John
8:1-11 But
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2
And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people were
coming to him; and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 And the scribes and the Pharisees brought
a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, 4 they said to
Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to
stone such women; what then do you say?” 6 And they were saying this, testing
him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped
down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.
7 But when they persisted in asking him, he straightened up, and said to
them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone
at her.” 8 And again he stooped down,
and wrote on the ground. 9 And when
they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones,
and he was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. 10 And straightening up, Jesus said to her,
“Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 And she said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.”
·
Here’s
the situation; the legalistic Pharisees had been following Jesus, trying to
entrap him, particularly concerning the, “Law of Moses.” They were jealous of Jesus, and they felt
threatened by him, because Jesus was gathering a considerable following. Look back at 8:2 and you’ll find Jesus was
“teaching” people in the Temple area; that would be tantamount to sticking a
firebrand into a hornet’s nest (the hornets being the Pharisees of
course). If they could catch Jesus
falsely using the Law of Moses, they would have grounds for accusation.
·
Notice
in 8:5-6 the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman has been caught in
adultery, saying they found her, “… in the very act.” This means these self-righteous gasbags knew exactly where to
find this adulterous woman! The
question is, “HOW did they know where she was having sex with her lover?” Hmmm…
suspicious isn’t it?
·
The
Pharisees were mean-spirited, jealous, and greedy; they knew Jesus was tender,
merciful and compassionate man; therefore, they appeal to the LETTER of the LAW
of Moses, saying, “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what
then do you say?” In John 8:6 it says
they were saying this, testing him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing
him. The trap was set! If Jesus let the
woman go without having her publicly stoned, the Pharisees could discredit him
publicly. However, if Jesus said the
woman should be stoned to death, and the crowd was incited to hurl rocks at her
until she was dead, the Roman government would imprison Jesus, because it was
against Roman law to punish anyone by death without their approval. So what does Jesus do?
·
The
Lord stooped down, and with his finger wrote something on the ground. What did
he write? I think it was Deuteronomy
19:15, or at least the commandment concerning adultery in the Law of Moses;
whatever it was, it did not seem to deter them because 8:7 says, “…they
persisted in asking him.” Jesus straightened up, and said to them, "He who
is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at
her." And again (a second time)
Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground. This time the Pharisees reacted
much differently, and they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older
ones.
·
I
believe what Jesus wrote the second time was the names of three older Pharisees
(witnesses) who found the naked woman in adultery, otherwise how did they know
where to find this woman caught, “in the very act?” This is important to answering your question about John 8:58, as
you will later see. By writing their
names next to the commandment in the Law of Moses concerning false accusation,
in effect, Jesus was accusing them of the very act of adultery themselves! Embarrassed, the Pharisees angrily leave the
scene, then they conspire against Jesus; read on:
John
8:12-18
Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world;
he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of
life." 13 The Pharisees therefore
said to Him, "You are bearing witness of yourself; your witness is not
true." 14 Jesus answered and said
to them, “Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness 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 people
judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, my judgment is
true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent me. 17 Even in your law it has been written,
that the testimony of two men is true.
18 "I am he who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me
bears witness of me.”
·
When
the Pharisees return come back to Jesus, they are condemning him for accusing
THEM of adultery without having a proper “witness” according to the terms of
the Law of Moses! You see, in the Law,
if a man accused another without having at least two witnesses, then HE would
be stoned to death for making a false accusation! Below is the quote from the Law of Moses that Jesus refers to in
8:17 above:
·
Deuteronomy
19:15-21
“One witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or any wrong in
connection with any sin he commits; only on the testimony of two or three
witnesses shall a charge be established.
16 If a false witness rises up against any man to accuse him of
wrongdoing, 17 Then both parties
to the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the
judges who are in office in those days.
18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a
false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do
to him as he had intended to do to his brother. So you shall put away the evil
from among you. 20 And those who
remain shall hear and reverently fear, and shall henceforth commit no such evil
among you. 21 Your eyes shall
not pity: it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand, foot for foot. Amplified Bible
·
Do
you see in 8:13 how the Pharisees said to Jesus, "You are bearing witness
of yourself; your witness is not true."
