John 8 - CSB Apologetics Study Bible for Students

8:30-59 In vv. 30-31, various listeners seem to have believed in Jesus, but by the end of the chapter they were ready to stone him. As v. 31 stresses, appearance of belief must be matched by perseverance in following Jesus and his teaching. Much of the belief attested to in v. 30 was probably superficial. There may also have been a narrowing of the audience Jesus was addressing, starting in v. 48—“the Jews” here may include some of the authorities who had never claimed to believe in him at any level.

8:44 Surely this was the height of anti-Semitism? Actually, Jesus was calling only one specific group of Jews sons of the devil. Jesus was a Jew, as were all his first followers. The OT Prophetic Books contain many equally sharp rebukes (e.g., Jr 9:7-9), and they are certainly not anti-Semitic.