John · chapter 8 of 21
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John 8 gathers several scenes in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus does not condemn a woman caught in adultery, declares himself the light of the world, promises that the truth will set free those who remain in his word, and claims that he existed before Abraham. His hearers pick up stones to stone him, but he hides and leaves the temple.
John 8 continues the debates of the Feast of Booths from chapter 7. Here Jesus' words become more and more direct about his identity and his relationship with the Father. At the same time the tension rises: his conversation partners move from disagreement to open hostility. The chapter contains some of Jesus' strongest claims in the whole Gospel.
Jesus spends the night on the Mount of Olives and at dawn teaches in the temple. The scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery and ask whether they should stone her, as Moses' law says, in order to trap him. Jesus bends down and writes on the ground; when they keep asking, he says that whoever is without sin should throw the first stone. One by one they leave, beginning with the oldest. Alone with the woman, Jesus asks where her accusers are. She answers that there is no one, and he says he does not condemn her either, and she should go and sin no more.
In the temple Jesus says he is the light of the world, and whoever follows him will not walk in darkness. The Pharisees object that his testimony is not valid; he answers that he knows where he comes from and where he is going, and that the Father who sent him also bears witness. He then says he is going away and they cannot come where he goes. Jesus tells them that if they do not believe that he is, they will die in their sins. Many believe in him.
To the Jews who believed he says that if they remain in his word they are truly his disciples, will know the truth and the truth will set them free. They protest that they are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves. Jesus answers that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, and that the Son can make them truly free. If they were Abraham's children, they would do Abraham's works; instead they do the works of their father the devil, a liar and murderer from the beginning.
Jesus says that whoever keeps his word will never see death. When they ask whether he is greater than Abraham, he answers that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and that before Abraham was, he is. Then they pick up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hides and goes out of the temple.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus invites whoever is without sin to throw the first stone. The answer does not deny the seriousness of the woman's sin, but it exposes the sin of all her accusers and breaks their trap.
Jesus declares himself the light of the world and promises that whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. The image recalls the lamps of the Feast of Booths and presents Jesus as guide and source of life.
Knowing the truth sets free those who remain in Jesus' word. The freedom he offers is not first political or social, but liberation from slavery to sin.
Jesus says that before Abraham existed, he is. The use of I am in the present recalls the name by which God revealed himself to Moses, and his hearers understand it so clearly that they pick up stones.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That the one without sin should throw the first stone. — John 8:7
Answer: That he did not condemn her either, and she should go and sin no more. — John 8:10-11
Answer: That he is the light of the world, and whoever follows him will not walk in darkness. — John 8:12
Answer: It will set you free. — John 8:32
Answer: That he is a slave to sin. — John 8:34
Answer: That before Abraham was, he is; they picked up stones to throw at him. — John 8:58-59
The scene with the woman shows Jesus' balance: he does not minimize sin, but neither does he crush the person. It calls us to avoid both the harshness of the accusers and indifference. Before pointing at others, it is wise to look at our own hearts; and when we walk with someone who has fallen, to offer Jesus' grace together with his call to a new life.
The promise of the truth that sets free still stands. In a group you can ask what chains, habits or fears keep us enslaved, and what it means to remain in Jesus' word to find freedom. It is not our own effort but a relationship with the Son, who can make us truly free.
John 8 ends with Jesus leaving the temple after claiming that he existed before Abraham. In John 9, as he walks along, he will see a man blind from birth and show by a healing what it means to be the light of the world.
Many Bibles place it in brackets or with a note, because the oldest Greek manuscripts do not include it and some place it elsewhere. Many Christians consider it an authentic account from Jesus' life preserved in the church. Whatever one's view, its message of grace fits the rest of the Gospel.
The text does not say. Many ideas have been proposed, but none is certain. What matters is Jesus' attitude: he is not hurried, lets the accusers examine themselves and then speaks with the woman alone.
Jesus uses the verb in the present tense to say that he existed before Abraham, not merely that he was born earlier. Many readers see an allusion to the divine name God gave himself to Moses in Exodus 3. That is why his hearers react as to blasphemy.