John 10:1-21 English Standard Version I Am the Good Shepherd 10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” 19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” I love this passage and this "I AM" that Jesus calls Himself here. Jesus is going to contrast Himself, the Good Shepherd who cares for the sheep that belong to Him, with the Pharisees who are nothing but hired hands who do not care for the sheep and they let the sheet get devoured by wolves. Jesus also calls Himself The Door to the Sheepfold here. He is the only way into safety and security and the only way out to green pasture. All those who belong to Him know His voice and follow Him and He knows all the sheep who belong to Him and He will not lose one of the sheep that the Father has given to Him.
This passage not only tells us about Jesus, but it also tells us a lot about authentic Christianity. Those who belong to Jesus know His voice and listen to it, and they will not listen to the voice of a stranger that they do not know. In the same way we should hear and obey the Word of the Lord and should not listen to false teachers, false prophets and false apostles, or false Christs. We also see that Jesus has sheep that belong to Him that are in many different sheepfolds (many different people groups make up the people of God). All of these people know and understand the voice of their Good Shepherd and listen to His voice and follow Him. The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders understood that He was saying that they did not belong to Him or to God the Father if they did not listen to His voice and follow Him and that He was calling them bad/fake shepherds that were merely hired hands in it for the money and for themselves and had no interest in protecting the sheep that had been entrusted to them. They again tried to stir up the people to say that Jesus must be demon-possessed while others said that it would be impossible for a man to do such things such as giving sight to the blind if He were not of God. In this way Jesus' message was divisive in that it made people make a choice about who He was and there was no middle-ground for them to stand on.
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John 9 English Standard Version Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. We have a longer passage today than what we've been dealing with today. While Jesus leaves the area of the Temple, He doesn't leave the area of Jerusalem quite yet and it seems that the religious leaders are following Him on His way out of town. Jesus is going to pass by a man who was born blind from birth, and His disciples, who have been with Him for nearly three years and don't have that much time left for Him to teach them, show that they have a fundamental misunderstanding about birth defects. Since they believe that a birth defect is a punishment and that all punishment is part of the Curse that is a result of sin, then they would think that this punishment was meant to be brought against this man for his own sin (maybe sin that God knew ahead of time that he would commit or maybe sin that he committed while still in the womb) or perhaps instead it was a result of the sin of his parents who possibly conceived the child in sin and this was God's way of judging them. So they inquire to Jesus about whether is was the man or the man's parents who sinned so that he was born blind.
The question lacks compassion, but it also shows how the disciples are still entangled in the teachings of the Pharisees. This is very close to the same topic as the debate we just finished, because the Pharisees argued that Jesus was disqualified to be the Messiah because Mary's presumed sin of fornication would have been passed on to Jesus somehow and He would have been judged for her sin. We have a lot of other words to make a complete sentence here, but Jesus' answer to their either-or questions was basically a simple, "No." He did not accept the premise that they gave that there were only two choices here, but instead told them that this man was made this way on purpose for this time in this place so that God would be glorified. Jesus then ties this back to when He said He is always doing the work of His Father but adds that it's like only having a certain number of hours of daylight to get your work done and that we are getting closer and closer to sunset, so we need to be even more watchful so that we are doing the work of our Father in heaven. Jesus than repeated that as long as He is in the world, He is the Light of the World, but this seems to be foreshadowing the fact that He will not always be with them, and maybe that time is soon approaching. We'll see later that Jesus says of the disciples that they are the light of the world (He is like the sun and they are like the moon reflecting His light and glory). With this reminder of who He is and that everything He does is to glorify God and that His mission is to do the works of God the Father, He bends down and spits in the ground and makes some mud and puts the mud on the blind man's eyes (the text actually uses the word "anointed" for this) and told the man to go wash in the Pool of Siloam (which means "Sent"). When the man came back, he came back seeing! The man comes back to the only place he knows--the place where he has been begging for alms for so many years because he doesn't know where else to go, but we'll see in a few verses that Jesus is no longer there. I'm going to "spoil" this for you a bit and give you some background here that blindness, like leprosy, was one of the conditions that is used as a metaphor of our condition when we are in our fallen, sinful state before redemption. We are blind and unable to see the right way to go--and this man was born with this condition, just like all of us who are born spiritually blinded by our sin nature. Jesus is going to use this as a point of contrast now between this blind man who could clearly see spiritually who Jesus was and the unbelieving Pharisees who, although they probably had perfect natural eyesight, were spiritually blind to what was happening right in front of them., and while not directly related to this