John 8
MCGARJohn 8:1-11
(Jerusalem.) J 53- 11. [This section is wanting in nearly all older manuscripts, but Jerome (A. D. 346-420) says that in his time it was contained in “many Greek and Latin manuscripts,” and these must have been as good or better than the best manuscripts we now possess. But whether we regard it as part of John’s narrative or not, scholars very generally accept it as a genuine piece of history.] [confused by the question of Nicodemus, the assembly broke up and each man went home] [Probably crossing the mountain to the house of Lazarus and sisters.] [as an authoritative teacher did– ] [The woman had probably been brought to the rulers for trial, and they had seen in her case what appeared to be a promising means of entrapping Jesus. In the presence of the woman and the form of their accusation we see their coarse brutality. The case could have been presented to Jesus without the presence of the woman, and without a detailed accusation.] [It was a case under . Stoning was the legal method of capital punishment] [They were placing Jesus in a dilemma.
They reasoned that he [451] could not set aside the law of Moses and clear the woman without so losing the confidence and favor of the people as to frustrate his claim to be Messiah. They thought he would therefore be compelled to condemn the woman.
But if he ordered her to be put to death, he would be assuming authority which belonged only to the Roman rulers, and could therefore be accused and condemned as a usurper.] [His act was intended to make them vehement, and to give his answer greater effect. What he wrote is unimportant and immaterial, and hence was not told.] [they insisted on an answer, hoping that he would so explain away the seventh commandment as to encourage them in breaking the sixth] [Under the law , the witnesses were to cast the first stone. Jesus maintained and vindicated the law, but imposed a condition which they had overlooked. The one who executed the law must be free from the same crime, lest by stoning the woman he condemn himself as worthy of a like death. There is no doubt that the words of Jesus impressed upon them the truth that freedom from the outward act did not imply inward purity or sinlessness– , .] [Thus giving them the opportunity to retire without the embarrassment of being watched.] [the oldest was first to be convicted of his conscience, because his experience of life’s sinfulness was necessarily the fullest] [ in the midst of the court, where the crowd had been.] [This question is asked to pave the way for the dismissal of the woman.] [“Lord” is ambiguous; it [452] may mean “Master” or simply “sir.”] [The woman did not ask forgiveness, so no words of pardon are spoken. Compare this case with .
Jesus did not come as an earthly judge; neither did he come to condemn, but to save. The narrative shows how Jesus could deal with malice and impurity in a manner so full of delicacy and dignity as to demonstrate the divine wisdom which dwelt within him.] [FFG 451-453]
John 8:12-59
(Jerusalem. October, A. D. 29.) J 12-59. [The metaphor of light was common, and signified knowledge and life; darkness is opposed to light, being the symbol of ignorance and death.] [They perhaps recalled the words of Jesus at .] [No man can bear testimony of his own nature, for he knows neither its origin nor its end. The Jews could not judge as to Christ’s nature–that he was the source of light and life, because of their ignorance as to him. But Jesus, having complete knowledge as to his eternal existence, was qualified to testify. These are truths about Deity to which Deity alone can testify, and as to the truth of which [453] Deity alone is fully competent to judge.] [ carnally, superficially, according to appearances. Carnal tests are not suited to spiritual truth] [He contrasts his spirit with theirs. They came upon him eager to condemn, but he had come not to condemn, but to save .
As an exception to his general course he might at intervals condemn a sinner; but should be do so the sentence would be just, for it would be the judgment of the Father, and hence devoid of any personal resentment or other biasing, perverting influence; the Father being lifted above and removed from the heats of argument in which the Son engaged.] [Jesus here returns to the point raised in . He cites the law as to two witnesses, found at , and calls the law law because they had arrogantly claimed possession of it .
The Father had borne witness to the Son by the prophets, including John the Baptist, by his voice at the baptism and transfiguration, by the works wrought by Jesus, and by the very nature of the life manifested by our Lord throughout his entire ministry. If the witness of two establishes truth, much more the witness of the two divine voices–that of the Father and of the Son.] [They evidently thought that Jesus referred to the testimony of some earthly parent , and appeal to him to produce this absent, unseen witness. It was according to their carnal or fleshly judgment to thus think.] [If they had really known the Son they would have recognized in him the Father, and – , .] [454] [The treasury, or place where the chests for offerings were placed, was in the court of the women, the most public part of the Jewish temple. It was near the hall Gazith, where the Sanhedrin met. Though he taught in a place so suited to his arrest, he was not taken. There is evidently a pause after , but probably not a very long one.] [See comment on ] [Discipleship is an abiding condition–a life, not an act.
The prejudices and preconceived notions of these Jews would prevent them from believing on him] [456] [Freedom consists in conformity to that which, in the realm of intellect, is called truth, and in the realm of morality, law. The only way in which we know truth is to obey it, and God’s truth gives freedom from sin and death.] [Jesus here shows that the freedom of which he spoke was spiritual–a relief from the distress mentioned in , .] [For light on this passage read .
