John 8
buy generic isotretinoin online cheap Bonnie’s Notes on Dave’s Comments — John 8
First, some thoughts from Ray Comfort . . . Some challenge, “You are trying to make me feel guilty by quoting the Ten Commandments.” If you feel guilty when you hear one of the commandments, why do you think that is? Could it be because you are guilty? God gave us our conscience so we would know when we break His law. That’s the function of the law: to condemn. Some may say that we shouldn’t condemn anyone, when all the Law does is reveal to the sinner that he is “condemned already” (John 3:18). The Law shows him his danger and therefore his desperate need for a Saviour.
The first controversy here is from Chapter 7:53-8:11 which are not found in some modern texts. Apparently some ancients think a few theologians objected to this account as Jesus giving slack toward adultery, so some manuscripts were corrupted by deleting this passage. The majority include it. These verses do appear in the majority of Greek texts, especially in what we term the “Received Text,” the basis of the KJV. In short, trust your English Bible, the KJV.
These events took place following Jesus’ observance of the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem. He returned to the Temple early the next day where He sat down and taught the common people.
v. 1-2 — The people came to Him. He didn’t need tricks to attract them. How unlike the modern churches that try all kinds of worldly entertainments to attract visitors!
v. 3-11 — Doesn’t it seem a great coincidence that the woman was caught in adultery right at this convenient time to exhibit her in the Temple? The charge is adultery, meaning she was apparently married or a prostitute having relations with a married man. The exhibition of this woman was unlawful. There were courts for these situations. It’s clear that the motive for the Pharisees was to trap Jesus. He is not the right person to bring her to. It is a test by the religious leaders. Look at Deut. 22:22. Where is the guy or the grieved spouse of either? It’s morning so it’s clearly a set up job. Maybe one of the participants is a Pharisee or Temple employee.
If Jesus says stone her, He’s in trouble with the Romans who rule. If He gives mercy, He’s going against Jewish law. He doesn’t even answer their query. Instead, He writes on the ground which is most likely made of stone. You will recall that the 10 Commandments were written by God’s finger on stone tablets. Morris says “It would have been profoundly significant to the woman’s accusers, as well as profoundly stirring and convicting, if Jesus also was seen writing out these Commandments instead of speaking. The account does not say what He wrote, of course, but this would seem to be the most probable suggestion.”
We don’t know what He wrote — maybe the Commandments, or maybe some of the sins of the questioners — but, we can use this technique too. To a challenge, “What about those hypocrites?” You might reply, “How about you and your sin?”
Here’s a common objection and Ray Comfort’s answer. “ [Someone says] ‘Jesus didn’t condemn the woman caught in the act of adultery, but condemned those who judged her. Therefore, you shouldn’t judge others.’ The Christian is not ‘judging others’ but simply telling the world of God’s judgment — that God (not the Christian) has judged all the world as being guilty before Him (Rom. 3:19,23). Jesus was able to offer that woman forgiveness for her sin, because He was on His way to die on the cross for her. She acknowledged Him as ‘Lord,’ but He still told her, ‘Go and sin no more.’ If she didn’t repent, she would perish.”
In fact, Jesus delegates judgment to us as well. For example, many laws on the books still are against adultery but not used or prosecuted. They should have been concerned to elicit the woman’s repentance. Even Achan in the Old Testament was allowed to repent before his death. In this case, the religious leaders want Jesus to sanction their laws. In effect they are testing Him by saying, “Moses said thus and such, what do you say?”
Matthew Henry points out that the Lord is about His greater work, that was, to bring sinners to repentance. His desire was not to destroy but to save. He aimed to bring the woman to repentance and to show her mercy.
In execution by stoning (the prescribed form of capital punishment according to Hebrew law), the eldest throws the first stone. Notice that the accusers left in order of age, the eldest leaving first. These men had enough conscience left to feel remorse/guilt. Jesus appointed the executioner to be “he that is without sin.” The eldest being convicted first, they begin the “exodus of the executioners” in order.
The woman says no man has accused her. Jesus knows she has sinned and that she has a changed heart according the Scripture because she calls him “Lord.” He tells her to go and do right. We see Romans 8:1-10 exhibited here.
Sorenson makes a good point here. “He [Jesus] understood that she was a pawn used to entrap Him. However, it is noteworthy though Jesus condemned sexual sin, He often was far more harsh in His condemnation of sins of the spirit such as pride, unbelief, hypocrisy, and hardness of heart. In Jesus’ eight-fold condemnation of sin in Matthew 23, not one of the eight woes were of sexual sin. They were all of spiritual sin. So often to this day we are willing to condemn one who has entered into sexual sin and ignore those who practice the less visible sins of the heart and spirit. Both are wrong but the evidence of the New Testament is that God views spiritual sins as the worse.”
v. 12 — Here is another “I am” — the light. See also Is. 60:1-3. Look at Is. 9:2. (All of chapter 9 is Messianic prophecy). Also Ps. 36:9 / Ps. 27:1 / Ps. 104:2. During the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a brilliant candelabra in the Temple court, commemorating the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Twice before in the book of John, Jesus is presented as the true light of God (Jn. 1:4-9 and 3:19-21).
v. 13-15 — The Pharisees object to the Lord’s statement. He accuses them of not knowing the truth. He is telling them they are lost. “I judge no man” [yet!] — it’s not time.