story, these verses from the book of Matthew come to mind when I read this story. (Notice the prophecy from the prophet Isaiah that I would say is also being fulfilled in this passage). Matthew 13:10-16 English Standard Version The Purpose of the Parables 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. So, back to the passage where the man has washed, been healed, and has returned to the spot where he used to beg. Everyone who saw the man return saw him come back changed. He was clearly different in how he walked and talked--everything about him would have changed! He was no longer the "blind beggar" People continue to talk about him while he is right in front of them with some saying, "Look, it is is him," and others saying, "No, that can't be him, but must just be someone that looks like him." It gets a little funny here because the man is right there to speak for himself and says, "Yes, I am the man," and some refuse to believe his own testimony about himself. The people, probably being stirred up by the religious leaders, then say, "Tell us how this happened." So he tells them the good news that he knows that a man named Jesus put mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, and he obeyed and was healed. The Jews then want to find this Jesus who did this, but the man has no idea where Jesus went, because by the time the man who was born blind got back to his spot, Jesus was gone, and the man doesn't know where He went. The crowd then does the only thing they know to do, and they take the man to the Pharisees. When they hear the story, they are irate because, once again, Jesus has healed a man on the Sabbath day--this time He even spit on the ground and made mud! This again convinced them that this Jesus was worthy of death. So then there is division among the people were some say that Jesus can't be of God because, in their minds, He does not keep the Sabbath, while others say that no man should be able to do such signs if He is a "sinner" as the Pharisees claim. The Pharisees then finally turn to blind man, and ask what He thinks about Jesus, and the man says as much as he knows at the time that it is clear to him that Jesus is a prophet (the man's answer will change later as he thinks about it more). Now the Jews, that is the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, did not believe that this man had really been blind and really received his sight back, even though we have several accounts in the other gospels of Jesus giving sight to the blind and this pointing to the fact that He was the Messiah, the Son of David. The Jews seem to begin an inquisition and go to interrogate the parents of the man who was born blind. Notice how they frame their question, "Is this your son who YOU SAY was born blind?" The assumption on the part of the Pharisees is that there has been some elaborate deception going on here for the man's entire life and that both he and his parents have been in on it. They'll believe anything to not believe that Jesus healed this man! They ask the parents to then explain to them how it is that all of a sudden their son can see. The parents give a decent answer at first, but they quickly "sacrifice" their son to the Pharisees to get rid of them, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” The text tells us that his parents are actually lying to the Pharisees here and they do know what happened and how their son was healed, but they feared excommunication from the synagogue because all the people had been told that if they confessed that Jesus was the Christ (the Messiah) that they would be excommunicated. This is why they sacrificed their son in this way and said, "He is of age, ask him yourself." They knew he was going to get excommunicated for what he was saying and they didn't want any part of that for themselves, so this man who already had nothing as a blind beggar is about to lose everything that he did have in his family and his community in a day. He would want to go into the synagogue and praise God for his healing, but they wouldn't let him come into church, nor would anyone fellowship with this man or be seen in public with him. The Pharisees find the man born blind and again start to interrogate him. Again, notice how they are not asking questions at all. This is a sham trial and is more about political theater at this point. This man is not going to be intimidated by these men though. He's had some more time to think about it in their absence and the more they push him, the more he pushes back and the bolder his witness gets. They approach him saying that he needs to give glory to God and stop telling people that this "sinner" Jesus is responsible for his miraculous healing because they KNOW that no "sinner" like Jesus should be able to do these things. The man doesn't back down and says that whether or not Jesus is a "sinner," he does not know, but there was one thing that this man did know--"I was blind, but now I see." These are the very words that inspired John Newton to write the hymn "Amazing Grace." You can't argue with that kind of testimony, but the Jews are going to try to argue with it anyways. The Jews insist that the man tell them again how Jesus did it and how the man's eyes were opened. The man is perceptive enough to know they have no interest in believing in Jesus (and is actually going to make fun of them for this). The man answers, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” BOOM! Mic drop! This guy gets it that the proper response to what has happened is to see the sign, believe and respond in faith to follow after Jesus and become His disciples. The Pharisees are going to have none of this though--they start to revile this man who had been healed by using the same arguments they tried to use against Jesus in The Great Paternity Debate. “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man then "goes nuclear" on them when he says, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” This is quite the epic burn! This guy knows how to "roast" someone for sure. I'm not saying that this is the way to debate everyone, but this seems to be the way to handle someone that's not genuinely asking you