The reason for this is because the Law of Moses required at least TWO
witnesses to verify an accusation. If
what Jesus wrote in the ground was the names of the Pharisees, as I believe,
then in terms of fleshly judgment, the only “witness” Jesus had was
himself. Now you will see why I took so
much time to establish context.
·
Jesus
answered the accusation of the Pharisees and gave them his second “witness” in
John 8:16 & John 8:18 when he told them, “But even if I do judge, my
judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent me. Even in
your law it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true. I am he who bears witness of myself, and the
Father who sent me bears witness of me.”
·
Who
was Jesus’ witness? GOD the Father who “sent” him! This alone proves Jesus is not purporting to be “before Abraham”
as “God” in John 8:58, but let’s read on, and many more proofs will
emerge. Don’t worry, I will give you
the correct meaning of verse 58; right now I am teaching you how to establish
CONTEXT.
John
8:19 And
so they were saying to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know
neither me, nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
·
A
few comments; Oneness folks say that Jesus is
“God” the Father “manifested” in human form (i.e. – manifested in the
flesh). They use this verse, and also
John 14:9, “… He who has seen me has seen the Father,” to prove that Jesus is,
“God.” Oneness
pastors often describe that looking into the face of Jesus, we see “God.” They conveniently ignore the context, which
always proves that Jesus is a man; the Oneness
skirt around the text because they believe if they admit Jesus is a man,
somehow they are blaspheming his divine nature. I know, I used to feel this same way. However, you don’t find the correct answer by ignoring the clear
text of scripture. Instead, you do so
by seeking the TRUTH without prejudice or bias.
·
For
example, in John 14:9 the Greek word for “seen” is “heoorakoós” and heoorakoós
means, “to perceive; to see with understanding; to be acquainted
with.” What Jesus says in John 14:9
therefore is this, “… he that has become acquainted with me, has become
acquainted with the Father.” The
Strong’s reference number for heoorakoós is NT:3708 and if you owned
Englishman’s Greek Concordance, you could take this reference number, and find
all the places that heoorakoós is used in the NT. I did this, and here’s a scripture that uses heoorakoós to say
that no man has EVER seen (heoorakoós) “God” (Yahweh) before (see below).
·
John
1:17-18
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen (heoorakoós) God at any time; the only begotten son who is
in the bosom of the Father, he has explained Him. NKJV
·
You
see, how could John 1:18 use the same word as John 14:9 unless it meant, “to
perceive?” Do you see how important
context is? Even if you did not have
Bible software, you could still determine that John 14:9 does not refer to
Jesus as, “God,” because in John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth,
and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”
John
8:20-24
These words he {Jesus} spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; and
no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 He said therefore
again to them, "I go away, and you shall seek me, and shall die in your
sin; where I am going, you cannot come."
22 Therefore the Jews were saying, "Surely he will not kill
himself, will he, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23
And he was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are
of this world, I am not of this world. 24 I said therefore to you, that you
shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you shall die in
your sins."
·
In
John 8:24 Jesus says, “… for unless you believe that I am he, you shall die in
your sins?” Both Trinitarian and
Oneness claim that this verse is yet another proclamation by Jesus whereby he
claims to be, “God,” as the great, “I am.”
Their argument goes like this (this is what they say):
“Jesus said that
unless you believe that ‘I AM’ {God}, you shall die in your sins.” The Oneness claim that this is Yahweh of the OT speaking THROUGH Jesus human body
of flesh the same way He did to Moses in Exodus 3:14 when He said, “I AM THAT I
AM.” Trinitarian churches say it is a simple claim to “Deity” as, “God the
Son,” the second person of the Trinity.
Both Trinitarian and Oneness position
justify this nonsense by using John 8:23, because Jesus said, “I am from
above,” and again, “I am not of this world.”
·
All of this
nonsense could be avoided if the AOG & UPC simply read the CONTEXT. Read on:
John
8:25 And
so they were saying to Him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them,
"What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to speak and to judge
concerning you, but He who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from
Him, these I speak to the world."