Slaves have no permanent relationship to a house, and may be changed at will. God was about to dismiss the Jews as unfaithful slaves . Sons, on the contrary, have a permanent relationship to the house, and if a son take one into fraternal adoption, he communicates to such a one his own perpetuity– .] [Outwardly and carnally ye are Abraham’s seed, but ye are not so inwardly and spiritually, for he was the friend of God , but ye are the enemies of God’s Son, even seeking to kill him because ye are so corrupt that his words are distasteful to you, and ye resist them.] [An introductory statement leading up to . In the discourse which follows, Jesus discloses two households, two sets of children, and two styles of language or thought–one divine, the other diabolic.] [Seeing that he was distinguishing between his parentage and their parentage, they reassert for themselves [457] the fatherhood of Abraham, leaving him to find a better one if he could.] [Jesus here asserts that true descent is spiritual–a common nature manifesting itself in a similarity of works. According to this standard, the works of the Jews disproved their claim to be derived from Abraham.] [This refers back to , and shows that in distinguishing between his and their parentage Jesus had not allotted them the parentage of Abraham which they so gliby claimed.] [Perceiving that he spoke of spiritual parentage, and recognizing the fact that he had shattered their claim of spiritual derivation from Abraham, they fell back upon the citadel of Jewish confidence and pride–spiritually they were begotten of God; they were not begotten of an idolatrous but of a godly stock. Fornication is here used as the common symbol for idolatry– , , , .] [If ye were God’s children, ye would recognize me as of the same household, and love me accordingly, for I am both God-derived and God-sent.
Thus their hatred destroyed this claim also.] [By “speech” here Jesus means the outward form or expression of an idea; by “word” he means the inner thought or substance–the idea itself. Throughout this whole dialogue the Jews had failed to understand the verbiage of Jesus, because his thoughts were so utterly unfamiliar that no words could make them plain.
Minds filled with ideas of the devil find it difficult to comprehend the thoughts of God, no matter how plainly expressed.] [458] [wishes, desires] [By your hatred of the truth and your desire to commit murder, which are notable lusts of the devil, you show that you are spiritually derived from him. He was a murderer in the very beginning, for he brought sin into the world, which caused death . He shrinks from the truth as you do, because it meets no response in his heart. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own offspring, for he is a liar and the father of lying.] [As children of Satan they were used to his flattering speech; hence they rejected the word of Jesus because it was the bitter truth, and convicted them of sin.] [If you can not convict me of sin, then what I say must be true. Why, then, do you not believe me?] [The word “hear” is used in the sense of receive. Children of God love the honesty of God, but children of the devil prefer to be deceived.
The saying is akin to , .] [the same mentioned in ] [They present this piece of scorn as though it were a current saying; but it was probably suggested by the distinction in parentage which Jesus had just made. See .
He had shown they were no true sons of either Abraham or God, and they retaliate by calling him a Samaritan, swayed by diabolical influences. Jesus had visited Samaria ( .), and had just come through Samaria to this feast; these things, coupled with his bitter charges against the sons of Abraham, were sufficient to suggest the slanderous accusation.] [459] [He did not deny the charge of being a Samaritan, not choosing to recognize the difference which they attached to race– , , .] [I do not mind your abuse, for I do not seek my own glory. My Father seeks it, and judges those in whom he finds it not– .] [Jesus here re-states the thought in , . “To keep” here means to cherish and obey. Sin is bondage, and its wages is death. The fleshly body of the Christian dies, but the spirit within him does not. His eternal life begins in this world– .] [They thus construed his words as a confirmation of their former accusation.] [The argument is this: God’s word spoken to Abraham and the prophets had not preserved their lives, yet you claim power of life for your words greater than God’s, yet surely you will not claim even to be as great as Abraham.
Such wild talk is mere raving. They expected Jesus to disclaim the high position to which he seemed to have exalted himself.] [he prefaces his answer by showing that his words are not spoken in a spirit of self-exaltation, but in accordance to the will of his Father] [referring back to ] [Jesus here makes plain as sunlight his entire discourse by showing that he has used the word Father where they would have used the word God. [460] There is a distinction, too, between the “known” and the “know” used by Jesus.
The first represents knowledge which is acquired. The Jews had not acquired a knowledge of God from their Scriptures. The second, “know,” indicates that which is grasped intuitively, by direct personal cognition.] [“My day” means the mediatorial manifestation of Messiah. Abraham saw it by faith in the promised seed.] [They continue to persist in a literal interpretation, and even wrest the words of Jesus; for Abraham might well have seen him as the seed of promise, without his fleshly eyes ever seeing Abraham. Fifty years indicated the prime of life. It had been two thousand years since the time of Abraham, and Jesus was not yet a mature man as estimated by years.] [“I was” would simply have expressed priority, but “I am” marks timeless existence.
It draws the contrast between the created and the uncreated, the temporal and the eternal. Compare .] [judging him to be a blasphemer] [He doubtless drew back into the crowd and was concealed by his friends.] [FFG 453-461]