questions with the intent of finding out the truth or someone who has already said that no matter what arguments you make, they will never believe. All you can do at that point is show everyone else who is following after them how foolish they are and prevent others from falling off the cliff with them--they are blind guides--in fact, the Jews understand that this is where the man is going with this and ask a rhetorical question to end the debate which is ironic because the man born blind had is so right and saw so clearly where the Jews were spiritually blind--and willfully so! "They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out." This is "cancel culture" right there--we are not dealing with anything new here. The Jews did not like or approve of this man's testimony and they excommunicated him. Jesus is neither done with this man or the Jews though. He hears about what has happened to the man and comes back to him. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" There's the central question! The man born blind though does not understand at this point that Jesus is asking if the man believes in Him. The man responds with, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Remember that the man believes that Jesus is simply a prophet at this point and thinks that Jesus is going to point him towards another man. Instead, Jesus gives a clear "identity statement," "“You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” Jesus practically says "I AM" (though He doesn't say it that way this time). Notice the man's reaction! This should tell us everything we need to know! The man not only immediately believes and makes a confession of faith, but the man immediately falls down and worships Jesus, and Jesus accepts the man's worship. This means that the man understood that Jesus was God in the Flesh, Immanuel, as the man would have known not to give worship to any mere man or prophet. Now contrast this with the Pharisees telling the man to "Give glory to God" and see the irony in this story. The man is only one in this whole story who sees the sign and worships Jesus because of it, yet it cost this man everything even before he knew that Jesus was Lord simply because he confessed the good news that he did know, that this Jesus was the one that healed him--he was blind, but now could see! Then Jesus makes an amazing statement. We always think of his mission simply that He came, "To seek and to save that which was lost," but Jesus says He had another purpose altogether for coming. "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Well, that explains everything that's been going on so far! Jesus is not just here to open the eyes of the blind, but to blind the eyes of the self-righteous who claim they can clearly see. No wonder the Pharisees seem to be more and more deluded as time goes on--it is all part of God's plan. We don't like to hear that, but we know that at some point God lets people get exactly what they want. He will not make them choose His Son or to be citizens of His kingdom, but all those who chose to rebel against the Son will have no part in His everlasting kingdom. Now for the kicker--the Pharisees perceive that He is talking about them and don't like what He has to say. Here's the end of the conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus, "40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains." And there it is! Jesus says He has no need to condemn them because they already stand condemned. They have seen the same sign and heard the same words, and yet they did not respond in faith, but this blind man did. He sees clearly, but because they claim they can see clearly, they will be judged and not held guiltless. The Pharisees have to walk away from this embarrassed and even more angry and seething. They are HOT and ready to murder Jesus in any way they can think of, but they just have to wait for the right opening, which is going to take place in just a couple more chapters--God is already working out those details too. John 8:48-59 English Standard Version Before Abraham Was, I Am 48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. 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 keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. We're reaching the end of the debate. You can tell that Jesus is winning because the Pharisees are resorting to name-calling instead of addressing the issues that have been brought up by Jesus about their identity and His identity. They resort to calling Him a Samaritan (and ethnic/racist slur to them) and by saying that He is demon-possesses (something we've heard them say several times before when they are losing arguments with Him or others like John the Baptist). They believe these to be their trump cards that they can play to stop any debate that they don't like, and, honestly, there are still people that play by these kinds of rules today. If you actually start scoring points in the debate they will try to "demonize" you (and this passage might actually be where we get that term from as the Greek word here is better translated as "demonized").
They think they are going to put Jesus on the defensive here, but Jesus gets right back on track by saying the issue is not that He has a demon (He does not), but that He is honoring His Father in heaven whom He seeks to glorify and they are dishonoring Him, the Son of God, and in so doing they are dishonoring the Father. Jesus then brings it back to the fact that eternal life is in Him and whether of not they believe in Him. Even though Jesus knows they are not going to believe, He still cares about them and wants them to believe and He's giving them every chance to do so. Jesus lets them and the crowd hear one final time in this debate, "If anyone keeps my word, they will never taste death." This gets the Jews riled up because they again are thinking solely of the physical realm (perhaps there were some Sadducees mixed in here who did not believe in the Resurrection of the dead and were very secular Jews) and they say that they now know (in their minds) that Jesus has a demon because Abraham and the prophets died, being people that kept the word of God, and