27 They did not realize that he had been speaking to them about the
Father.
A.
How
could Jesus be “sent” if he was God?
B.
Jesus
told the Jews he was not referring to himself when he mentioned the One that
“sent” him, but he was speaking f the Father.
READ ON
John
8:28-30
Jesus therefore 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 these things
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
spoke these things, many came to believe in him.
A.
Jesus
calls himself, “the Son of Man.” This
is a term that all Jews recognized as the title of their coming Messiah, not
“God.” Numbers 23:19 says that God is
not a man, nor is He the “son of man.”
B.
The
phrase Jesus uses, “I am he,” in John 8:28 refers to him as the son of man, and
it is the exact same words in John 8:24 when Jesus said, “ For unless you
believe that I am he.”
C.
Jesus
cannot be “God” in John 8:58 or anywhere in this chapter because he said in
8:28, “…the Father taught me,” and in 8:29, “…He has not left me alone,” and in
8:30, “…I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” If Jesus was God, who is teaching him? If he were God would he mention being left
alone? And last, but not least, how
could he be God while doing what is pleasing to his Father? Is that God trying to please himself?
D.
I
am being overtly ridiculous, but you see how strong the doctrinal bias of the
churches is when they ignore the overwhelming evidence for a few obscure
verses. READ ON. Remember, context is always your best friend
when you study scripture. The key to
understanding verse 58 is found primarily in verses 40 & 53.
John
8:31-41
Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you
abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine; 32 and you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free. " 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's offspring, and have
never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that you say, 'You shall become
free'?" 34 Jesus answered them,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of
sin. 35 And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does
remain forever. 36 If therefore the son
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
37 I know that you are Abraham's offspring; yet you seek to kill me,
because my word has no place in you. 38
I speak the things which I have seen with my Father; therefore you also do the
things which you heard from your father." 39 They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our
father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the
deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, you
are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from
God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You
are doing the deeds of your father."
A.
Jesus
tells them, if you want to know the truth I am speaking, you must abide in my
word, because my word is what I hear from God.
They Jews just do not understand, because their response is, “We are
Abraham’s offspring.”
B.
You
must understand the level of importance Abraham plays in the minds of these
Jews; to them, Abraham is the father of the promises God made to them as a
chosen people, because Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, whose name
was changed to Israel, from whence the 12 tribes came.
C.
Notice
Jesus calls himself, “the son,” and not the Father.
D.
Note
verse 37; Jesus acknowledges Abraham as the Jews’ father, then rebukes them in
verse 39 because they are not acting in love and faith like their father
Abraham acted.
E.
John
8:40 is the clincher, because it proves BEYOND ALL DOUBT who Jesus is, when he
scolds the Jews saying to them, “… you are seeking to kill me, a man who has
told you the truth, which I heard from God.”
How can Jesus refer to himself as God in John 8:58 if he calls himself
“a man” that told the truth, which he heard, “from GOD?”
John 8:41-47 They said to Him,
"We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were
your Father, you would love me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for
I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I am
saying? It is because you cannot hear
my word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the
desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not
stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie,
he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 45
"But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I
speak truth, why do you not believe me? 47
He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear
them, because you are not of God."
·
Note
especially John 8:42 because Jesus makes yet another clear distinction between
himself and God; he tells the Jews, “If GOD were your Father, you would love
ME…” Why? Because Jesus came from God; in other words, God sent him to the
Jews. The Trinitarian position is that
Jesus left his throne in heaven, and came to earth, and God became a man. This is impossible of course, because Jesus
says, “I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me.” How could he
leave his throne in heaven if he did not come on his own initiative?
·
Notice
the use of the words, “I speak the truth” in verse 45, and compare it to the
SAME words used by Jesus in verse 40, “…a man who has told you the truth, which
I heard from God.”
·
READ
ON and as you read, notice the Jews misinterpret what Jesus tells them.
John
8:48-53
The Jews answered and said to him, "Do we not say rightly 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 But I do not seek my
glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word he shall
never see death." 52 The Jews
said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and you say, 'If anyone
keeps my word, he shall never taste of death.'
53 Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died?
