There was a law that if a woman was caught in the act of adultery, she was to be stoned. They presented the woman and asked Jesus what should be done. Waiting for Him to fall into their trap, Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with His finger. The leaders kept demanding an answer, so Jesus stood and said to them, "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!" (vs.7) Jesus again stooped down and began writing in the dust. Her accusers, starting with the oldest, slipped away. Jesus stood again and asked her, (vs. 10-11) "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" "No Lord," she said. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."
(From this example, we can see we are not here to condemn for we have all sinned and have no right to judge nor condemn. How can it make any sense that the wicked judge and condemn the wicked? We can also learn from His approach. We have sinned and they have sinned but Jesus who is without sin did not condemn but instructed her to stop sinning, particularly to stop committing adultery. Instead of condemning and judging others, we are better serving others and the Lord by approaching them about their sin and telling them to stop. We should also be open to being approacehed in our sin should that occur.)
Remember, Jesus was in front of a crowd when all that happened so the lesson was heard by many. We are not told if she left or if she stayed to hear more of Jesus' teaching. Jesus went back to talking to the crowd. During this festival, lamps were burning everywhere. Jesus used that fact in His next teaching. Without those lamps burning they would all be in darkness. These lamps lit the area around them but He spoke to them about something much larger. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." I noticed that He said He was the light, "that leads to life." "Leads" is a key word. The world is steeped in darkness and there are many opportunities to be "led" by the things of the world. While on their own, such things may not lead us away but our obsession with them can. Our jobs, treasures, money, homes, or lusts can hold us in darkness, despair and even hold us prisoner in the world. While we live in a world filled with darkness, Jesus is the light that we can follow. The evil one's desire and efforts are focused on holding us in darkness while Christ is our way out. If we follow what He teaches, if we always keep Him before us, if it is Jesus we treasure and yearn to hold on to then we can be led out of the darkness for He is the light that will guide our way into eternal life.
The Pharisees claimed that what Jesus was saying about Himself was not valid. The Bible reads this way, (vs. 13) "You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid." Why did they say His testimony was not valid? In that time, testimony given only by the person in question was not valid unless it was backed up by another person. In their minds, His statements about Himself were not valid.
Jesus told them He knew who He was and where He came from and to where He was going. He told them while He knew who He was, they knew nothing about Him. Jesus went on to say they judged by human standards. (Human standards were limited and could never see the full truth in any situation.) He, however, was God and could see the truth of all things fully and completely. Jesus said while they judged with limited human standards, He did not judge people for He was there to save them. However, if He were to judge, His judgements would be true and right because He was not alone, (He would not be making those judgements on His own) He was with the Father who sent Him. It was the Father who validated His statements about Himself. In essence, the Father was the second witness they required. Jesus addressed their law requiring two witnesses to make what He said valid. He said He was one and His second witness is His Father.
The Pharisees asked who His father was. Jesus' answer was that they didn't know who He was therefore they couldn't know who His Father was. If they understood who He was then they would know who His Father was.
It would be easy to see that the Pharisees would be angered and their desire to eliminate Him would be getting strronger. They did nothing to Him because it was not His time yet.
Later, Jesus continued, telling them He would be going away and they would search for Him and not find Him but they would die in their sin. They were not people who believed in Him and therefore would die in their sin of unbelief and not be able to follow Him to His heavenly home. They really had no idea what He was talking about and thought He might be planning suicide. They asked Him what he meant when He said they could not go where He was going. Jesus explained the difference. They were from below (of this world) while He was from above (His heavenly home). He explained they belonged to this world but He didn't. That is why they would die in their sin. In verse 24, we read, "That is why I said that you would die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins." If they did not believe, they would continue to live in the darkness of this world, die, and be forever seperated from God.
Again they demanded He explain who He was. Jesus told them He was who He has been saying He was. He said He had a lot to say about them and a lot to condemn but He wouldn't. He wouldn't because He said only what He heard from the one who sent Him (the Father) and He is completely truthful. They still had no idea He was talking about His Father.
Jesus continued to explain things to them by saying, (vs. 28) "When you have lifted the Son of Man (Jesus called Himself this) on the cross, then you will understand that I AM He. They knew Abraham, they knew Moses, but they really didn't know God, therefore they really could not grasp who Jesus was. When He was crucified, then they would understand who He was, although it would not be everyone. Jesus said that the one who sent Him is always with Him. We can be sure the Father would be with Him even in His crucifixion. Jesus said He didn't do anything without the Father and did only what the Father taught Him and the Father is always pleased with Him. Then many who heard Him say those things beleived in Him.