Jesus said that anyone who kept His word would never taste death--by which Jesus meant the second death of the lake of fire, not the physical death that nearly all of us will experience. They then challenge Him by asking Him if He is greater than Abraham who died, and the prophets who died. They then ask the fundamental question of this entire debate, "Who do you make yourself out to be?" In other words, "Just who do you think you are, Jesus?" Jesus has got them right where He wants them now. He's once again going to say that what really matters here is who God the Father says that Jesus is, and that if these Jews were really His children, they would hear and believe the testimony of the Father. Typically we see the Son glorifying the Father, but Jesus is saying that the time is here where the Father is going to glorify the Son (at the crucifixion and Resurrection). Even though they claim that the Father is God to them and that they know the Father, Jesus says it is clear they don't know Him or truly worship Him as God. Jesus then says that they can say all they want that Jesus doesn't know the Father, but He's the only one that truly does know the Father because He's been with the Father as part of the Trinity since eternity past and will return to the Father to be part of the Trinity for eternity future. If Jesus were to go along with what they were saying--that He didn't know God the Father--He would be lying as He certainly does know God the Father in a very intimate way and has kept His word in a way that none of them ever will. Jesus then gets back to the questions of "Who do you think you are?" and "Do you think you are greater than Abraham?" Jesus said that "Your father, Abraham (contrasting that His Father was God) rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad." They don't know what to make of this because in their minds, Abraham had died thousands of years earlier and Jesus is in His early thirties. In fact they respond with, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Now, here comes the climax of the entire debate. Jesus answers them and says, "Before Abraham was (past tense), I AM (present tense)." It was so unmistakably clear what Jesus said here to these religious leaders. His answer to "Do you think you are greater than Abraham and the prophets?" was "Well, of course I do, 'I AM I AM'" It's clear they understood what He said because of how they reacted, which, believe it or not, was actually the "right" thing to do according to the Law if they believed that Jesus was committing blasphemy where He was just a man claiming to be God. Leviticus 24:16 English Standard Version16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. Jesus escapes without harm because it again is not the right time for Him to die. He will eventually make His way back to Galilee until the time is right for Him to return to Jerusalem one last time that will be prompted by the events of chapter 11. The Pharisees and other religious leaders are out for blood and will not be happy until Jesus is dead and to them this will prove that He was not who He said He was, because if He were God, then He would not be able to die. They're even going to see the Resurrection happen (they saw Jesus dead and knew He was dead, and then they saw Him alive three days later) and they will lie about it. There is no sign or miracle that these Jews will ask for that would make them believe which is why Jesus told them no sign would be given to them other than the sign of Jonah (the Resurrection). Again, remember that Jesus is in complete control of the narrative and the timeline here. He knows exactly what to do and say because His Father has told Him what to do and say, and that's exactly what He's doing and saying to bring about the right results at the right time to make God's plan move forward. The Pharisees think they are doing something to prevent Jesus' plan from taking place, but instead they are actually going to be some of the primary actors in God's plan to cause God's plan to take place (though ultimately we know that it is the Father that slays the Son like in the picture we have of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah). We are getting so close to Jesus being "lifted up" as He referred to in the beginning of His ministry, and He wants to make sure that all have seen and heard that this is about who He is and believing in His identity as unless He is God in the Flesh, He cannot be The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If He were just another man, He would be under the Curse and would have His own sin and sin nature that He would have to die for and He could not be our penal substitutionary atonement or our propitiation. We'll get to all that though very soon For now though remember that Jesus said in this chapter that He is the Light of the World, that He is better than Abraham and the Prophets, and that He is the I AM. He also said that there are only two kingdoms--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil. All those who are God's people are His people anyone that hates Him does not love God the Father, but is instead doing the work of the devil who is a liar and a murderer. The two kingdoms are as diametrically opposed as light and darkness and just like in that relationship darkness will never overcome the Light (unless somehow that Light is snuffed out or covered up so that no one can see it, which Satan thinks is what is going to happen at the cross).. John 8:39-47 English Standard Version You Are of Your Father the Devil 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” This is the culmination of The Great Paternity Debate that we've been talking about over the past several days. The Jews will come back to claiming that Abraham is their Father, feeling that somehow gives them special privilege by way of the Abrahamic Covenant. Jesus then says that it's not your earthly parents that are going to matter in the end, but who your spiritual father is, and just like in real life, children look and act like their parents. Jesus says that if these Jews were children of Abraham, they would be doing what Abraham did--believing in God by faith.
