# John 08 📖: The Light of the World [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-John Overview]] | [[John 07]] | [[John 09]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### A Woman Caught in Adultery **Principle**: Jesus truly sees us. [[#Verse 01.]] But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. [[#Verse 02.]] Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. [[#Verse 03.]] The experts in the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them [[#Verse 04.]] and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. [[#Verse 05.]] In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death such women. What then do you say?” [[#Verse 06.]] (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him.) Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. [[#Verse 07.]] When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight and replied, “Whoever among you is guiltless may be the first to throw a stone at her.” [[#Verse 08.]] Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. [[#Verse 09.]] Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. [[#Verse 10.]] Jesus stood up straight and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” [[#Verse 11.]] She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”]] ### Jesus, the Light of the World **Principle**: Light reveals, heals, and warms. [[#Verse 12.]] Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” [[#Verse 13.]] So the Pharisees objected, “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!” [[#Verse 14.]] Jesus answered, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people do not know where I came from or where I am going. [[#Verse 15.]] You people judge by outward appearances; I do not judge anyone. [[#Verse 16.]] But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate because I am not alone when I judge, but I and the Father who sent me do so together. [[#Verse 17.]] It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. [[#Verse 18.]] I testify about myself and the Father who sent me testifies about me.” [[#Verse 19.]] Then they began asking him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.” [[#Verse 20.]] (Jesus spoke these words near the offering box while he was teaching in the temple courts. No one seized him because his time had not yet come.) ### The Unbelieving People Warned **Principle**: Jesus knows, but moves forward anyway. [[#Verse 21.]] Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will look for me but will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” [[#Verse 22.]] So the Jewish leaders began to say, “Perhaps he is going to kill himself because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” [[#Verse 23.]] Jesus replied, “You people are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. [[#Verse 24.]] Thus I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” [[#Verse 25.]] So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, “What I have told you from the beginning. [[#Verse 26.]] I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the Father who sent me is truthful, and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.” [[#Verse 27.]] (They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.) [[#Verse 28.]] Then Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak just what the Father taught me. [[#Verse 29.]] And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone because I always do those things that please him.” [[#Verse 30.]] While he was saying these things, many people believed in him. ### Jesus and Abraham **Principle**: True freedom is only found in Jesus. [[#Verse 31.]] Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples [[#Verse 32.]] and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [[#Verse 33.]] “We are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” [[#Verse 34.]] Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. [[#Verse 35.]] The slave does not remain in the family forever, but the son remains forever. [[#Verse 36.]] So if the son sets you free, you will be really free. [[#Verse 37.]] I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. But you want to kill me because my teaching makes no progress among you. [[#Verse 38.]] I am telling you the things I have seen while with the Father; as for you, practice the things you have heard from the Father!” [[#Verse 39.]] They answered him, “Abraham is our father!” Jesus replied, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham. [[#Verse 40.]] But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! [[#Verse 41.]] You people are doing the deeds of your father.”Then they said to Jesus, “We were not born as a result of immorality! We have only one Father, God himself.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.” [[#Verse 42.]] Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. I have not come on my own initiative, but he sent me. [[#Verse 43.]] Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept my teaching. [[#Verse 44.]] You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature because he is a liar and the father of lies. [[#Verse 45.]] But because I am telling you the truth, you do not believe me. [[#Verse 46.]] Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? [[#Verse 47.]] The one who belongs to God listens and responds to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond because you don’t belong to God.” [[#Verse 48.]] The Judeans replied, “Aren’t we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” [[#Verse 49.]] Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father—and yet you dishonor me. [[#Verse 50.]] I am not trying to get praise for myself. There is one who demands it, and he also judges. [[#Verse 51.]] I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death.” [[#Verse 52.]] Then the Judeans responded, “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never experience death.’ [[#Verse 53.]] You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” [[#Verse 54.]] Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’ [[#Verse 55.]] Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his teaching. [[#Verse 56.]] Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” [[#Verse 57.]] Then the Judeans replied, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” [[#Verse 58.]] Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” [[#Verse 59.]] Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden from them and went out from the temple area. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary **Verse 1-8**: The earliest manuscripts do not have the story of the adulterous woman. It is widely believed this was a story that circulated around during the life of Jesus and so it was added to the Bible. However, Christians are committed to the utmost truth of God’s Word. It is the original text that is divinely inspired. Therefore, we love this story, but do not consider it to be inspired. However, it is still in line with what Jesus would do. ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. - Dr. Dan Wallace says, "It's my favorite story that's not in the Bible." - Scholars think it was a likely story that was in the margins of the early manuscripts that eventually accidentally got added into the text. This is because the earliest manuscripts do not have this story in the text. This is why we can have confidence in the text. We know what the earliest manuscripts say. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ###### Verse 41. ###### Verse 42. ###### Verse 43. ###### Verse 44. ###### Verse 45. ###### Verse 46. ###### Verse 47. ###### Verse 48. ###### Verse 49. ###### Verse 50. ###### Verse 51. ###### Verse 52. ###### Verse 53. ###### Verse 54. ###### Verse 55. ###### Verse 56. ###### Verse 57. ###### Verse 58. ###### Verse 59. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The account of the woman caught in adultery (7:53-8:11) is missing from the earliest Greek manuscripts and appears in different places in some later ones, including after Luke 21:38. 2. The Law required both the man and the woman caught in adultery to be put to death (Leviticus 20:10), yet only the woman was brought to Jesus. 3. This is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus is described as writing (8:6, 8), and we are not told what He wrote. 4. Jesus spoke these words in the temple near the offering box (8:20), in the area where the great lamps were lit during the Feast of Tabernacles. 5. Jesus answers the charge that His testimony is invalid by appealing to the Law's requirement of two witnesses (8:17; Deuteronomy 17:6). 6. Jesus' absolute "I am" statements (8:24, 28, 58) echo God's name in Exodus 3:14 and His words in Isaiah 43:10. 7. The crowd claimed they had never been anyone's slaves (8:33), even though Israel had been enslaved in Egypt and Babylon and was under Roman rule. 8. The comment "We were not born as a result of immorality" (8:41) may have been a jab at rumors about Jesus' birth. 9. The crowd said Jesus was not yet fifty years old (8:57), a round number, not His actual age. 10. Picking up stones (8:59) reflects the penalty for blasphemy in Leviticus 24:16. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the light of the world and the eternal I AM (8:12, 58). He sets sinners free from slavery to sin (8:34-36) and does not condemn those who come to Him (Romans 8:1). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Jesus did not condemn the woman, yet He told her to stop sinning (8:11). How do grace and truth work together in Jesus' response? 2. Jesus said that if we continue in His word, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (8:31-32). What does continuing in His word look like for you? 3. When Jesus said, "Before Abraham came into existence, I am" (8:58), the crowd picked up stones. Why was this claim so serious? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 12: Jesus is the light of the world, and His followers will have the light of life. - 📖 verses 31-32: Those who continue in His word are His disciples and will know the truth that sets them free. - 📖 verse 36: If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free. - 📖 verse 58: Before Abraham came into existence, Jesus says, "I am." ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Exodus 03#Verse 14.|Exodus 3:14]] - God reveals His name: I AM. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 09#Verse 02.|Isaiah 9:2]] - The people walking in darkness see a great light. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 17#Verse 06.|Deuteronomy 17:6]] - The testimony of two witnesses. - 🔗 [[Romans 06#Verse 16.|Romans 6:16-18]] - Set free from sin to serve righteousness. - 🔗 [[Galatians 03#Verse 07.|Galatians 3:7]] - Those who believe are Abraham's true children. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[John 08 - SOAP|The Light of the World]] 📝 SOAP: [[John 08- SOAP|Be Free, Stay Free]] --- ## 📂 Internal Notes