and by rejecting God's words they showed they were not of God. Their unbelief did not come from lack of evidence, for His works and the Spirit's convicting influence had given sufficient reason to recognize His divine nature, but they turned from the light and resisted the Holy Spirit, so that more evidence would only have hardened their unbelief. The same challenge therefore supports proclaiming truth with earnestness and assurance even amid opposition.
Sinless Life Demonstrated
He was personally spotless and perfect at every time in His life, pure from His birth as an infant in Bethlehem through His whole life of humiliation and suffering until He hung on the cross of Calvary and cried It is finished. From the beginning to the close of His earthly ministry He went about doing good, with no sin appearing in His life and no selfishness marring His word or act. His blameless life was marked by self-denial, and His challenge to His enemies and to the Pharisees to convict Him of sin was made knowing they had no charge to bring and would find nothing of which to accuse Him.
His life fully kept the law's holy precepts, for He lived God's law and always did what pleased the Father, magnifying and honoring the law as its living representative. Though His opponents searched for a fault that could condemn Him, they could find no sin or transgression or violation to prove against Him, including of the Sabbath. Instead of showing that He had broken the law they accused Him of being born in sin, and His words were without fault. His sinlessness is also confirmed by Pilate, who found no fault in Him, and those who still accuse Him of breaking the law align themselves with those who accused Him and then resorted to false witnesses because they could not sustain the charge.
He came in human nature with divinity clothed with humanity, becoming subject to the law and bearing human sickness, sorrow, and guilt without becoming a sinner. Tempted in all points as man is tempted, yet without sin, He lived the law that represents God's character and kept His Father's commandments. He knew nothing of sin by actual experience, standing before the world and before the Pharisees as the pure, uncontaminated, spotless Lamb of God. In the health of perfect manhood He identified Himself as one afflicted with suffering humanity in order to express His perfect love for humanity.
He was wholly without sin, with no evil in thought, word, or deed, no deceit on the tongue, and no unholy thought ever polluting the heart. Those watching Him closely could find nothing for which to condemn Him, including envy, worldly ambition, pride, or selfishness. Never a word of prevarication or untruth passed His lips, and Satan watching for the first departure from heaven's law could find no inconsistency between His teaching and His daily life. No one could convict Him of sin because His example was perfect with not one inconsistent act.
In His life on earth He developed a perfect character by perfect obedience to His Father's commandments, living as a man in perfect obedience to God with a pure, virtuous, and holy character. As the living representation, embodiment, and head of humanity under the holy law He could stand before a nation of witnesses with this challenge because He was without sin, in perfect obedience to every requirement of truth. Truth never languished on His lips and never suffered in His hands, and every precept He taught was an exposition of His own life. He was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and the mighty principles of truth fell from His lips with the freshness of a new revelation, spoken with an earnestness proportionate to its infinite importance and to the momentous results depending on its success. His perfect obedience meant that truth never failed in His words or actions.
The challenge holds true even as He died on the cross as a criminal, the Holy Sin-bearer, the Just dying for the unjust, offering Himself without spot to God. Hanging on the tree, mocked and abused without retaliation against His persecutors, He could still issue the challenge to the priests, scribes, rulers, and the whole host of Satan and his angels to convict Him of sin, and He could challenge angels and men. No one there amid taunts and revilings could convict Him of any sin, for His agony came from bearing the punishment due to transgression, though He Himself was sinless. His restraint in not sealing the lips of scoffers, paralyzing the hand that struck Him, or flashing righteous indignation on the mocking soldiers who forced a crown of thorns on Him was a marvel and mystery to angels.
Significance and Response
No other man who ever walked the earth could have issued this challenge, for His character alone was noble, spotless, perfect and undefiled. He stood in the express image of the Father, in the form of God and equal with God, of superior value above fallen man and even above unfallen man. He was personally spotless and perfect at every time in His life, pure from birth as an infant in Bethlehem through a whole life of humiliation and suffering until He hung on the cross of Calvary crying It is finished. That lifelong sinlessness and divine perfection qualified Him to be at once Sin-bearer, Sin-pardoner, and sin-burdened, sin-stained Surety, bearing the sins of others and not His own and offering Himself without spot to God. His voluntary life was therefore a sacrifice of sufficient value to satisfy the claims of God's perfect law, to atone for human sin, to ransom fallen man, and to rescue, elevate and restore him to his first estate.
Living as a man in perfect obedience He kept the law of God in humanity, lifting the guilt of sin from sinners while Himself standing under the condemnation of the Lawgiver. His pure, holy and virtuous character, with never a word of prevarication or untruth and no inconsistency between teaching and daily life, proved false Satan's charge that man cannot keep the law of God and removed Satan's excuse, the probation granted to the race proving Satan a liar. It revealed to the heavenly universe, to unfallen worlds and to sinful men that God has made every provision, so that through imputed righteousness received by faith all who receive Him can show loyalty by keeping the law, become partakers of the divine nature, be made righteous, have God's moral image restored, and receive complete salvation and everlasting life. He came not only as sacrifice for sin but as example, Teacher, educator and plain pattern to copy, educating by words and showing by practice in lifelong obedience how to obey God, fulfilling all the claims of the law and defeating efforts to make truth void and the law an imperfect bondage. In Him the world sees what man may and can be, for He did not love sin but loved the sinner, coming to reveal God's love while truth as His authority gave force to His requirements, commandments and reproofs.
His record is true and His judgment true because He knows whence He came and whither He goes and the Father is with Him, yet when He spoke truth given Him by God the Pharisees refused to believe Him. Their rejection and desire to kill Him showed they were not following Abraham's example, were not living as God's children, were not connected with God, and did not recognize God's voice in His Son. They could not understand His speech and could not hear His word because truth was unpalatable to them, they misinterpreted Him, turned from light, and resisted sufficient evidence from His works and the Spirit's convicting influence to recognize His divine nature. Their refusal proved they did not hear God because they were not of God but were of their father the devil who abode not in the truth, and more evidence would only have hardened such unbelief.
The whole chapter gives this lesson to His followers, who will meet in their own lives just such rejection as Jesus met. Such darkness does not come from God, for God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, but comes as shade comes by obstruction between the soul and God. The same blindness continues now, where people lack the Spirit of God to take in what should be said and need a view of God's infinite majesty and holiness to feel deficiency of spiritual understanding, needing plain, direct, decided testimony in institutions just as in Christ's day. Stirred by Satan, unbelieving Jews regarded His words and works as of satanic origin, treating the word of God as the word of the enemy, and the same spirit is repeated in all who in this day of probation close eyes to light and ears to evidence, calling God's heaven-sent messages of warning faultfinding and accusing and shutting the door of the heart so that whatever God sends cannot be received.
His life left enemies unable to prove any charge, so He spoke truth fearlessly despite misrepresentation, opposition, malice and falsehood, and His enemies, unable to sustain a charge of lawbreaking, resorted to a false charge by false witnesses. His sinlessness and truthfulness are therefore reasons to believe, and the verse supports proclaiming truth with earnestness and assurance even amid opposition. Those who still accuse Him of breaking the law align themselves with those accusers. Even as He hung on the cross mocked and abused He did not retaliate, and the guilt of those in highest places who betrayed sacred light and sacred responsibilities was greater than that of Pilate, Herod and the soldiers who acted in ignorance without the light given to the nation.
The verse also sets the standard of purity for one retiring from responsibility as a judge. It means being able to challenge any accuser and prove freedom from turning aside from righteousness to accept bribes and from staining the record as one who does judgment and justice. Few retiring judges can say it, as Samuel said it when taking leave of Israel.