John 8 - Jon Courson's Application Commentary

The morning after the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus was in the temple, ready to meet with any who might seek Him. “I love them that love Me,” declares the Lord, “and those that seek Me early shall find Me” (Proverbs 8:17).

Caught in the act of adultery, the woman was brought, perhaps naked, to the Rabbi from Galilee.

While Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 22 both declare adultery to be a capital offense punishable by death, due to the severity of the sentence, there were safeguards to protect the innocent. That is, there could be no doubt about any of the details. The evidence had to be conclusive and unmistakable. In fact, there had to be a number of witnesses to the actual act of immorality. And their stories had to collaborate perfectly. History tells us that one couple was set free simply because the witnesses who observed their adulterous act couldn’t name the tree under which it took place. Consequently, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us adultery would be punished on the average of only once every seven years.

If Jesus said, “Stone her,” He would jeopardize His position as Friend of Sinners. Prostitutes and publicans, tax collectors and street people would no longer feel comfortable around Him, knowing He had sentenced one of their own to death. If, on the other hand, He said, “Let her go,” He would be dishonoring the very Word of God He had come to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).

Had these scribes and Pharisees been truly interested in justice, why didn’t they bring the man along with the woman? Most scholars believe it was because it was a setup to entrap Jesus and that the man himself was in collusion with them.

It was the finger of God that wrote, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” in tablets of stone (see Exodus 31:18). Two thousand years later, we see the finger of God once more-this time on the hand of Jesus Christ, writing in the dust of the earth.

In defense of the woman, the Rock of Ages stood up to the men who held rocks in their hands.

Commentator J. Allen Blair properly translates Jesus’ statement as: “Let he who is without the same sin cast the first stone.”

What did Jesus write that would cause the men to become so heavily convicted? I suggest what He wrote was in fulfillment of Jeremiah 17:13, where Jeremiah prophesied that the names of all who forsook the Lord would be written in the earth. I suggest He wrote the names of those who held rocks in their hands-and by each one a female name, a date, a place, or some other reminder of something in their past that they themselves may have long ago forgotten. Am I suggesting that all of the scribes and Pharisees present had committed adultery or that they were all involved in immorality? All I know is this: Jesus said if a man looked on a woman with lust in his heart, he was guilty (Matthew 5:28). Therefore, the words Jesus wrote on the ground were, very possibly, reminders that, because none of them was without sin, none of them was qualified to cast a stone.

Finally, when all her accusers were gone, Jesus lifted up His eyes and spoke to the woman. Notice He didn’t call her, “harlot” or “sinner”. He called her gune, or “woman”-the same title with which He had addressed His mother (John 2:4).

The scribes and Pharisees called Jesus “Master” or “Rabbi.” The woman called Him “Lord.”

Jesus didn’t say, “I won’t condemn you this time, but if it happens once more, you’re toast.” No, He said, “Go your way, free to sin no more.”

In the strictest sense of the word, Jesus couldn’t have condemned her because the Law of Moses specifically states that it took a minimum of two witnesses to condemn someone (Deuteronomy 19:15). Therefore, in dismissing the scribes and Pharisees who had witnessed her sin, Jesus relinquished His opportunity to condemn her.

How I love the serenity and tranquility of our Lord. He never was and never is uptight. He had every reason to object to the rude intrusion of the keyhole-peeping, sin-sniffing, self-righteous Pharisees (verse 1). But He didn’t. He simply used their interruption as an illustration. And just as a jeweler most effectively displays the radiance of his gems against a background of black, so the next statement Jesus would make would be seen all the more vividly when placed against the backdrop of the blackness and darkness of what had preceded it.

During the years of the wilderness wanderings, the tabernacle was lit by the shekinah glory of God (Exodus 40:34). Later, the temple was also filled with the glory of God (2 Chronicles 7:1). But because the people chose to live in darkness, there came a point when the tangible, visible presence of the light of God departed (Ezekiel 10:18). Consequently, the people of God had to light candles and trim lamps in the temple because the shekinah, the true light, had long since departed. Now, here stands Jesus, perhaps right in front of one of the candlesticks in the temple, saying, “I am the Light of life-the shekinah, the glory. I’m back.” And I suggest He made this declaration with a smile on His face and His arms outstretched as He offered Himself to them.

After one thousand years, the glory returned in the Person of Jesus Christ. Yet what did the Pharisees do? They questioned Him, rejected Him, and, finally, extinguished Him.

Jesus said this not to defend Himself but to condemn those who declared His words invalid on the grounds that He lacked a second witness (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus’ second witness was His Father, who validated Jesus’ mission and position when He said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” on the day of His baptism (Matthew 3:17).

The word “he” is italicized in your Bible because the original manuscript reads “for if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.” The singular issue of salvation is one of believing that Jesus is I AM, that Jesus is God. It’s not enough to believe Jesus is a good guy, a great guru, or even the Son of God. The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Moonies and cults down the line are all damned in their teachings because they deny this most essential, basic truth of salvation in denying that Jesus is God.

“Here’s the fire, and here’s the wood, but where’s the sacrifice?” Isaac asked Abraham on Mount Moriah, which today is known as Calvary.

“God shall provide Himself a lamb,” Abraham answered prophetically (see Genesis 22:8).

Abraham didn’t say, “God shall provide for Himself a lamb.” He said, “God will Himself be the Lamb.” Therefore, if I say God did not Himself become a Lamb, if God Himself did not take on my sin but instead created a Son to die, I diminish what God did for me. And this is the great hinge of salvation that separates us from the cults. Every single cult robs Jesus Christ of deity. Some will say He’s God’s Son. Some will say He died for the sins of the world. Some will even say He rose again. But look a cultist in the eye and ask him if Jesus Christ is God, and he’ll say, “He’s God’s Son,” at best. And in so doing, he destroys what God did redemptively on his behalf.

