John 8: 39-47, Abraham's Children

The Pharisees has challenged Jesus to identify his father. Jesus responds by saying that they have never known him or his father, else they would act differently.

John 8: 39-47, Abraham's children
“Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 
40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 
41 You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 
43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 
45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 
46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 
47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

The Pharisees fall back on their religious elitism -- Abraham our father!
Not really, says Jesus, for you do not follow God as Abraham did.  You have a different father!
"We are not illegitimate!" shout the Pharisees (emphasis on "We", suggesting maybe that Jesus is.)
Jesus responds, as before, that if they were really following God, they would recognize Him. Instead they follow the author of lies, the original murderer.

In verse 39 (according to the NIV footnotes) some early manuscripts have a slightly different wording.  Instead of  the sentence which begins "If you were Abraham's children, then you would do ... " we have "If you are Abraham's children, then do...."  The subtle difference here is that Jesus might not be accusing the Jews of abandoning Abraham but instead be encouraging them to follow Abraham's model.  This subtle change in the mood of the verbs occurs in other places in John. The NIV footnotes from time to time allow a slightly different interpretation, in which "You should have done X" could be replaced by "You should be doing X."

The leaders' response, "We are not illegitimate children" may emphasize the first word, hinting that although they are legitimate, Jesus, born to a woman pregnant before her marriage, is not. Jesus insists that paternity is important, but he is speaking of a spiritual paternity -- one can be a child of God, or one can be a child of Satan.

John 8: 27-38, Abraham's descendants

Jesus has been speaking to the Pharisees, claiming God as his Father. In the most recent teaching, he has spoken of the One who sent him.

John 8: 27, Still confused

They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.

Despite the allusions to God, the Pharisees wonder if someone else has sent Jesus to preach to them.

John 8: 28-32, The Son of Man and truth

So Jesus said, “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 but speak just what the Father has taught me.
29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 

30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus represents God and acts as God in human form.  He is the "Son of Man" (that is, the Messiah).

The gospel writer reports that in these conversations, Jesus does pick up believers and he promises those believers that the truth (about him) sets them free (from darkness.)

John 8: 33-38, God's true family
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 
37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 
38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

Although currently under the Roman thumb, and previously captives of Babylon and then controlled by Ptolemaic rulers, the Pharisees maintain a fiction that they have never been slaves of anyone. This lie is irrelevant, for they are "slaves to sin", under the control of their own selfish passions. Later, the former Pharisee, Paul, will elaborate on this in Romans 7: 14-25.  (Paul will also describe the privileges of being a son/daughter, no longer a slave, in God's family in Galatians 4: 1-6.)

John 8: 19-27, Jesus' Father

In the temple courts, Jesus has said that he is the light of world, offering light out of the darkness. When the Pharisees dispute this, Jesus claims he is fulfilling the mission given him by the Father. The Pharisees pounce on that comment.

John 8: 19-20, Paternity questions
Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 
20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

The religious leaders respond to Jesus's claims with a leer.  "Where is your father?" may be a reference to Jesus's birth to a woman pregnant before her marriage.

Jesus responds by assuring them that they do not know him or his father.  The gospel writer adds that even those these statements were public, in the temple courtyard, it was not yet time for the authorities to seize him. This visit to Jerusalem had begun with an issue of timing and that issue continues.

John 8: 21-27, I go away
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “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; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 
26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 

Jesus will go away eventually and the leaders will have lost an opportunity to embrace the Messiah. Jesus means that he will eventually, after his death and resurrection, ascend to heaven, but this is missed, of course.  Jesus has to explain that he is from "above" (heaven) while they deny the very God they claim to worship.

Jesus continues to challenge the Jerusalem authorities, who rely on their Jewish ancestry for their righteousness. Jesus identifies himself as sent by God, who is trustworthy.  But they don't understand and wonder who it is that might have sent him to them!

John 8: 12-18, The Light of the World

Jesus has been preaching in Jerusalem, in the temple courts.