The Jews don't like the message, so they attack the messenger and say that they were not born of sexual immorality (imply that Jesus was) so they know exactly who their earthly fathers are. Each one of these men could give you their entire pedigree to establish that they were from the right tribe and the right clan and that there were no "black sheep" in their families. They then change tactics and say that their real father is God the Father, who they view as the Creator of all things, so He is Father to everyone and everything. Jesus doesn't give them a pass on this one either. He says that if God was their Father, they would be doing what God the Father does and love the Son of God, and they would love the Son of God because He came from the Father. Jesus then "goes nuclear" and says the reason they don't understand what He says and that they don't love Him is because they area children of their father the devil, and they act just like him. It is their desire to do their father's will and that is he is a murderer, one void of all truth, and one who does not tolerate when others speak truth. Lies are his native tongue and he is a liar from the beginning and the father of lies--this is his nature, his character, his identity. Jesus is saying to them that this is their nature, their character and their identity too! The reason they will not hear or listen is that they are not of God! Notice how He also says that the fact that they are plotting to murder Jesus is evidence they are children of the devil and not children of Abraham or children of God. The very one that they should not only love but listen to, obey and worship is the one that they are trying to assassinate. Jesus says it is simply because He tells the truth about who God is, who man is and who He Himself is that they refuse to listen to Him, and like their father the devil they cannot handle the truth. If Jesus spoke lies to them to tell them that they were all good people and God accepted them just the way they were then they would all love Him. Look at the preachers and teachers of the day that are popular and that the media loves to talk to. Are they the ones that preach a message of repentance or the ones that say the things that tickle people's ears so that they are told what they want to hear? Be careful of this as the apostle Paul warns of men that will no longer endure sound teaching, but will want to have their itching ears tickled by the preachers to tell them what they want to hear--the things that are in line with their own passions and lusts. Jesus is talking to such men in this passage and they don't like being confronted with that truth that they are part of the wrong kingdom and are serving the wrong king. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 English Standard Version Preach the Word 4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. So, "Who's your daddy?" Who do you look like and act like? Do you act like Father Abraham, God the Father, or do you look and act like the devil? Those who call themselves "Christians" are saying by using this name that they should look and act like Christ, as that is what the term originally meant--it was meant as a slur to say that someone thought they were a "little Christ." We have taken that which was meant to be a slur and should wear it with a badge of honor, because we definitely should look and act like Jesus. Even with this "mic drop" moment, this is not the end of the debate. We'll continue with one more article about it tomorrow when Jesus will make one of His clearest "I AM" statements, and it is clear to the Jews exactly what He says. They were already really mad at Him and wanted to kill Him, but Jesus would say the one thing that they believed would give them just cause to stone Him to death on the spot, and that's exactly what they will try to do tomorrow. John 8:31-38 English Standard Version The Truth Will Set You Free 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” Here's another set of verses that are often quoted out of context, and therefore misapplied and misappropriated. Jesus is still in the context of talking to the crowds while debating with the Pharisees about His identity and the eternal life that can only be received by believing that He is who He says He is--the Son of God. He has already used the comparison of light and darkness when He said above that He is the Light of the World and that those who do not believe in Him stumble in darkness, but those who believe in Him will never walk in darkness and see clearly. Now He's going to shift metaphors and will say that He is the one who sets us free from our slavery to sin and death. (See Psalm 146:7, Zechariah 9:11, and Isaiah 61:1 for a few places where God says that He sets the captives or the prisoners free).
This is not talking about head knowledge that you gain from books, this is about the knowledge of who the Son of God is, and putting your whole faith and trust in Him and the work that He has completed on your behalf. Don't let academics misquote this to you and redefine the words "truth" and "free" in this passage without the context of what the lies are the the Pharisees and people were deluded by and the bondage that they were in and the real consequences that they were facing because of this. The Pharisees take offense to Jesus implying that they are enslaved, and they of course immediately go to physical slavery because their minds are of this world. Their statement is funny here that they say that they have never been slaves to anyone. Let's give them that they might be talking about their own generation and that they are not talking about the generations beforehand who were enslaved by Egypt and Babylon and the other nations and that event though they were being occupied by Rome at the time and were forced to pay tribute and taxes and had garrisons of soldiers in their mist and tetrarchs and puppet kings ruling over them in the name of Rome, they didn't fell enslaved because they had never left their land--yet we know that the people are longing for Messiah to come to set them free from the occupation and to overthrow these enemies. The Pharisee's reason for why they believe they will never be slaves to anyone is funny because they think that being children of Abraham will somehow protect them, though it didn't protect those generations before them who were slaves in Egypt, were occupied by several groups of people in the book of Judges, and the divided kingdoms ended up being enslaved to two different kingdoms--the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians and the Medo-Persian empires. We also know that during the 400 years of silence that the Greek and other empires (such as the kingdom of Antiochus IV Epiphanes who was a foreshadowing of the anti-Christ). The Pharisees had been born out of this time when the people knew they were being judged for their disobedience to the Law, and the Pharisees became a legalistic sect of the Jews that said, "Never again." They took their duty seriously to teach the people the Law, but also went too far in making their own rules and regulations and holding their traditions to be equal with the Law of God and making it out as if the Law was somehow able to save you. The Pharisees don't understand that they need to become free because they don't understand that they are enslaved to anything. It's like the first step in a 12-step program--the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. If they continued to refused