“But you do not know from where I come and where I am going. You judge after the flesh, I judge no man”.'
Thus they should recognise that they were not in a position to judge His testimony for they judged only ‘according to the flesh' as earthly men. They were unable to enter Heaven and so they could not truly be aware of Who He was, where He had come from and where He was going. They were limited to earthly knowledge. They judged ‘after the flesh'. That is why they saw only a man like themselves, but their very starting point invalidated their judgment. How then could they know He Who ascends into Heaven Who came down from Heaven (John 3:13), the Son of Man? If only they had listened to John the Baptiser. He was one who ha been illuminated by Heaven.
‘I am not (at present) judging anyone' (v. 15). The Judge of all the world was here but at present Jesus will not pass judgment, even on the Pharisees. There was still an opportunity for them to open their eyes and see. The heavenly court was in abeyance, waiting to see who would respond to Jesus, and who would turn away. The light was here and men would pass judgment on themselves, depending on how they responded (John 3:17-21).
The adulterous woman was a good example of this. In her case judgment had been deferred and she had received forgiveness. It was now up to her whether she took advantage of it. So it was with all. His time to pass final judgment was still in the future. For now He shone as a light in the world, calling men to the light. And some came to Him as the Light, aware that their sins were judged and through Him forgiven. And they began to walk in the light, while others turned away into darkness. And this continued to be true for them even though they were sinners, for ‘if we walk in the light as He is in the light, --- the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us continually from all sin' (1 John 1:7).