Sorenson says if He did decide to judge, it would be true. The reason he says this is that the Father bears witness with Him meeting the criteria of the law in that “the testimony of two men is true.” See also Jn. 5:37.
v. 19 — Paul says similar words in Hebrews 1. The only way to know the Father is to know Jesus. All things are in the hands of God and He decides the time of our departure. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” — Ecc. 3:1.
v. 21-24 — You are lost. “You cannot come” may mean the cross, His visit to Hades, His ascension etc. We can’t know for sure but we do know there is no entrance to heaven if you die in your sins. The cure is to believe He is the I AM (Jehovah).
Perhaps “beneath” refers to more than just earth but, these men are associated with hell. Being from above has the sense of being from on high. They are of the world and the world belongs to Satan. Hell was made for Satan and his followers, but if men don’t repent and believe, they will be there with him. He’s being strong here in His language. He doesn’t answer them the way they want. Neither do they determine what He will say. It’s a good lesson for us when we deal with people. Sometimes evasion of a profitless line of discussion is appropriate and keeping the conversation on useful spiritual things is important.
v. 27 — They just aren’t getting it. They are probably not wanting to or trying to understand that His reference to the Father is God.
v. 29 — Jesus is claiming sinless perfection which is doing the will of the Father always. This is also instructive to us on how to live and walk with God — do His commandments.
v. 30 — Many believed. Some believed to salvation but probably many more who would continue to check Him out further, having not made up their minds yet. It doesn’t look like many of the Pharisees or scribes believed.
Matthew Henry says it this way: “Christ spoke of spiritual liberty; but carnal hearts feel no other grievances than those that molest the body, and distress their worldly affairs. Talk to them of their liberty and property, tell them of waste committed upon their lands, or damage done to their houses, and they understand you very well; but speak of the bondage of sin, captivity to Satan, and liberty by Christ; tell of wrong done to their precious souls, and the hazard of their eternal welfare, then you bring strange things to their ears. Jesus plainly reminded them, that the man who practiced any sin was in fact, a slave to that sin, which was the case with most of them.” He had the power to free them from sin if they wanted “but often we see persons disputing about liberty of every kind, while they are slaves to some sinful lust. “
A. N. Martin said, “The moment God’s Law ceases to be the most powerful factor in influencing the moral sensitivity of any individual or nation, there will be indifference to Divine wrath, and when indifference comes in, it always brings in its train indifference to salvation.”
v. 31, 32 — Here’s a test for all believers. If you stay faithful then you prove you are a real disciple. The word “believe” has many meanings. Here it’s more than head knowledge and produces actions recognizable as obedience to Christ and His commandments. The truth will make you free of sin, not from bondage to other nations. Remember these Jews were looking for freedom from their Roman oppressor. The freedom Christ offers is to get out from under the penalty of sin — condemnation and eternity in hell. Sorenson says the word “know” in this verse “has the sense of experiential knowledge. That is, knowing the truth from personal experience. It is more than just an academic exercise. Continuing in God’s Word to the point it soaks into one’s heart, altering one’s living, is the level of truth which liberates one from sin. . . make free is a reference to being ‘set free from slavery’” referred to in verse 34.
v. 33 — This one is a lie! What about their bondage to the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans?
v. 34 — Sin is addictive. It’s an ongoing continual life pattern. By indulging over and over we become slaves to it. The truth holds whether we are talking about a specific sin or to sin in general.
v. 35 — Servants don’t inherit or own the place where they serve/live. A servant cannot be freed by another servant but, the lord of the household or the son of the lord could give him his freedom. A servant of sin will die and leave this body of sin. To be free forever, we must connect with the Son who has the authority to break the bondage. Even as a disciple, we can be free from the bondage of sin, different than we were before, a new creature.
v. 36 — How do you get to know the Son? The Word of God is so very important. Plays, ceremonies, special programs cannot be a substitute. So many churches today get distracted in performance and entertainment services that they are no longer teaching the Word. Therefore, they no longer know Christ. Nothing is as strong an influence as the written Word seen visually by the reader. Have you noticed how few people even take a Bible to church? The common practice is to put the verses up on a screen. Most churches who do this use multiple incorrect translations to be even more confusing. Visual aids can be a distraction to keep us from really thinking on our own.
v. 38,39 — See Eph. 2:1-3. We were all the children of wrath. In reality, the Pharisees are the children of Satan who is their father, even though they claim Abraham. It is interesting that they don’t do the work of Abraham who obeyed God in faith and believed such that it was counted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). If they were truly Abraham’s seed they would have his same spiritual character. See also Gal. 3:29 and Rom. 4 which explain Abraham’s righteousness apart from the law. Anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ is the son of the devil and his crowd. There are only two teams. Make sure you are on the right one!
v. 41, 42 — The discussion heats up here. The people provoked Jesus to this toughness by their attitude. They accuse him of being a product of fornication so they obviously knew something of His background. At the same time, they show their understanding of His use of the word Father as meaning God. Jesus proceeds to tell them precisely where He came from, making it clear that when He uses the word “Father,” it means God. Unfortunately, the Pharisees are not listening with faithful or spiritual ears to learn truth. Notice the Lord’s manner when He speaks. He tailors His messages for the people and their attitude. When they are tough, He is tough. When they are gentle, He is gentle.
v. 44 — Volumes could certainly be written about this verse and all of its implications! Satan is a murderer from the beginning. He set up to kill the human race. Jesus says he is guilty. Satan will lie even when he doesn’t have to! Politicians are a good example of this. Lying has become their nature — a servant to that particular sin. Lying is addictive too.