Jesus then spoke to those who believed in Him saying, (vs. 31) "you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
They didn't understand what Jesus meant about being set free because they were descendants of Abraham and had never been slaves to anyone. Jesus explained that He was not talking about slavery to other people but about being slaves to sin by saying, "everyone who sins is a slave to sin." A slave works for a family and interacts with a family but is never a permanent part of a family. As we know a slave can be sold or traded and can lose his/her connection to the family. On the other hand, a son will always be a son, he will always be part of the family forever. If Jesus (the Son of God) sets anyone free they would be truly free. Jesus acknowledged some of them were descendants of Abraham but even so, some were trying to kill Him. Even though they were descendants of Abraham, they were not like Abraham because they had no room in their hearts to hear and accept Jesus' message. He continued by telling them He has been telling them what He saw when He was with the Father, His Father. He pointed out they were not listening to what came from the Father through Him but were listening to their father. Jesus made that point three times as you will see.
They first (above) proclaimed they were descended from Abraham. Now in response to what Jesus said, they proclaimed, "Our Father is Abraham!" Jesus followed with "No!" He went on to explain if they were really children of Abraham, they would follow him by believing and being obedient to God. As children of Abraham, they would believe in Him and follow what He taught. They would hear the words of John the Baptist who proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah. In fact, John the Baptist warned them about trusting in their connection to Abraham. They had a false and unhealthy belief that because they came from Abraham's line, they would be safe from God's wrath. (Matthew 3:7-9) NLT; "But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. "You brood of snakes!" he exclaimed. "Who warned you to flee God's coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones." Jesus spoke to who their father was for the second time, "No, you are imitating your real father."
We can imagine that didn't make them happy and they replied that they were not illegitimate children. (Perhaps they were thinking that if Abraham was not their father then they would appear to be fatherless or illegitimate. If that be the case, they still had God who they could claim as their father) They said God, Himself, was their true Father. Jesus moved toward His third and strongest reference to who their father was. He told them if God truly was their father, they would love Him because God the Father sent Him to earth. He was not there on His own but sent by God. He asked them why they couldn't understand that and answered His own question by saying they couldn't even hear Him. (vs.44-47) "For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell you the truth, you just naturally don't believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don't you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God (as they said they did) listens gladly to the words of God. But you don't listen because you don't belong to God."
(A large part of doing this eStudy is that we read each selected part of Scripture for 30 days straight. Studying that way, we remember more and continually see things open up that we may not have noticed or understood before. This morning is about a week after I originally wrote the comments here. During the days following the original writing, I kept reading and seeing this section clearer. What I have noticed is that Jesus set a very clear teaching before them.
Remember, Jesus was talking to people who had just come to believe in Him and He was setting some principles before them, maybe to help them gain perspective and maybe to help them in their walk and spiritual growth. After they believed in Him, He told them they would continue to be His disciples if they remained faithful to what He taught. If they remained faithful to His teachings, they would be free from the power of sin. They heard the word "free" the loudest and proclaimed because they were descendants of Abraham, they had no need to be free because they had never been slaves. At that point, historically, the descendants of Abraham had not been slaves to anyone. Of course, Jesus was not speaking about history, He was speaking about their spirituality. While they had not been slaves of another people, anyone who sins is a slave to sin and that is what Jesus was setting them free from. Jesus explained what He meant by telling them if they followed Him they would know the truth and they would be free, free from sin.
Jesus continued and acknowledged they indeed were descendants of Abraham but even so, some of them were trying to kill Him. Jesus explained that they felt that way because they had no room in their hearts to hear His message. He explained that He was teaching them what He saw when He was with His Father. While He was following the advice of His Father, they were following the advice of their father.
They still were not quite clear about where Jesus was leading them, and responded that Abraham was their father. Jesus told them, no that was not true. If Abraham was their father, they would follow Abraham's beliefs about Him. Again, He pointed out that they were trying to kill Him, something Abraham would never have done. Jesus again told them they were imitating their father and it was not Abraham.
If Abraham wasn't their father, then they would be a fatherless people. Being without a father would make them illegitimate. They proclaimed that they were not illegitimate for they still had God as their father.
