John 8 - Fightin' Words
Think Jesus was just a really nice guy? Think again.
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John 8 (ESV)
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple.
All the people came to him,
and he sat down
and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him,
“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
6 This they said
to test him,
that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him,
he stood up and said to them,
“Let him
who is without sin among you
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it,
they went away one by one,
beginning with the older ones,
and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said,
“Neither do I condemn you;
go, and from now on sin no more.”
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me
will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
13 So the Pharisees said to him,
“You are bearing witness about yourself;
your testimony is not true.”
14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself,
my testimony is true,
for I know
where I came from
and where I am going,
but you do not know
where I come from
or where I am going.
15 You judge according to the flesh;
I judge no one.
16 Yet even if I do judge,
my judgment is true,
for it is not I alone who judge,
but I
and the Father who sent me.
17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true.
18 I am the one who bears witness about myself,
and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”
19 They said to him therefore,
“Where is your Father?”
Jesus answered,
“You know neither me nor my Father.
If you knew me,
you would know my Father also.”
20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple;
but no one arrested him,
because his hour had not yet come.
21 So he said to them again,
“I am going away,
and
you will seek me,
and you will die in your sin.
Where I am going, you cannot come.”
22 So the Jews said,
“Will he kill himself,
since he says,
‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”
23 He said to them,
“You are from below;
I am from above.
You are of this world;
I am not of this world.
24 I told you that you would die in your sins,
for unless you believe that I am he
you will die in your sins.”
25 So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them,
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.
26 I have
much to say about you
and much to judge,
but he who sent me is true,
and I declare to the world
what I have heard from him.”
27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them,
“When you have
lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I am he,
and that
I do nothing on my own authority,
but speak just as the Father taught me.
29 And he who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,
“If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples,
32 and
you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him,
“We are
offspring of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them,
“Truly, truly, I say to you,
everyone who practices sin
is a slave to sin.
35 The
slave does not remain in the house forever;
the son remains forever.
36 So if the Son
sets you free,
you will be free indeed.
37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham;
yet you seek to kill me
because my word finds no place in you.
38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father,
and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them,
“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.
This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works your father did.”
They said to him,
“We were not born of sexual immorality.
We have one Father—even God.”
42 Jesus said to them,
“If God were your Father,
you would love me,
for
I came from God
and I am here.
I came
not of my own accord,
but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say?
It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the devil,
and your will is to do your father’s desires.
He
was a murderer from the beginning,
and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him.
When he lies,
he speaks out of his own character,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of sin?
If I tell the truth,
why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you do not hear them
is that you are not of God.”
48 The Jews answered him,
“Are we not right in saying that you
are a Samaritan
and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered,
“I do not have a demon,
but
I honor my Father,
and you dishonor me.
50 Yet
I do not seek my own glory;
there is One who seeks it,
and he is the judge.
51 Truly, truly, I say to you,
if anyone keeps my word,
he will never see death.”
52 The Jews said to him,
“Now we know that you have a demon!
Abraham died,
as did the prophets,
yet you say,
‘If anyone keeps my word,
he will never taste death.’
53 Are you greater
than our father Abraham, who died?
And the prophets died!
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
54 Jesus answered,
“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
It is my Father
who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
55 But you
have not known him.
I know him.
If I were to say that I do not know him,
I would be a liar like you,
but I do know him and I keep his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.
He saw it and was glad.”
57 So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
before Abraham was,
I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him,
but Jesus hid himself
and went out of the temple.
Read the chapter on BibleGateway
Previous DIG DEEPER posts on John
John 8 Summary
Most English Bible translations format the 11 opening verses of this chapter in a way that indicates that most scholars recognized it as being added to what John originally wrote. We encountered this same phenomenon at the end of Mark's gospel as well. For more on why the fact that these passages are considered extra-biblical should increase your level of trust that the rest of the words presented to you in your English Bible are true and authentic, read our post on Mark 16.
Can you feel the tension in this conversation Jesus has with the Pharisees? It's tense because it centers around the most important question that all people must answer: what is it that you put your eternal hope in?
Jesus points out that these Pharisees ultimately had no hope because they didn't even realize they needed salvation. They had full confidence in themselves, because they were descendents of Abraham.
Certainly Jesus' life was a model of humility and self sacrifice. He did show love and mercy to people rejected by society. But also notice that Jesus did not cede one iota on declaring the truth, and He did so in a very aggressive way.
Dig Deeper
There are three primary questions that all people need to answer:
Who / what is God?
Who / what am I?
How am I reconciled to God?
Getting any one of these questions in particular wrong will lead to getting all three of them wrong. This is a big deal, because the answers to these questions not only guide the ordinary decisions you make each and every day, but they have eternal consequence.
The Pharisees demonstrate this nicely in today's chapter. They misunderstand who they are. They claimed they have never been enslaved to anyone (v33). Apparently they forgot about the slavery inflicted by the Egyptians, Babylonians and the occupation and massive taxation they currently faced from the Romans.
But more importantly, Jesus points out they didn't realize that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin (v34).
So because they fundamentally misunderstood their own identity, they arrived at a very flawed understanding of who God is, and they felt no need to seek reconciliation with God because they didn't think they needed it.
Make sure you have solid answers to these three questions. Keep reading the Bible everyday and increasing your knowledge of the truth, because the truth will set you free (v32).
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, the one who sent Jesus for our salvation.
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your understanding of who God is, who you are, and how you're reconciled with God will be built up as you read His Word every day.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