Morris puts it this way. “As the father of lies, the devil deceived our first parents with the lie that they would become ‘as gods’ through obeying his word rather than God’s Word (Gen. 3:1-5). This lie of ‘humanism’ — that men and women, as the apex of the evolutionary process, are the true gods of the word — has been deceiving and drawing people away from the true God of creation ever since. It has assumed various forms in different times and places, but it is always essentially the same old lie of Satan, ‘which deceiveth the whole world’ (Rev. 12:9). Thus, he is the author of the great lie of evolution, seeking to understand and control the world without its Creator. He has thereby deceived himself first of all, convinced himself that both he and God had evolved out of the primeval chaos, as in all the ancient mythical theories which he must have taught his own earliest human children.”
Sorenson describes Satan as perverse. “. . . he is a pathological liar. His entire kingdom is built upon deceit. Throughout the book of Revelation, he is on seven occasions referred to as a deceiver. He deceived himself as recorded in Is. 14:12-14 in thinking he could be like God. He lied to Eve in the
Garden of Eden . . . he urged Cain to murder his brother . . . lied to Jesus in the wilderness . . . He is not only a liar but he father of all lies. That should give pause for concern when we are tempted to lie. It reveals the ultimate source of all dishonesty.”
v. 45-47 — He gets them coming and going in this verse. The challenge is “ if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? If I don’t say the truth, than refute it if you can.” They didn’t want to hear the truth. The Lord challenges them to think about their own motives. Those who are of God, hear His words. Others may hear the words, but it doesn’t register with them spiritually. To put it in scientific terms, they are not on the same frequency.
v. 48 — Here is another personal attack rather than answering the question. We typically avoid answering questions that will mean we would have to admit we were wrong. A Samaritan is not a real Jew so again they question his legitimacy. In fact, they know He is not a Samaritan, but this is a very serious insult so they hurl it at Him along with the accusation of being demon possessed.
v. 49 — Jesus won’t team up with those that dishonor God. Neither should we even if it would be to fight important causes.
v. 51 — This is referring to the second death for we all know that everyone dies at least once. The second death would be after the Great White Throne judgment.
v. 52-54 — Can’t you hear the venom in their voices here? They throw great insults at Him. Neither do they quote Him correctly. Red letters in some Bibles would be inappropriate here, since Jesus did not say these words (last part of verse 52). Jesus takes what they say and uses it against them. He says He is from God and they claim that God is their Father also. What is implied is that their claim is bogus. They may know about God but they do not know Him.
v. 55 — Faith and works together are the characteristics by which we can recognize true believers.
v. 56 — Saints in Paradise may have been aware of the Incarnation or maybe it means the times Abraham saw God in his life – the angels that visited him, the Lord going to Sodom and Gomorrah, when Melchisedek appeared to him.
Morris adds that “Abraham evidently saw ‘the day’ of Christ when ‘the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision’ (Gen 15:1). On that occasion, the Lord had said, ‘I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward,’ and this was the very first of the great ‘I AM’ statements of the Bible. This vision of the Word of the Lord was Christ, of course, in a pre-incarnate theophany.”
Some other references to the “I AM’s” are Ex. 3:14, John 8:58, Rev. 1:18.
v. 58 — Jesus speaks in the same language that Moses hears in Ex. 3. He reveals Abraham as the creature and Himself as the Creator. Matthew Henry says, “I AM, is the name of God . . . it speaks of his self-existence; he is the First and the Last, ever the same, Revelation 1:8. Thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds, Proverbs 8:23; John 1:1. As Mediator, he was the appointed Messiah, long before Abraham; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8.”
Sorenson: “There is further potent ‘play’ on words here. The Old Testament name Jehovah is the first person singular of the Hebrew verb ‘to be.’ This is precisely the same very conjugation Jesus used here though recorded in Greek. Jesus in effect equated Himself with Jehovah God. His incensed enemies did not miss the significance.”
v. 59 — Now there is no confusion! They pick up stones to throw. It is not His time and so He escapes into the crowd. Perhaps there was a miracle of “selective sight,” invisibility, or blindness so that none saw Him. He does not work at drawing crowds or influencing mass numbers of people. However, in His dialogues with people, He warns them as if their house is on fire and they need saving.
There are a lot of connections with things in this chapter and things that Paul says in his various epistles. The important things of Scripture are repeated for our benefit and worth knowing.
~~Bonnie