The Standard of Grace

There is an ongoing dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees that revolves around what evidence would be necessary to validate Jesus’ claims as the Son of God. This argument revolved around the Law of Moses meant to protect an innocent person from being accused of a crime that could result in death. It says that one witness is not sufficient to confirm a sin worthy of death, but there must be two or three who can confirm a matter in which someone is accused (Dt 19:15; Dt 17:6; Nu 35:30). We saw this as part of the conversation that happened when they brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus at the beginning of chapter eight. However, this became a standard for testing all kinds of truths (Mt 18:16; 2Co 13:1; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28). So, when Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” They argued that He could not testify about Himself instead of responding to them as He did in John 5:31-47 with a list of witnesses. He addressed why they were unable to receive the list of witnesses. They lacked spiritual discernment. They could only see Jesus through human flesh, and they refused to believe the testimony of God (Mt. 3:17). The Pharisees believed it was their duty to evaluate the Jewish population using their interpretation of the Law as the final standard. They judged everyone that way.
Jesus exposed their judgmental attitude by contrasting His attitude with theirs. He spoke a profound truth because He came from heaven and would return there. He had every right to judge but chose not to exercise that judgment because He had been sent by the Father to save people, not condemn them (Jn. 3:17). This does not mean He doesn’t expose sin. He does, but with the purpose of salvation, not condemnation. He chose a standard of grace that led to repentance, and so should we.