John Chapter 8 - Commentary

1-11 The Woman Caught in Adultery

The incident described here immediately follows Jesus’ teaching (and rejection of His message by the religious elitists) during the Feast of Tabernacles. Now there is a following, an group that is willing to seek Him out even in the early hours of the dawn to hear Him. In this scene, Jesus shows compassion to a sinner who repents, and reveals His authority to be judge and priest.

[6] The motives of the accusers

We surmise from this story that the Pharisee’s had no intention of following the advice of Jesus - their objective was to entrap Him. So from the beginning, their motives are impure, and it can be argued they were engaging in a deception. The “trap” was to have Jesus let the woman go, defying Moses’ Law, or command them to stone her, thereby defying the rule of the Romans.

[7] Jesus answers her accusers

Did Jesus answer their charge? Yes, He acknowledged the sin of the woman and instructed the crowd to carry out the sentence! Christ had to fulfill the Law, which stated that if such a sin were committed, it must be punished – but He also condemned the motives of her accusers!

[8] What did the Finger of God write?

Remember the last time the Finger of God wrote in the earth? Here, He probably revealed the sins of the accusers, possibly even the man who was “caught” in the act of adultery, and the names of other women these hypocrites had committed adultery with in the past.

Notice that they were convicted of their sin, and left, but there is no record that Christ forgave them. You can be convicted of your sin, but not receive forgiveness....

[10] Does no one condemn you?

Jesus did not question her guilt. Deuteronomy 17:6-7 states that out of the mouths of two or more witnesses guilt is determined, and then, the witnesses must participate in carrying out the sentence:

⁶Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ⁷The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

But, to fulfill the Law, Jesus “had” to let her go. The witnesses had left.

However, the scribes and Pharisees had broken several laws – first and foremost they broke the “golden rule”, hating their neighbor, as accessories to a great injustice to the woman, showing her no respect as a human being (Leviticus 17:)

⁵‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. ¹⁷‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. ¹⁸You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Were any other Laws broken? Yes. The Pharisees were instructed to take the matter to the proper authorities. By bringing the matter before Jesus, the accusers are implying He has the jurisdiction to judge in the matter – yet they call Him a liar! If Jesus is not the proper authority, then the accusers have broken the law by failing to take the man and the woman to the proper authority. Deuteronomy 17:

⁸“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. ⁹And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. ¹⁰You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. ¹¹According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. ¹²Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die.

What about the Ten Commandments?

They held their own man-made laws in higher esteem than the Words of Christ. They idolized their temple, not using it for its intended purpose, but worshiped their heritage, customs and edifices. Their pride and blindness caused them to reject Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. This violates the 1^st commandment (Exodus 20):

³“You shall have no other gods before Me

They quoted the Law of Moses, written by God, with false intentions, having no intention of submitting to Jesus’ authority, violating the 3^rd commandment (Exodus 20):

⁷“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain....

Since they were trying to murder Jesus, and He was blameless, chalk up the 6^th commandment (Exodus 20):

¹³“You shall not murder.

Some commentators suggest the “woman” in question was known to some of the men, that’s how they were able to time the incident so perfectly – possibly the 7^th commandment (Exodus 20):

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

When Jesus swept the Temple clean, what was His accusation? They were a den of thieves, so include the 8^th commandment (Exodus 20):

¹⁵“You shall not steal.

Since they had no intention of following the direction of Jesus, they brought the woman before Jesus with false motives, attempting to deceive Jesus, and probably accessories to the crime. They clearly violated the 9^th commandment (Exodus 20):

¹⁶“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

One of the reasons they hated Jesus so much was that He drew a crowd, and the people no longer blindly followed the leadership. This is a textbook case of envy, so complete the charges by including the 10^th commandment (Exodus 20):

¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

In the act of testing Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees violated the commandments of the very author of the Law standing in front of them. They denied the witness of Jesus, and presumed to call Him a liar after engaging in an act of deceit. We should be careful not to presume upon the Lord – and be careful to ask for and pray for things with pure intentions… then lead where the Lord guides us!

12-28 The Light of the World

[12] I AM the light of the world

Jesus spoke this in the Court of Women in the Temple, where during the Feast of Tabernacles 4 large candelabras were lit golden bowls that Josephus records generated light that could be seen throughout the city.

[13] “Your witness is not true”

Jesus responds that facts are stubborn things. I know where I come from…. This is His claim of Deity, don’t miss this…

[18] I AM He

As Christ is speaking to the very students of the Law who should have seen who He was, the scripture referred to is eerily familiar to their own conversation: (Isaiah 43):

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. ¹¹I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.

[23] “You are from beneath”

Beneath is derived from kato tero meaning beneath, bottom or “down under”.

What does this mean?

[24] You shall die in your sins

This destroys Universalism. Christ put a definite conditional “only if” you believe I am He who was sent.

[25] What have I been saying to you from the beginning?

Maybe sarcasm, maybe Christ was referring to Isaiah or Moses’ writings…

28-59 The Truth Demands a Decision

[28] You will know I am He

Jesus was not a great moral teacher. In John 8:12, 18, 23, 28, 37, 42, 51, 52, 55, and 58 Jesus uses the “I AM”, which is a specific claim to divine origin, divine authority, divine judgment, divine righteousness and a divine purpose. He is either a lunatic, a liar or the Lord.

²⁹And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

Jesus will not allow you to reject Him and pretend to accept His teachings. The teachings are merely to show the way to Him. See verse 58 – the Pharisee’s understood this.

[32] Misquoted by the World

“You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”. No, the quote begins in verse 31:

³¹"…If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³²and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The Pharisee’s claim they are “free”. Their nation was born of bondage, they had been occupied by Assyrians, Babylonians, and lately Romans.

[34] Free from what? Sin.

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

In the ancient world, you were “adopted” as a son. You were not automatically an inheritor of your father’s estate. How many children did Abraham have? Genesis 22:

²Then God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

[39] Which Father has adopted you?

³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹You do the deeds of your father.”

[41] The Pharisee’s true character

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

This is notable, because they had researched the background of Jesus…They should have known he was born in Bethlehem, fled to Egypt after Herod attempted to kill Him. They were not sensitive to the prophecies they claimed to know so well.

[43] Christ explains the genealogy of the Pharisees…

⁴³Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The world cannot bear to hear the truth. Who was murdered first?

[48] Lacking logic, the Pharisees attack Jesus’ person:

⁴⁸Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

[58] The world’s reaction to Jesus when confronted with His divinity….

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” ⁵⁹Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The Pharisees begin the chapter by attempting to stone a sinful woman and end trying to stone a sinless Savior.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.