It has been rightly said that the art of eloquence is knowing when not to speak. This is nowhere demonstrated more beautifully than in Jesus. As the Jews continue to badger Him, Jesus says, “There is so much I could say. But I only speak those things the Father instructs Me to say.”

The lifting up of the Son of Man speaks of the Cross. “When you see Me on the Cross, you’re going to know I AM,” declares Jesus. “When the sky is dark and the earth shakes; when the graves open and the veil is rent, you will at last understand that I AM.”

It’s proof of His purity that not one of Jesus’ contemporaries raised an objection to this statement, that not one ever saw Him do anything that would not please God. On the contrary, even as He made this claim, many believed on Him.

The word “disciple” means “disciplined one.” Who are Jesus’ disciples, His disciplined ones? Those who continue in, take heed to, and make a high priority of His Word. And it is as they comprehend the truth of the Word that they are free-really, truly free.

For topical study of John 8:32 see “Really Set Free”.

“What do you mean be made free?” protested the Jews. “We’re the people of Israel. We’ve never been in bondage to any man.”

Really? What about when they were in bondage to Pharaoh for four hundred years, baking bricks in the brutal, burning Egyptian sun century after century? What about the three-hundred-five-year period chronicled in the Book of Judges when they were in bondage to seven different nations? What about the year 722 B.C. when the Assyrians-a people so cruel that merely upon hearing they were coming, many nations would commit mass suicide-used fishhooks in the mouths of the Jews to lead them captive to Assyria? What about the Babylonians who, in 586 B.C., destroyed not only the temple, but the entire city of Jerusalem? What about the fact that even as they spoke these words, the Jews were in submission to Rome? Truly, their rejection of Jesus rendered these scribes and Pharisees incapable both of viewing their history correctly and discerning their situation presently.

The one who practices sin becomes enslaved to that sin. Nowhere is this truth more plainly illustrated than in the life of Samson. Samson took a Nazarite vow that forbade three things: touching dead bodies, drinking wine, and cutting his hair. Yet he touched dead carcasses (Judges 14:8,9) , and no doubt drank wine at the Philistine parties he attended. Therefore, when Delilah cut his hair, I’m convinced he thought nothing would happen because nothing had happened when he touched the carcass and drank the wine. But when Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon thee,” the third time, Samson was bound and taken captive to grind like an ox in prison because no one beats the rap. No one gets away indefinitely with sin and compromise.

The one who continually sins becomes enslaved to sin. And sin is a cruel master indeed. By offering pleasure for a season (Hebrews 11:25), it is initially comfortable to serve in the household of sin. But sooner than later, sin eventually throws everyone out on the street.

“I know you are Abraham’s seed,” Jesus says in verse 37. “You are not Abraham’s children,” He says in verse 39. Is this a contradiction? No. Abraham’s seed and Abraham’s children are two separate entities-an important distinction to make in understanding prophecy.

The term “Abraham’s seed” refers to the physical offspring of Abraham-the people of Israel. “Abraham’s children” refers to all who believe God (Romans 4:1). If you don’t understand this point, you’ll be confused when people say, “The church is equivalent to Israel. Therefore the promises of the Old Testament do not speak to a literal, physical restoration of Israel, but to the church,” as they misinterpret prophecy to conform to this foundational error.

“I know you’re Israelites. I know you’re Jews physically and racially,” Jesus said. “But you’re not Abraham’s children because you don’t believe in Me.”

The Pharisees respond by striking at Mary, raising the question of the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth.

Anyone who says, “We love Jehovah. We love the God of the Bible. We love the God of Israel. But we don’t love Jesus Christ as God”-doesn’t really love God.

“You can’t understand what I’m saying because we’re speaking two different languages,” said Jesus. “You’re talking about worldly stuff, and I’m speaking of the eternal.”

Scripture declares the wounds of a friend to be faithful (Proverbs 27:6) because only a friend cares enough to tell the truth. Jesus is not being vindictive here. On the contrary, His words prove His faithfulness. He’s using strong language because nothing less would get through to these men.

“Why don’t you believe Me? What wrong have I done in your sight?” Jesus asks.

Jesus’ point is so well taken, His logic so irrefutable, that the Pharisees’ only recourse is to resort to name-calling.

Pleading with the Pharisees, Jesus says, “If you’ll simply receive and embrace what I’m saying, you’ll never see death.” The same is true for us. You see, for those who know Jesus, death is neither annihilation nor termination. Death is transformation because the moment we close our eyes in the final minute of this life, we’ll see Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8). And in seeing Him, we’ll become like Him (1 John 3:2).

When did Abraham see Jesus? I believe this reference is to the story in Genesis 14 when, after rescuing his nephew, Abraham was greeted by a man named Melchizedek. “Melchizedek” means “King of Righteousness.” Melchizedek was from Salem. Salem means “Peace.” Melchizedek had no mother or father, no beginning or end (Hebrews 7:3). He offered bread and wine to Abraham and accepted a tithe from him-all of which point to the distinct possibility that Melchizedek was a Christophany, an earthly appearance of Jesus before He came as the Babe of Bethlehem.

This interests me because, at this point, Jesus was only in His early thirties. Yet the Pharisees used fifty years as a reference to His age. Perhaps as the Man of Sorrows who carried the burden of a sinful world, He looked older than His age.

So clear was Jesus’ claim to deity that those who heard these words were ready to stone Him on the spot.

After being absent one thousand years, the shekinah glory reappeared in the Person of Jesus Christ. But because the people rejected Him, the Light departed once again from the temple.

Where did Jesus go? In the next chapter, we’ll see exactly where He went: He found a blind man. He found me.