Preparing for Jesus - John 8 - "...But Jesus"

John 8:1 starts off with “but Jesus”. I feel like that’s a common trend. “but Jesus”. This chapter starts in the middle of a sentence, which is not uncommon with new verses, but not seen as frequently with chapters. But I feel like it’s a solid transition here, because it shows that everybody else went home (John 7:53) BUT JESUS didn’t. Because Jesus doesn’t follow the crowd, He does His own thing.

It carries into a well-known story of Jesus, starting in verse 2. Many people, Christian or not, know the story of how Jesus came to a woman’s rescue. The teachers wanted to test Jesus, and brought a woman to Him for His judgement on how they should handle a woman caught in the act of adultery. His response “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” went against religious law of that time. According to law, they should’ve stoned her without hesitation. There would’ve been no trial. More interesting than this to me is in verse 9, it says that the older individuals were the ones to leave first. As a younger individual, (or at least as I like to consider myself still) I find it humorous only because I know how indignant and stubborn I can be sometimes. I can feel myself slowly growing out of that as I get older, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve been one of those standing there, waiting for a different outcome. 

In verses 12-20, we hit a theme that we covered back in chapter 5 as well. Testimony. Jesus once again provides testimony for Himself. In chapter 5, He offered John the Baptist as a testimony because He knew they wouldn’t accept His own personal testimony. Here, He quotes their law at them saying that the testimony of two witnesses is true. He claims His own testimony, but He also claims His Father (God). In 18, it’s clear that they still don’t believe Him. When they speak and ask Him where His father is, they’re speaking of His earthly father. They aren’t speaking of a Heavenly Father.

Growing up, did you ever have a class that you didn’t really pay attention in? And for the longest time, you goofed off and didn’t do any work. Then one day, you start paying attention and you have not the slightest clue what’s going on because everything was explained on a day that you weren’t cooperating on. That’s what pops in my head for 21-30, but specifically 25. They keep asking who He is, and He keeps telling them. But they STILL don’t get it. Growing up, my dad always used to say “If you ask a question, listen for the answer”. These people have been asking the question, but when the answer is given, they either don’t want to believe it or they simply just blow it off. Thankfully, it seems as though this time they’re finally grasping the concept. In 30, it says “Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.”

There’s a lot of confusion about fathers here on 31-47. Took me a couple minutes to get on track with the father references. There are two fathers referenced here: God the Father and the devil as the father. Before we dive right into the fathers, notice how the Jewish people are really……… Cocky? I think that would be the word I would use here. I feel like they get a little self-righteous in 33. “we have never been slaves of anyone.” I know most would be like “That’s a simple statement of fact” but keep in mind, these people have had a hard time coming to grips with the claims of the man standing in front of them. They’re probably a little indignant about somebody saying that they will be set free. But THEN. ON TOP OF THAT. Jesus practically says that they are illegitimate children. That’s worth a fight. These people pride themselves on their lineage and ancestry, so that’s a slap in the face. But to finish it off, (back to the fathers thing) Jesus claims that they do the work of Satan as their father. Not God as their Father. I have a pretty close relationship with my dad. I respect him and care for him more than any other man on this Earth. If somebody came up to me one day and threw out there “Oh, yeah. Basically everything you THOUGHT you did for your dad, you did for Hitler ” I wouldn’t be too happy. So imagine how these people are handling the fact that they were just told they aren’t serving their Heavenly Father, but the exact opposite instead. 

The switch flipped. That was it. Final straw. Remember verse 30? “Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.” Yeah. Not anymore. Now they’re back on their Samaritan claims and telling Jesus he’s got a demon in Him. He once again counters their anger with a bold claim that God glorified him. THEIR GOD. So they DID start to believe him earlier, but apparently not anymore. Also, keep in mind that these are the descendants of Abraham. Jesus challenges then when he says “before Abraham was born, I am!” They’re STILL Under the impression that this is a regular man, making bold claims. But they couldn’t be more wrong. 

Today's Contributing Author: Josh Litscher