Jesus more or less explained that if God were their father then they would love Him because He had come to them from the very God who they claimed as their father. Jesus went into great detail in verses 42-47, basically teaching them if they could not hear Him, if they continued to want to kill Him, they were listening to the lies of the devil and they had him as their father. If they truly had God as their father, then they would listen gladly to what He taught.
Jesus walked them through many of their misconceptions and wrong thinking. He brought them to a place where they stood face to face with the truth. Now hearing and understanding the truth, they had a decision to make. Unfortunately for them, in that moment, they were insulted and called Him a devil. In that moment, they let their ego and pride make a decision for them. However, they heard the truth and we know that once the truth is heard, it keeps working. At some point all they heard may have settled in and had taken them to the place in Christ they needed to go.
That all applies to us and those around us today. Many have heard the truth and eventually come to a place where a decision, a choice, has to be made. Jesus called them to believe in the truth He taught. It was truth that came from the Father, His Father, or they could continue to listen to the father of lies and live as slaves to sin without the hope of His promise of eternal life with God.
As I mentioned earlier, even though they believed in Him, they had to let go of their faith and security of being right with God because of their being descendants of Abraham and place that faith, trust, and hope in Jesus. Even today, many people think they are right with God and are guaranteed salvation by believing if they belong to a certain religion they are saved. Some believe they are saved because they do good things or because they are good people. Jesus' teaching here applies not only to people in His time but to all of us, as well. Belonging to a particular religion in itself will not save us. Being a good person will not save us. Being a descendant of a particular people will not save us. There is only one way, there is only one place we can have that confidence and that is only in Jesus.)
Jesus really unloaded the truth on them and their response was to call Him a Samaritan devil and recall that they had been saying all along He was possessed by a demon. Saying He was a devil was insulting but calling Him a Samaritan devil, in their eyes, was one of the most insulting things they could say to anyone. Samaritans were despised and their religion was seen as faulty. They felt Samaritans were extremely inferior.
Jesus told them there was no demon in Him "for I honor my Father." If He honored His Father, there could not possibly be a demon in Him because honoring the Father would be impossible for a demon possessed person. Jesus said He honored His Father but they were dishonoring Him. (In reality by dishonoring Jesus, they were dishonoring the Father too.) Jesus went on to say that He had no desire to glorify Himself but God will glorify Him. He also had no need to prove or justify Himself to them, He would leave that up to God who is the true judge. Jesus' last comment here was to say, (vs. 51) "I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!"
Jesus told them whoever believed in Him and obeyed and followed His teachings would never die. They would live on into eternity and never be separated from God. Of course those He was talking to thought He was talking about physical life and death and missed the truth of Jesus' comment.
With the lack of understanding, they responded saying they now knew for sure He was possessed by a demon. They used Abraham for an example. As great as Abraham was, even he died. Even the great prophets died. They went on challenging Jesus in that HE said if any follow Him they would not die. (vs. 53) They asked, "Are you greater than Abraham? He died and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"
Jesus answered by saying if He wanted glory for Himself, it wouldn't count but He would be glorified by His Father. Being glorified by His Father was a glory that mattered.
He went on to challenge them, reminding them they told Him, "He is our God." Jesus was stating that they didn't even know Him and not knowing Him, how could He be their God? Jesus said they didn't even know God but He did. If He said He didn't, He would be a liar like them (for He would be saying He knew God and didn't just as they had). The truth is that He did know God (unlike those He talked to) and not only that but He obeyed Him (which Jesus had already showed them they hadn't).
Jesus made another comparison saying, Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to the coming of the Messiah - Jesus. (His point was, if they were children and followers of Abraham, they would also rejoice in His coming. However, they didn't making their statements untrue.)
Their response was to say that Jesus wasn't old enough to have seen Abraham. To which He replied (vs. 58) "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was ever born, I Am!"
Earlier, they asked Him if He was better than Abraham. Here He may have answered that question by expressing His position as God and His place over and above all men and prophets. He told them He existed even before Abraham was born. Not only that, but Jesus referred to himself as "I Am." This was a title used by God in Exodus 3:12-14;
12"He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
I can imagine the people went absolutely wild. To them, that statement was sacrilegious and heresy and would be punishable by death. The chapter ends with the people picking up stones to kill Him. Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple unharmed.