to believe they were enslaved, then they are never going to be seeking the freedom that God the Son is offering to them. Jesus spells it out for them that He's not talking about slavery to a nation-state, but to to sin. "Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." Jesus then contrasts the slave to the Son and how they have different status and privilege. The slave has no status and no privilege and serves only at the will of the master and as long as the master is owner of the home and the estate. If the master dies there is no guarantee that the one who inherits the estate will keep the slaves. However, the Son is the one that inherits the estate and His position as Son is never in doubt and is unchanging because of His relationship to His Father. Then Jesus said that it is the privilege of the Son to set free those whom He desires and that everyone whom He sets free is truly free. Again, Jesus is talking about setting people free from the Curse and the slavery that is part of the Curse of sin that entered the world through Adam in Genesis 3. Jesus then returns to their silly statement of being children of Abraham, as if Jesus didn't know that every Jewish man and woman was a child of Abraham (as was every child of many other nations that Abraham fathered, but they didn't believe that blessing applied to anyone other than them). Jesus returns to the fact of this is not an issue of ethnicity or heritage or pedigree, but one of faith and trust in the person and work of the Son of God, and these Pharisees have not only rejected Jesus' words and work, but they have set out to murder Him. The people don't know of this plot yet and still think this is crazy-talk from Jesus, but the Pharisees know that Jesus knows what's in their hearts and minds. They have been plotting this from nearly the beginning of Jesus' ministry from the time that He healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. Jesus again comes back to the fact that He knows the Father and about heaven because He came from the Father and from heaven, and that's where He's returning to. No one has seen God the Father other than God the Son. He knows what He has heard from His Father, but then Jesus implies that they don't have the same father as He does not say "You do not know what you have heard from our Father" (which is how the Jews would talk about God the Father), but He said, "You do not know what you have heard from your father," implying that Jesus and the Pharisees had different fathers. They did not miss this and this is going to be the next section of The Great Paternity Debate where the gloves are going to come off (figurative) and what has been said in veiled innuendo will be said said directly in a way that won't be mistaken. You can sense the tension and that anger and emotion are probably getting the best of the Pharisees and Jesus is embarrassing them in front of the people and the "shock value" of the things that Jesus is about to say is extremely high, yet it still does not break through their hard hearts. We'll talk about that next time, Lord willing. John 8:12-30 English Standard Version I Am the Light of the World 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. We are now moving along to Jesus' next "I AM" statement where today He will call Himself "The Light of the World." Jesus still appears to be in the area of Jerusalem either during the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Booths) or shortly thereafter. He starts to teach the people with this I AM statement which gets the religious leader's attention simply by the fact that Jesus is calling Himself I AM.
They protest that Jesus is bearing witness about Himself and that according to the Law, all testimony must be established by at least two or three witnesses--thought that stipulation really only applied to court, especially in death penalty cases (see Deuteronomy 17:6 and Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus is not on trial here and He has been charged with no crime, yet they try to use this part of the Law to say that Jesus shouldn't be believed since there is no one else (in their mind) giving corroborating testimony. This is why Jesus starts off by saying that even if He was the only one saying these things about Himself, His testimony is still true and shouldn't be dismissed out-of-hand. He knows where He has come from and where He is going, but they neither know where He has come from or where He is going. This statement from Jesus is going to kick off what some call The Great Paternity Debate, which will take place between verses 13 and 59 (the rest of the chapter), and we'll be covering this over the next several articles, Lord willing. Jesus then addresses what the issue is--they are judging Him according to their flesh. That is that they have sinful, evil desires at the heart of their judgment that are causing them to not see who He truly is and what is truly going on. Jesus follow that up by saying, "I judge no one." We talked about that yesterday and how Jesus did not come during His first advent to be Judge, but to be by judged and condemned in our place for our sins. He had a right to judge everyone and one day will be the Righteous Judge of both the living and the dead, but at this time, that was not the role that Jesus was supposed to play. Jesus says that if He were to cast judgment, His judgment would not be His alone, but would be in concert with the Father who tells Him everything He knows and tells Him everything He is to do. Jesus then correctly applies the passages from Deuteronomy that I cited before. Because He's talking about judging them for crimes that would be punishable by death (and they probably wouldn't miss the inference by His alluding to the passages in Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15), then even God would not break that Law and there would be the testimony of both the Father and the Son. He then returns though to the testimony about Himself and said that even if it was true that such testimony needed to be corroborated, then it would not be His testimony about Himself alone, but the Father has also given testimony about the identity of His Son (as His baptism and we'll see it happen again at the Mount of Transfiguration in a little bit). We also know that Jesus would argue other places that John the Baptist corroborated the testimony that Jesus as giving and all the Law and the Prophets also corroborate Jesus' testimony--we'll see some specific reference in the coming days to both Abraham and Moses as eyewitnesses. The Pharisees know exactly what Jesus is saying by saying that the Father has corroborated His testimony, but they decide to take it in another direction and through innuendo (and later by no innuendo at all) say that Jesus is by no means the Son of God and is instead a illegitimate child with a deadbeat dad (a "bastard" child). This is what they mean when they say that no one knows who Jesus' father is, but they will later directly say they think that Jesus was born of fornication and that this sin would disqualify Him from being Messiah or Son of God. Jesus doesn't take the bait and instead says the issue is that don't know God the Son because they don't really know God the Father. Jesus said that if they knew God the Father they would recognize God the Son, would love God the Son, because God the Father loves the Son, and they would listen to and obey the Son, because that is the will of the Father. Jesus is standing next to the