What does John 8:14 mean?
Some time ago, Jesus debated with local religious leaders over His teaching and healing ministry. At that time, Jesus appealed to three separate lines of evidence to support His claims (John 5:30–47). At that moment, the topic at hand was evidence which other people had seen and witnessed. The specific items listed were the content of the Scriptures, the occurrence of Jesus' miracles, and the claims of other people. In the prior verse, after Jesus claimed to be "the light of the world," the Pharisees have challenged Him with that standard of proof. Their claim is that this remark is just like Jesus' earlier claims, and so He cannot "bear witness" about Himself.Here, however, Jesus responds in a way that might seem drastically different but is perfectly compatible with His prior remarks. In earlier debates, Jesus discussed issues which the Pharisees had equal access to take in. They could just as easily read Scripture, see miracles, and hear from other people as anyone else. Here in this verse, Jesus is speaking of things of which no person on earth has first-hand knowledge. For those statements, Jesus and Jesus alone has the authority to testify.