What does John 8:14 mean?
Some time ago, Jesus had 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 a topic which other people had seen and witnessed. Namely, 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 takes an approach to evidence which is drastically different, but compatible with His prior remarks. In earlier debates, Jesus was discussing issues which the Pharisees had an equal access to knowledge. They could just as easily read the Scriptures, see the miracles, and hear from other people as anyone else. In this case, however, Jesus is speaking directly of things which no person on earth has first-hand knowledge of. For those statements, Jesus and Jesus alone has the authority to testify.