very place where they are going to take the money from to bribe Judas to betray Jesus--I think that's probably why John mentions the treasury here. John likes to use foreshadowing. However, no one lays a hand on Jesus, even though they are really upset with Him right now, and we are told once again this is because His hour had not yet come. Jesus doesn't let it go though. He could have stopped there. He had won the debate, but He is going to take it to the next level. He's already said that these religious leaders don't know the Father, but now He's going to say that He's returning back to the Father in heaven, and that they will look for Him and won't find Him, on earth, because He will be gone and because they will not be able to follow where He is going. Yes, Jesus just said that they Pharisees weren't going to make it to heaven--the kingdom of God that is to be ruled by Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That sounds like "judgment," but Jesus has already told them multiple times over that they already stand condemned without Him passing judgment on them. They have had the Law and the Prophets and they are supposed to be the ones that know and teach God's Word to others, and yet they do not know, understand, or believe the Scriptures. They have instead twisted the Scriptures to manipulate the people of God, make themselves look better, to gain and maintain power, authority and wealth. They are evil shepherds that are simply there to fleece the sheep, but do nothing to protect the people of God from the real enemies--and in fact they will be identified later as the wolves that the people need to be protected from. Jesus tells them they don't understand because they are of this world--meaning that they are of the kingdom of darkness and the devil that has been given dominion over this world for a time is their king. Jesus is of another kingdom and another world, He comes from God, and that is why they don't know Him or believe in Him. Jesus then reminds them that He's told them all along that their eternal destiny is determined by whether or not they believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Unless they believe that, they will die in their sins (and be condemned and suffer the punishment reserved for the devil and his angels). Their reply was probably less of, "Who are you?" and more of "Just who do you think you are getting off on talking to us like that?" They have already stopped up their ears to what He has to say because it is offensive to them. Instead of listening to the message they will try to attack the messenger in the upcoming verses (quite literally, as this section of Scripture will end with them trying to pick up stones to stone Him to death while He is there teaching in the Temple). Jesus basically responds with "I've already answered your question, and you haven't been listening to Me," or "That's what I've been trying to tell you." Jesus says that He has much to tell them and much to judge (lots of things that He wants to say to them), but Jesus says that He is only going to say to them exactly what God the Father tells Him to say. The Father is True and His words are true and as Jesus will say of Himself later in Joh, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus is starting to say this here. He is the Truth because He speaks only the things that the one who is true (the Father) tells Him to speak. Jesus says that this is what He has heard from the Father since "the beginning" claiming that He is coeternal with God and probably taking them back to Genesis 1:1 and Jesus saying that He was there and an active participant in creation. John makes clear to us that they did not understand that Jesus was talking about God the Father when He said these things. Jesus knows they do not understand now, but He tells them that when the Son of Man (Jesus' favorite title to call Himself) is "lifted up" (this should take us back to John 3 where Jesus talks about the serpent being lifted up in the wilderness and how He too must be "lifted up") that they will finally realize who He is, but that it will be too late at that point. They will understand that Jesus did not speak or do anything on His own authority, but did everything with that the Father commanded and said the words that the Father gave to Him and that everything that He did pleased the Father. Even this Roman centurion at the foot of the cross will exclaim, "Surely this was the Son of God" when he will see the way that Jesus died and the way that heaven and earth responded to His death. (See Matthew 27:54 and Mark 15:39 and Luke 23:47). Strangely enough, John is the one gospel writer that won't include this declaration, even though John would be there at the foot of the cross and see and hear everything, and I think that's because he wants his readers to come to that conclusion on their own and have the same kind of reaction that the centurion did. Remember the key verse for the book is that John wrote all these things that we might know and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that in Him we might have eternal life. That's what Jesus is telling the Pharisees here. Many heard the words of Jesus here and believed, and I think it was for their sake that he continued this debate. Jesus knew that the Pharisees had made up their mind long before and He knew from the beginning which sheep belonged to Him and which didn't, yet He would still preach the truth to all and call them to repentance--even one like Judas Iscariot who was the "son of perdition" and Jesus knew that he was predestined to betray Jesus (though that didn't necessarily mean that he was predestined to go to hell). Jesus knows when He prays in the Garden in John 17 that He is not praying for Judas as Judas has made his choice and that Jesus has not really lost any of the ones that belonged to Him--in fact, we'll see that Jesus knows Judas and His role even earlier at the Last Supper and probably before that The Gospel of John is written unlike any of the other gospels. It only contains 21 chapters and we are already within the last six months of Jesus life by chapter 7 (only a third of the way through). When we get about halfway through we're going to start dealing with the last week of Jesus' life (what people call the Passion Week). So much of this gospel is dedicated to Jesus' final words and deeds right before He goes to the cross. He knows that His time is short and He has much to say to the people, even the Pharisees, in that time, but especially His disiples. John 7:53-8:11 English Standard Version [The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.] The Woman Caught in Adultery 53 [[They went each to his own house, 8 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]] Before we get started, don't get worked up about the notes in brackets or the fact that this portion of the book of John is set off in brackets in my Bible or yours. I kept all that for the sake of transparency, but whether these verses are there or not in your Bible does not change the message of the Book of John or the Bible as a whole and nothing happens in this story that we couldn't also find in Jesus' teaching elsewhere. Primarily we'll see this story tell us that Jesus was not here during His first Advent to condemn and to judge. That does not mean that He winks at the sin in this passage--He will deal with it by calling the woman to repent, but He will also deal with the self-righteousness of the Pharisees in His own way here.