John 8: 12-18, Light of the world
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 
15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 
16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 
17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 
18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

In these dramatic statements, Jesus offers special light, eternal light, out of human darkness.  Those who follow him leave that darkness, living in light. In the other gospels, Jesus invites people to join the kingdom of God.  The invitation here is similar... and different.

Of course, the religious leaders challenge him, for they claim to be represent Judaism. Jesus responds that his words are valid, that he has a special calling, a special path and relationship with God. So he has made a claim as a witness, but God does also.

In verse 15, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of judging others, and doing it poorly.  He, on the other hand, does not judge (not at this time) but offers light and healing.

I don't really understand the "two testimony" argument. One could argue that God has already testified for Jesus in Old Testament prophesy and in some of Jesus's miracles.  But Jesus also insists on testifying publicly, clearly, as to who he is.

John 7:53 - 8:11, A Woman Caught in Adultery

John's gospel reports another incident near Jerusalem.

Verse 53 of chapter 7 and the first 11 verses of the next chapter are not in the earliest copies of the Gospel of John. They were possibly added at a later date.  The NIV footnotes say that some manuscripts include this material in other places in the gospels, including after John 7:36 or John 21:25 or even in the gospel of Luke.

John 7:53 - 8:6a, A woman caught in adultery
53 Then they all went home,
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 
4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
According to this account, while the people go home, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives, just outside Jerusalem.  Presumably he spent the night there and this seemed to be a favorite place.

He returns to the outer temple courts at dawn and begins to teach.  Suddenly some men drag in a woman, "caught in the very act".  One has to wonder how that occurred; the Pharisees are eager to press this case on Jesus, so I suspect these men have planned this previously. Was she a prostitute that they knew well?

Their penalty for her sin is execution and one has to wonder: (1) How did they catch her?  (2) What happened to her adulterous partner?

Whether this is in the original documents are not, this fits the image of Jesus as one more concerned about individuals than the Law. The Pharisees are eager to pounce on his tendency to be understanding and forgiving. Is he going to go against Moses? Will her death be on his hands?

John 8:6b-11, Jesus responds
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 
8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 
10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

But in response to their questions, Jesus says nothing!  He merely writes in the dirt.  (We don't know what he wrote.  Some have suggested he wrote out some of the sins of those around him.)  Eventually Jesus stands up and confronts the men.  His answer neither approves or rejects the Mosaic law but rejects the spirit of the legalistic religious men.  Sure, they can stone her, as long as they are without sin.  Then he stoops to write some more and the men begin to leave.  The oldest and wisest leave first, as if they are first to understand his response and have no desire to continue in the charade.

At the end, Jesus does confront the woman.  Privately. Whatever she has been doing is wrong; she is to leave that life, free from his condemnation.  This is a beautiful story and I can understand why it appears in one of the gospels.

John 8, Light of the World (Overview)

John's gospel reports another incident near Jerusalem.

John 8: 1-11, The woman caught in adultery
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said. "

Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

This woman has been set up, caught "in the very act", by a number of Jewish men. They have dragged her before Jesus, hoping to trap him. Note that their penalty for her sin is execution and one has to wonder: (1) How did they catch her?  (2) What happened to her adulterous partner?
But Jesus says nothing!  He merely writes in the dirt until the men begin to leave.  The oldest and wisest leave first, as if they are first to understand his response.

What did Jesus write in the dirt?

This passage does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of John's gospel.  It was likely added later. Still, it certainly fits with Jesus's ministry, as the gospels record a number of similar events.

John 8: 12-18, Light of the world
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."

Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.

In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."

I don't really understand the "two testimony" argument. One could argue that God has already testified for Jesus in Old Testament prophesy and in some of Jesus's miracles.  But Jesus also insists on testifying publicly, loudly, as to who he is.

John 8: 19-20, Paternity questions
Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "

You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."  He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

The religious leaders respond to Jesus's claims with a leer.  "Where is your father?" may be a reference to Jesus's birth to a woman pregnant before her marriage.

John 8: 21-27, I go away
Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."

This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, `Where I go, you cannot come'?" 

But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."

"Who are you?" they asked. 

"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."

They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.