The prophets died too; whom do you make yourself out to be?"
·
In
John 8:53 the Jews said to Jesus, “Surely you are not greater than our father
Abraham, who died?” Think about it; why
did they ask him this question? The
reason is they MISINTERPRETED Jesus’
words about eternal life! This is VERY
important for you to understand to comprehend what John 8:58 means. You see, the Jews dishonor God by
dishonoring God’s SON and accusing Jesus of having a demon.
·
What
you need to understand most however is what happens in John 8:51 &
8:53. In 8:51 Jesus tells the Jews,
“…if anyone keeps my word he shall never see death.” What is Jesus telling them Kumar? Isn’t he saying that if they believe in God (the Father) THROUGH
his word, they will have eternal life?
Of course this is what Jesus SAYS, however, what the Jews INTERPRET
Jesus to be saying is something entirely different.
·
So
what did these stiff-necked Jews THINK Jesus was saying in John 8:51? Read John 8:52-53 and just think about it
for a few minutes. Isn’t it true the
Jews thought Jesus was promising they could live in their human bodies of flesh
forever? They knew this was impossible,
so on the basis of their PERCEPTION (albeit a false perception), they mock
Jesus saying to him, “Abraham died… are you GREATER than Abraham?” In other words, they were saying, “Jesus,
Abraham is the greatest of all our spiritual ancestors, and he died, just like
all the other great OT prophets. So if
you are saying we can live forever by believing in you, then you are either
crazy, OR you are claiming to be GREATER in stature and power than Abraham
was.”
·
The
fact is, at this point in the conversation, the Jews thought Jesus was crazy,
because if they thought he was claiming greater status than Abraham, they would
have picked up stones and stoned him to death at that very moment. You see, it is blasphemy in the minds of the
Jews to claim one is greater than Abraham, because he is revered as the
greatest of all Israel’s prophets. READ
ON
John
8:54-56
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 and you have not come to
know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a
liar like you, but I do know Him, and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad."
A.
John
8:54 is yet ANOTHER proof Jesus is not God, nor is he claiming to be deity,
because he clearly states, “…it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you
{Jews} say, 'He is our God.' Jesus says
it very plainly, “MY Father…” is the One you Jews say, “He is OUR God.” No mistake about it.
B.
Jesus
in effect tells the Jews, “I know God and you don’t know Him.” For proof he uses the Jews’ own words
against them, saying of Abraham, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
and he saw it and was glad.” Now
Abraham was not alive to see Jesus’ day was he? Abraham lived over 400 years BEFORE Moses was born! In the Greek text of John 8:56 the word “it”
is omitted; Bible translators have erroneously inserted it (no pun intended).
C.
What
Jesus is saying is that Abraham rejoiced at the day the Messiah would come, and
he “SAW” by FAITH, not literally in the flesh.
Now as you read John 8:57, notice that the Jews MISINTERPRET what Jesus
said about Abraham rejoicing to see (by faith) his (Jesus) day.
John
8:57 The
Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you
seen Abraham?"
·
Did
Jesus claim to have actually SEEN Abraham physically with his two eyes? No!
Jesus said nothing of the sort; all Jesus said was that Abraham rejoiced
to see the day the Messiah would arrive.
This is a VERY important point to understand verse 58 and what Jesus
says next.
John
8:58-59
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born,
I am." 59 Therefore they picked up
stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple. NAS
·
Why
are they trying to stone Jesus? We know
it was not because Jesus claimed to have seen Abraham. The answer is found to a great extent in the
Greek; the words translated, “was born,” are better translated, “existence”
(i.e. – meaning to exist). Also, the
word translated as, “before,” is the Greek word, “prín,” from a root word
“pros” meaning “superior; first in rank or title.”
Therefore,
John 8:58 is more accurately translated as, “Truly, truly I say to you, I exist
as superior in rank to Abraham’s existence.”
The UBS Greek text reads, “prín Abraám genésthai egoó eimí” In other
words, Jesus is telling these Jews that his rank in the kingdom of God is
greater than that of their father Abraham.
Once he said this, the Jews took up stones to stone him to death.
SELAH
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