< John 8 >

The scribes and Pharisees v.3John 8:3XWaiting for response tried to trick Jesus v.6John 8:6XWaiting for response by bringing to him a woman “taken in adultery” but, while they remained unrepentant in their own sins which Jesus exposed, he showed that we can be forgiven our sins if we confess and forsake them - if we obey the instruction “Go, and sin no more” v.11.John 8:11XWaiting for response

The rest of the chapter records the ensuing discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees v.13John 8:13XWaiting for response about paternity because Jesus declared that God, his Father, bore witness to him by the mighty works he did v.18.John 8:18XWaiting for response They claimed, as Abraham’s seed v.33,John 8:33XWaiting for response that Abraham was their father v.39.John 8:39XWaiting for response Jesus acknowledged they were Abraham’s seed v.37John 8:37XWaiting for response because they were his natural descendants but by their deeds they proved they were not really his children: “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham” vs.39-40.John 8:39-40XWaiting for response The Jews then raised their claims to declare: “We have one Father, even God” v.41,John 8:41XWaiting for response but Jesus showed that if God was truly their father they would have loved him because he was the Son of God v.42,John 8:42XWaiting for response although he expressed this in terms they failed to understand v.43.John 8:43XWaiting for response Those, however, who do listen to his word with the right attitude of mind can understand his speech v.43.John 8:43XWaiting for response

The Pharisees' real father was Sin, as Jesus said: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” v.44.John 8:44XWaiting for response They allowed free rein to their sinful flesh and manifested they were, not only sin’s children, but also the slaves of sin v.34.John 8:34XWaiting for response On the other hand Jesus, although a partaker of our sinful nature, overcame sin so that he could challenge them: “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” v.46.John 8:46XWaiting for response They expressed the mind of the flesh, but Jesus spoke the word of God v.38.John 8:38XWaiting for response

The Pharisees implied that Jesus was “born of fornication”, no doubt referring to the unusual circumstances of his birth which they did not rightly understand, but Jesus’ miracles proved that he came from God v.42John 8:42XWaiting for response and bore witness to the fact that God was his Father v.18.John 8:18XWaiting for response But they did not know Jesus’ Father v.19John 8:19XWaiting for response even though they claimed he was their God v.54.John 8:54XWaiting for response Jesus submitted himself to his Father: doing and saying nothing except that taught by him v.28;John 8:28XWaiting for response honouring not himself but his Father v.54,John 8:54XWaiting for response and always doing the things which pleased him v.29.John 8:29XWaiting for response The Jews, however, neither understood his speech v.43John 8:43XWaiting for response nor that he was was speaking of God v.27.John 8:27XWaiting for response Many other people have wrested the words of Jesus recorded here and misunderstood them.

Jesus told the the Jews: “Whither I go ye cannot come” v.21John 8:21XWaiting for response which they did not understand v.22,John 8:22XWaiting for response but he was declaring he would go to his Father in heaven where no other man can go. He said to them: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” v.23.John 8:23XWaiting for response Through Adam they had come from the earth beneath, but through the Holy Spirit coming on Mary Jesus had come from heaven above. They conformed to this world while he was in the world but not of it, as he desired his disciples to be John 17:16John 17:16XWaiting for response if they too are to be the children of God, “for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” 1 John 2:16.1 John 2:16XWaiting for response

A scripture commonly wrested is: “Before Abraham was, I am” v.58.John 8:58XWaiting for response This is supposed to mean that Jesus existed before Abraham whereas, consistent with the context, Jesus is declaring that he was in God’s purpose from the very beginning and was spoken of before Abraham’s day. The phrase “I am” occurs in this book a great number of times and on each occurrence with a complement telling us what the speaker was. For example, Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd” and “I am the bread of life”. If there is no complement, the translators have added the word “he” in italics to give the sentence grammatical sense. For example: Jesus said “I am he” meaning “I am he whom ye seek” John 18:5;John 18:5XWaiting for response and, the blind man given sight said “I am he” meaning “I am he that was born blind” John 9:9.John 9:9XWaiting for response For some reason, however, the translators did not do the same in this verse, but had they done so everyone would have readily understood from the context that when Jesus said “I am he” he meant “I am he whose day Abraham rejoiced to see” v.56.John 8:56XWaiting for response Indeed Jesus was spoken of by God to Abraham as his seed, so that Abraham longed for the day when he would be born, but Jesus was also spoken of centuries “before Abraham was”, e.g. as the seed of the woman promised in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15).Genesis 3:15XWaiting for response