John 8 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

John 8

8:1 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.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

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 Father¹ 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.

The Truth Will Set You Free

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 slave² 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.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

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.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

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.’³ 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?”⁴ 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.

Footnotes

[1] 8:16 Some manuscripts he
[2] 8:34 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 35
[3] 8:54 Some manuscripts your God
[4] 8:57 Some manuscripts has Abraham seen you?

Commentary

v1-2: When everyone else went home in the evening, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, presumably to pray. He returned early in the morning to teach in the temple, and many gathered around Him.

v3-5: Whilst Jesus was teaching the people, the Pharisees brought the woman; she was guilty (Lev 20.10; Deut 22.22). However if she was caught in the very act of adultery, then why was the man not brought also? The Pharisees' motive was not to promote righteousness, but to destroy Jesus. Jesus' reaction indicates that He saw their deceit. We see that He did not condone sins.

v6-9: Jesus' dignity, fully in control of the situation.

He wrote on the ground, the finger of God, Ex 32.16; Dan 5.5; the law was brought to bear on all the people present; they recognised that God was present with them, and each one was 'convicted by their conscience.' Like Belshazzar, they were weighed in the balance and found wanting.

The Lord's ministry was to seek and to save the lost; He came to call sinners to repentance.

v10-11: Jesus' mercy to the woman, "neither do I condemn you." He came to save, not to judge (3.17). She confessed Jesus as "Lord," He commanded repentance, "Go now and leave your life of sin." He addressed the woman respectfully, as in 19.26; He looked down on no one.

v12: Christ the light of the world, a declaration of His deity;

absolute perfection;
power, for light dispels darkness;
guidance, for His word is our lamp and light;
in creation, light preceded the sun, moon, and stars, Gen 1.3, 14-18, even as Christ precedes those who belong to Him;
light is eternal, Rev 22.5;
physical light provides a picture of Christ, Ps 139.12;
Jesus is described as the light of life; He brings us into His own life;
the baton is passed on, 9.5; Matt 5.14.

God is revealed as light before He is revealed as love (see 1 John); but that light is never unloving, as the previous incident clearly showed.

‘Man by nature is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes, for darkness has blinded his eyes; neither can anything but Jesus Christ lead men out of this darkness.’ (John Bunyan, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ)

v13-14: The Pharisees rejected Jesus' claim of deity; they therefore judged Him wrongly. Unless we accept His real deity, other things to not fit in.

He reminded them of their ignorance of source and destiny; they made direct challenges to Jesus, claiming to be more righteous than He; He repeatedly taught them that such challenges were foolish; and He will win every time!

v15: All judgment is committed to Christ, the Son (5.22), but His purpose in coming into the world was not to judge; that would come at His return.

v16: The Father was with Christ, but not with the Pharisees; they had no divine authority to their ministry.

v17-19: Two consistent witnesses; Father and Son. Scripture unites the two, even though the human attitude is to separate them, inferring disagreement or misunderstanding. Jesus always did those things that pleased the Father, see v29.

v20: The Pharisees sought to kill Jesus, see also v59.

v21-29: Jesus speaks with unbelieving Jews.

v21-22: Compare 7.33-35; the Lord's time among the people was short. The Jews accused Him of planning to commit suicide, so that He could not enter paradise. Again, they totally missed His claim of perfection and deity.

v23: Jesus' origin, "not of this world." He came into the world. Again, we must accept this claim, of reject Him;

if accepted, He is the Son of God, and the only Saviour;
if rejected, then all He is and stands for is of no value.

v24: The seriousness of rejecting Christ, "you will die in your sins." Apart from Christ there is no justification.

Note too His use of "I am," another claim to deity.

v25-26: Foolish questions; the Lord had constantly claimed to be the Messiah, sometimes this was explicit, at other times less obvious. But He had made that claim "all along."

v27: He was sent by the Father, and perfectly fulfilled the Father's will.

v28: Jesus' death was another evidence of His Messiah-ship. We see here too His perfect foreknowledge, and His declared intention that He would give up His life.

v29: There is no never any divergence of intention between Father and Son.

v30: Many believed in Christ, but sought to hold on to Abraham also. This 'mixed faith' required further sifting.

v31-32: The way of life; abide in his word, knowing the truth. Here is a statement that true faith demands discipleship and commitment. But such discipleship is the route to freedom, not bondage.

v33: Their faith in Abraham, their 'father.' They thought that being descended from the great man was sufficient for freedom.

v34-35: Clear words, that their claim was not sufficient. Sin remained in their lives, enslaving them. The offer of Christ is true sonship.

v36: Only the Son can make us free, not Abraham, nor Moses.

v37-39: The Jews, as we would expect, claimed to be Abraham's sons, since they could declare the list of their ancestors back to Abraham. Yet such a declaration did not change their behaviour or attitudes, and this is what Christ challenged.

v40-41: The claim to belong to another, whether to Christ, or to Abraham, must be consistent with a manner of life. The Jews' claim to belong to Abraham was shown to be spurious.

Notice too the accusation that Jesus was born of fornication, that He was illegitimate.

v42: Their further claim, that they were sons of God, was also challenged; if we claim God to be our Father, then we will love Jesus His Son.

v43: The children of the devil are unable to hear the voice of God.

v44: Lies are the special indication of men belonging to the devil; in context this refers to religious lies, false religion. One of the most significant titles of Satan is 'father of lies.' His intent is to spread falsehood, confusion, doubt about God's word. Paul urges us not to be unaware of his schemes (2 Cor 2.11).

v45-47: Jesus' made claims of Himself, and was willing to be challenged, both in His words and His actions, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" the silence declares the answer, 'no!'

v48: Instead of careful argument, the Jews resorted to blatant accusation, a demon-possessed Samaritan.

v49-51: Jesus' response to such accusations was obvious, His repeated claims bold and unequivocal.

v52-53: The Jews rightly noted the boldness of Jesus' claims, but rejected them, "Who do you think you are?" No one but the Messiah, the Son of God, could say such things. He is indeed greater than Abraham.

v54-57: The further claim, the God, His Father, would glorify Him. His knowledge of Abraham was very different from the customary Jewish claim of ancestry. Abraham looked forward to the day of Christ, when he would be delivered from paradise into Heaven itself.

v58-59: The Jewish reaction, taking up stones, indicates that the claims made here are beyond anything a prophet would dare make of himself. Yet Jesus Christ, who claimed to be "I am," was right to make them.

Again, since the time of His death was not yet, Jesus escaped from the crowd.