Jesus continues to challenge the Jerusalem authorities, who rely on their Jewish ancestry for their righteousness.

John 8: 28-32, The Son of Man and truth

So Jesus said, "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 but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."

Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Jesus represents God and acts as God in human form.

John 8: 33-38, God's true family
They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

"I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."

Although currently under the Roman thumb, and previously captives of Babylon and then controlled by Ptolemaic rulers, the Pharisees maintain a fiction that they have never been slaves of anyone. This lie is irrelevant, for they are "slaves to sin", under the control of their own selfish passions. Later, the former Pharisee, Paul, will elaborate on this in Romans 7: 14-25.  (Paul will also describe the privileges of being a son/daughter, no longer a slave, in God's family in Galatians 4: 1-6.)

John 8: 39-47, Abraham's children
"Abraham is our father," they answered. 

"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.

You are doing the things your own father does." 

"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself."

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

In verse 39 (according to the NIV footnotes) some early manuscripts have a slightly different wording.  Instead of  the sentence which begins "If you were Abraham's children, then you would do ... " we have "If you are Abraham's children, then do...."  The subtle difference here is that Jesus might not be accusing the Jews of abandoning Abraham but instead be encouraging them to follow Abraham's model.  This subtle change in the mood of the verbs occurs in other places in John. The NIV footnotes from time to time allow a slightly different interpretation, in which "You should have done X" could be replaced by "You should be doing X."

The leaders' response, "We are not illegitimate children" may emphasize the first word, hinting that although they are legitimate, Jesus, born to a woman pregnant before her marriage, is not. Jesus insists that paternity is important, but he is speaking of a spiritual paternity -- one can be a child of God, or one can be a child of Satan.

John 8: 48-51, Demon-possessed and Samaritan!
The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?"

"I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.  I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

The Jews make a racial slur, "You are a Samaritan", and then throw in "demon-possessed".  Jesus denies the demon-possession but ignores the Samaritan charge.  Then he returns the conversation to his previous claims to (1) obey the Father and (2) offer eternal life.

John 8: 52-59, Before Abraham, I AM
At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.  Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"

Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.  Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word.

"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

The Jewish leaders first respond to Jesus's claim that one can avoid death.  "Ha!" they say, "Even Abraham died".  But they misunderstand Jesus's meaning.  This allows Jesus to discuss Abraham further.  When the Jews sarcastically asked, have you seen Abraham, Jesus says, "Yes!"  He then goes on claim to have existed before Abraham.  But he says more than that.  When Moses, before a burning bush in the Wilderness (Exodus 3: 13-14), asked for God's name, God responded with "I am!" Jesus uses that same phrase, identifying himself with God. The Jews catch this meaning and prepare to stone him for blasphemy. But Jesus hides, then slips away.

Meditation question.  What does it mean for God-in-the-flesh to first "hide" and then "slip away"? Why would God run?

John 7: 44-53, Division and Support

Jesus has recently healed a man on the Sabbath and speaking out in temple courts, has drawn the ire of the Jewish leaders.

John 7: 43-49, Guards delayed
Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 
44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 
48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 
49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

Some people think Jesus is a heretic or is blasphemous -- he does makes some outrageous claims! -- and others think he is the Messiah.  But the temple guards are not eager to arrest him; he is not the typical troublemaker.

The Pharisees scold the temple guards for being so concerned about the rabble who "know nothing"!  The guards are told to obey the elite religious leaders, who claim to represent Truth.

John 7: 50-53, Nicodemus expresses support
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 
51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
53 Then they all went home,

Nicodemus, featured in the third chapter of John's gospel, defends Jesus.  Nicodemus simply asks, "Can't we hear him out?" The Pharisees don't respond to the question of Nicodemus.  Instead they ridicule him. That seems to be their standard response to challenges to their authority.

Verse 53 and the first 11 verses of the next chapter are not in the earliest copies of the Gospel of John. They were possibly added at a later date.  The NIV footnotes say that some manuscripts include this material in other places in the gospels, including after John 7:36 or John 21:25 or in the gospel of Luke!