John 8 – Devotional & Commentary0

Devotional Questions:

John 8:12-30

• Jesus once again points to his heavenly origin, and points out that the Pharisees who do not know (or do not accept) his heavenly origin cannot properly judge him.  In what ways do people misjudge Christianity, the church, or spiritual truths and practices because they ignore basic spiritual realities and judge based only on criteria they understand or accept?
• Reflect on Jesus’ words: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Recall the ways in which this passage has proven to be true in my life and write a prayer of gratitude.
• If this is indeed who Jesus is, how does that affect how I view my life, and approach my future?
• What about the cross (where Jesus was “lifted up”) causes people to know that Jesus indeed is the one that he claimed to be?  Is it possible to know who Jesus is apart from the cross?  How often do I meditate on Jesus and his death on the cross?

John 8: 31-36

• Most people in the world would say, “[I] have never been slaves of anyone.” In what ways are people enslaved, and to what?
• To what extent do I agree that since I sin, I am a slave to sin?
• In what ways has the truth of Jesus’ teaching set me free from sin?

John 8:12-58

• The ongoing verbal battle between Jesus and the Jews throughout this chapter ultimately boils down to the issue of who Jesus is and who they are.  What are their differing answers to these two questions?
• What is the significance of Jesus referring to himself as I Am? (cf. Exodus 3:14)?  How do the Jews respond upon hearing this claim to deity?  What other response could they have had?
• How do modern people react to the Christian claim of Jesus’ deity?  What may be behind their responses?
• Where do I stand on this question of Jesus identity?

Additional Questions:

John 8:3-9

• What was it that caused the accusers to “go away one at a time, the older ones first?”  What can I learn about the nature of sin from the fact that it was the “older ones first” that went away?  Has the awareness of my own sinfulness grown over the years or has it lessened?
• What lesson about condemning others can I learn from Jesus’ answer?  Is there someone toward whom I have picked up a stone which I need to drop?
• What would have been the accusers’ view of themselves as they came?  What would have been their view as they left?  What did they miss?

John 8:10-11

• What did the woman caught in adultery deserve?  What did she receive from Jesus?  How would she have responded to Jesus’ command, “Go now and leave your life of sin?” How have I personally experienced the words “Then neither do I condemn you.  Go now and leave your life of sin?”
• What is the significance of Jesus command to the woman to leave her life of sin, even while not condemning her?

John 8:15-30

• Jesus says, “My decisions are right, because I am not alone.  I stand with the Father.”  What criteria do I use to judge that my decisions are right?  How can I make right decisions?
• What are the two reasons for Jesus’ confidence against all the opposition?

John 8:55

• In what two ways does Jesus describe his relationship with the Father?  What constitutes a relationship with God?  Contrast this to the Jews’ notion of what it meant to belong to God.
• How do people hold onto something other than obedience to God’s word as the basis for their relationship with God?

Commentary:

vv. 8-11 “Numerous problems accompany their charge this day in the temple. (1) The law also expected that if a person witnessed another about to commit a sin, compassion required them to speak up. These witnesses stand silently, neglecting their moral obligation to give guidance to the woman. They want to catch her and use her.

“(2) We must ask if the woman is married or betrothed to another man. A woman who is sexually unfaithful to her fiancé was to be stoned to death along with her lover (John 8:5; cf. Deut. 22:23 – 24). […] In the present passage, the woman therefore must be engaged. But if so, where is her lover? If they were caught in the act, he was caught too. The accusers have permitted him to get away clean.

“(3) These witnesses bring the woman to Jesus before a crowd and heap public shame on her. They could have kept her to one side and brought her case to Jesus privately. But their approach to the problem indicates that they wish to trap Jesus, and her personal life is incidental (8:6). They have no interest in a trial. They are thinking about a public lynching, and they want Jesus to make a judgment.

“It is impossible to know what Jesus wrote in the dust (8:6). For some interpreters, Jesus was simply drawing to give himself added time. More likely, however, a detail like this had some importance. Most believe that he began to write in Hebrew some verse from the law that would shape his response to the dilemma. […]

“If his writing seemed to stall things, 8:7 indicates that these men persist to force the question of judgment on him before the crowd. Jesus responds with his often-quoted statement, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” This does not mean that this woman’s accusers must be sinless or morally perfect in order to bring charges against the woman. In such a case, accusations would be impossible at any time. […]

“But then the accusers must engage in self-examination. The world of antiquity was little different from our own when it came to sexual sins. Women who transgressed social mores could find themselves in legal jeopardy much more quickly than their partners. Jesus may thus be cutting through the double standard in order to force the men to reflect on their own hypocrisy.”[1]

vv. 31-59 “The opponents of Jesus now turn back accusations on him (8:48). If it is true that his opponents are children of the devil, then he must be a Samaritan and demon-possessed. This is a radical dishonoring. (1) “Samaritan” (see comments on John 4) refers to those people living north of Jerusalem near Shechem, who had compromised the purity of their faith. By Jesus’ day, the enmity between Jews and Samaritans was intense (Luke 10:29 – 37). This slur likely had become a curse, much like “heretic” or “unbeliever,” so Jesus does not even take the time to refute it. (2) The charge of demon-possession is far more serious (cf. also John 7:20; 8:52; 10:20). Rather than seeing God’s work in Jesus, his opponents now point to Satan. Note that this charge appears in the Synoptic Gospels as well, where Jesus considers the glib confusing of God and Satan to be serious and unforgivable (Mark 3:22 – 27).

“The climax of the entire chapter arrives at 8:58: “ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ ” The seriousness of this statement is confirmed by Jesus’ preface (lit.): “Truly, truly [Gk. amen, amen] I say to you,” a phrase Jesus uses some twenty times in the Gospel (see comment on 1:51). This is an absolute claim to preexistence anchored in the absolute “I am” (Gk. ego eimi) language we have already seen in this Gospel (cf. 4:26). “I am” possesses no predicate (as in “I am the bread of life,” 6:35) and so stands alone, no doubt echoing the Greek translation of God’s divine name given in Exodus 3:14. To exist before the birth of Abraham — and yet to stand here today — is the boldest claim Jesus has yet made.

“This reflex that cannot see God in the prophetic voice of Jesus, that rebels and fights and attacks, is the work of Satan (8:45). It is Satan’s work among religious people. It is a work that appeared within Judaism and that appears just as often within the Christian church. It is the work of darkness that is commonplace to the human heart. It is work that denies the true authority of the Son and robs him of his credentials to speak (8:13). It is work that puts Jesus before the bar of secular examination, when the examiners are discovered to be philosophers or theologians or historians (8:15). It is work that refuses to admit that his voice is not merely another human voice, but a divine voice sent by God (8:26 – 27, 40). It is work that distorts the truth, that lies about what it knows to be real, and that defends instead its own religious prerogatives (8:44). Above all, it is a voice that makes a human voice preeminent to the voice of God.”[2]

[2] Ibid.