I can see Christ mocking Satan in the same manner that we Freepers tend to mock humanists, athiests, or gay activists for their so-called perceived wisdom and insight.
No. IMHO, I’d suggest Matthew Henry’s commentary, available at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%208&version=KJV, to get a quick handle on what was generally accepted theology for 1,700 years or thereabouts.
Just click on the Show Resources link to the right of the text to see the commentary for the chapter you’re viewing.
The identification of “Lucifer” with Satan probably began with St. Jerome and his Latin translation of the Bible. I got this by skimming the Wikipedia article on Lucifer, which I recommend. So your suggestion seems to me ahistorical. Also note that Jesus is referred to as the Morning Star in the NT.
I tend to think of Jesus as God’s replacement for Lucifer. Lucifer messed it all up and Jesus had come fix it. Not like Obama making it worse, but actually fixing it.
I think he was referring to Himself being The Light the Jews followed while in the wilderness.
I don’t think he was mocking Satan. Jesus, our Lord, took his mission seriously, even to the death.
It’s a little more complicated than that.
The term “Lucifer” in the Bible was not originally applied to the devil. The sole reference comes from Isaiah 14:12, which states, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” The word is actually a title, not a name, and it was being applied to a Babylonian king (if I’m not mistaken)... not actually to the devil. It was an astronomical reference to the Morning Star, which preceded the true light of the Sun as a sign of its coming.
If Satan is at all to be called Lucifer (and he is NOT in the Bible), it is only because he represents a false light which tries to replace the True Light of Christ. The Bible actually applies that same term, translated as “Morning Star”, directly to Christ in several places:
Job 11:17 - And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
2 Peter 1:19 - We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
It is my understanding that the Lord does not mock Satan by taking that title, but rather Satan mocks Christ by trying to usurp it for his own.
I doubt it. Most of what modern belief of Lucifer consists of is from works like the Inferno and Paradise Lost. The Bible is actually pretty slim on defining fallen angels. Most of the evil found in it is that of man (worldly).
Lucifer by that name was doing what he does best—lie. Christ was just doing his job—speaking the truth. :) Thank you Jesus! :-D.
Jesus seemed more in to “mocking” by pointing out the hypocrisy of their thoughts/actions. He was also very direct; not the subtle, you need time to think it through before you realise you been slapped, type guy.
Lucifer
(Hebrew helel; Septuagint heosphoros, Vulgate lucifer)
The name Lucifer originally denotes the planet Venus, emphasizing its brilliance. The Vulgate employs the word also for “the light of the morning” (Job 11:17), “the signs of the zodiac” (Job 38:32), and “the aurora” (Psalm 109:3). Metaphorically, the word is applied to the King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:12) as preeminent among the princes of his time; to the high priest Simon son of Onias (Ecclesiasticus 50:6), for his surpassing virtue, to the glory of heaven (Apocalypse 2:28), by reason of its excellency; finally to Jesus Christ himself (2 Peter 1:19; Apocalypse 22:16; the “Exultet” of Holy Saturday) the true light of our spiritual life.
The Syriac version and the version of Aquila derive the Hebrew noun helel from the verb yalal, “to lament”; St. Jerome agrees with them (In Isaiah 1.14), and makes Lucifer the name of the principal fallen angel who must lament the loss of his original glory bright as the morning star. In Christian tradition this meaning of Lucifer has prevailed; the Fathers maintain that Lucifer is not the proper name of the devil, but denotes only the state from which he has fallen (Petavius, De Angelis, III, iii, 4).
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09410a.htm
The OT feasts prefigure Christ.. When Jesus declared that He was the light of the world it was during the feast of dedication or “Hanukkah “
John 10:22; “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication and it was winter.”
Jesus said concerning Himself, in John 8:12; “.....I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but he will have the light of life.” Then He said in John 9:5 that “as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” And in John 11:9 He said, “......are there not twelve hours in a day? If any man walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” And again in John 12:35; “Then Jesus said to them, for a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” Each of these references to Jesus as the light of the world in John chapters 8, 9, 11, and 12 surround chapter 10 where the “feast of dedication” (Hanukkah) is being observed. In each of these references when Jesus refers to Himself as the light of the world, He is in the Temple.
http://www.angelfire.com/mt/tabor/hanukkah.html