Recall that we're still in the area of Jerusalem after the Feast of Booths and the Pharisees have just been embarrassed by their Temple guard who refused to arrest Jesus during the Feast. They still want to try to make Jesus look bad in front of the people that are there and at least come up with a way to disqualify Him in the eyes of the people, if not grounds for arrest and and the death penalty. Jesus has gone out to the Mount of Olives (a very special place with Messianic meaning). Jesus likely went here to pray as the gospel of Luke tells us that this was His custom. Jesus then returned to the Temple to start teaching the people. The Pharisees decided to interrupt the lesson with a test they had prepared for Jesus to try to trap Him. They brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and said, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” The question already shows that they assume Jesus would not tell them to stone the woman to death, but that's not exactly what Jesus says here. Jesus does not say that the woman doesn't deserve to be stoned--in fact, He doesn't say anything to them! He instead just starts writing something in the dirt right there in the Temple. They are aggravated that He won't answer them and they keep insisting that He give an answer, so He finally says to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Notice that Jesus doesn't say that she doesn't deserve to die according to the Law, but instead addresses the hearts of the Pharisees who were accusing her implying that they too were guilty under the Law, likely of sins that were as serious as the one that this woman was accused of and they too deserved to be stoned to death. Jesus has said many times in many other places that we should judge by the same standard that we want to be judged by and that we should measure out grace and forgiveness to others in the same amount that we want it to be measured out to us, and that those who fail to forgive others will themselves not be forgiven. (See Luke 6:37-49, Matthew 7, and Matthew 18:21-35 for just a few of the places Jesus talks about this). So, while we don't know exactly what Jesus was writing, I assume it had something to do with the Law and probably with the ways in which these men had violated the Law and themselves were worthy of death. All we know for sure though is that Jesus mostly ignored them and didn't give into the trap that they were trying to lay for Him. One by one they all leave, from the oldest to the youngest. This is probably a sign of respect, but it could also be a sign that those who were older realized they had more bloodguilt than those who were younger, but all of them eventually realized they too had bloodguilt (were worthy of the death penalty). After they had all left, Jesus turns to the woman, who to this point has been largely ignored because it wasn't really about her or her sin, but about a standoff between the Pharisees and Jesus. Now that they are gone, Jesus deals with the woman's sin by first showing her that there was no one left to accuse her, including Jesus, even though it would probably be clear at this point that He also knew her sin if He had been demonstrating that He knew all the sins of all the accusers. He tells her, like He has already told others, to repent and to go and sin no more. He does not say that judgment is not coming, but just that today was not the day for Him to judge her. It's quite possible this woman believes on Jesus and that He pays her sin debt on the cross (less than six months away at the time of these events) and that God has already chosen to forget her sins because they have already been paid for in His mind. Below are a few passages that speak to this idea of sins being taken away and no longer remembered by God for those who have believed. I have to assume that's what going on here--one group is choosing to be judged by their actions and has fallen far short, and the other party is falling completely on the grace of God for forgiveness which is extended to her, but she is also told to repent and to stop sinning. I do not find that inconsistent at all with the rest of Scripture, even the Old Testament. We do not have a "God of the Old Testament" and a "God of the New Testament." We have one unchanging God who is longsuffering and rich in mercy. He is kind and loving, but He is also just and righteous. These are not separate ideas, but all extensions of God's nature and His holiness. So we should not try and take this passage out of context and try to make it out as if Jesus said that the Law doesn't matter--Jesus has said quite the opposite of that actually, and He called people to an even higher standard than the Law of Moses did--where the Law mostly judged people by their outward actions, Jesus said that man would not only be judged by their actions, but by their thoughts and lusts that were at the root of the fruit that we see. Psalm 103:11-13 English Standard Version 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. Hebrews 8 English Standard Version Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant 8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 10:1-18 English Standard Version Christ's Sacrifice Once for All 10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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