John 8 - Notes

This chapter shows Christ in conflict with the Jewish leaders and presents a series of important contrasts.

I. Light and Darkness (8:1–20)

The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to Jesus in the court of the women, in the treasury section of the temple (v. 20). Their motive was to test Him (v. 6) and force Him into a dilemma. If He set the woman free, He violated Moses’ law (; ); if He had her stoned, He could not claim to be One who forgives sins. Arthur Pink suggests that Christ wrote on the ground with His finger twice to remind them of the two tablets of the Law, written with the finger of God (; ; ). The Jews sinned, and Moses broke the first stone tablets on the ground; but God forgave their sin, provided blood sacrifices, and gave them another set of tablets. Christ died for the sins of this woman and was able to forgive her.

The great I AM statement in v. 12 follows this incident. As the Light of the world, Christ claimed to be God, for God is light (). Darkness speaks of death, ignorance, and sin; light speaks of life, knowledge, and holiness. The light reproves sin (). The lost sinner lives in darkness (; ; ) and will spend eternity in darkness () if he rejects Christ. The Jews, instead of submitting to Christ, argued with Him in the temple!

II. Heaven and Earth (8:21–30)

There are two births: from above, being born again by God’s Spirit, and from this world, being born of the flesh. And there are two ways to die: the sinner dies in his sins, but the believer dies in the Lord (). Faith in Jesus Christ makes the difference.

Jesus told the Jews that He came from heaven; the Father sent Him (v. 26), taught Him (v. 28), and remained with Him (v. 29). The Father forsook His Son only when Christ was made sin for us on the cross. In v. 28, Christ spoke of being “lifted up,” which means, of course, crucifixion. He had mentioned this to Nicodemus in 3:14–16, and He would mention it again in 12:32–34.

III. Freedom and Slavery (8:31–40)

The Jews who believed (v. 30) were admonished to prove their faith by their faithfulness. Faith in Christ makes one a child of God, but abiding in the Word and knowing the truth (and living it) makes one a true disciple of the kingdom. Christ is speaking about spiritual, not physical or political, bondage and liberty. The lost sinner is in bondage to lusts and sins (), to Satan, and to the world (). By receiving the truth in Christ, slaves are set free!

Jesus’ opponents, of course, appealed to their human advantages: “We are Abraham’s children!” They said the same thing to John the Baptist (). Jesus made a distinction between Abraham’s fleshly seed (v. 37) and Abraham’s spiritual children (v. 39). Paul makes the same distinction in , , and 9:6, as well as in .

People reject Jesus because they confuse the physical and the spiritual. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about a spiritual birth, but he asked about a physical birth (). Christ offered the woman at the well eternal life (living water), but she talked about literal physical water (4:15). Salvation is a spiritual experience, and human birth has nothing to do with it.

IV. Children of God and Children of Satan (8:41–47)

The Bible speaks of four different kinds of “spiritual children.” We are born by nature children of wrath (); when we reach the age of accountability and deliberately sin, we become children of disobedience (). When we put faith in Christ, we become the children of God (). But the person who finally rejects the Savior and prefers self-righteousness (the devil’s substitute) becomes a child of the devil. (See , , where the children of the devil are portrayed as counterfeit Christians.) Jesus pointed out the characteristics of the children of the devil:

A. They will not give place to the Word of God (v. 37).

B. They trust in the flesh—human birth, works (v. 39).

C. They hate Christ and seek to kill Him (vv. 40, 44).

Satan is a murderer and his children imitate him.

D. They do not love Christ or the things of Christ (v. 42).

E. They do not understand the Word—blinded by Satan (v. 43).

F. They are liars and love lies more than the truth (v. 44).

G. They will not hear the Word of God; they hate it (v. 47).

Remember, these “children of the devil” were not grossly immoral people; they were self-righteous religious people who rejected Christ. Many people today are deluded by Satan into an outward form of godliness that lacks the power of the Gospel, but these people think they are truly saved and going to heaven.

V. Honor and Dishonor (8:48–59)

God honors His Son, but self-righteous men dishonor Him. They dishonored Him verbally by calling Him a Samaritan and by accusing Him of having a devil. (Samaritans were the scum of the earth to the Jews.) Jesus told them that Abraham saw His day and rejoiced. How did Abraham see Christ’s day? By faith (). He glimpsed at Christ’s redemptive work when he offered Isaac on the altar (). God shared many secrets with His friend Abraham because of his faith and obedience ().

When the bright light of God’s Word shines on hearts, men must either accept it and be saved, or reject it and be lost. See how these religious Jews hated Christ and sought to kill Him! This was proof indeed that they were children of Satan, the murderer. Jesus claimed to be Jehovah God when He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM” (see v. 58; also ). In v. 24, He also said, “For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (NKJV ). In v. 28, He said, “When you have lifted up [on the cross] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am” (NIV ). Satan’s lie is that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God (see ; ). It is impossible to honor God and at the same time dishonor His Son (5:23).1

NKJV NKJV The New King James Version

NIV NIV Holy Bible, New International Version

1 Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992. Print.