John 8

Part of Light of the World and the Good Shepherd📖 John introduction

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¹but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ✦ ²Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them. ✦ ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, ⁴they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. ⁵Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?” ✦ ⁶They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. ✦ ⁷But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” ✦ ⁸Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. ⁹They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. ✦ ¹⁰Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?” ✦ ¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.” ✦ ¹²Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” ✦ ¹³The Pharisees therefore said to him, “You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.” ✦ ¹⁴Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. ✦ ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. ✦ ¹⁶Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. ✦ ¹⁷It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid. ✦ ¹⁸I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.” ✦ ¹⁹They said therefore 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.” ✦ ²⁰Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. ✦ ²¹Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.” ✦ ²²The Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, that he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?” ✦ ²³He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. ✦ ²⁴I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” ✦ ²⁵They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. ✦ ²⁶I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” ✦ ²⁷They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. ✦ ²⁸Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. ✦ ²⁹He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ✦ ³⁰As he spoke these things, many believed in him. ✦ ³¹Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. ✦ ³²You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ✦ ³³They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?” ✦ ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. ✦ ³⁵A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. ✦ ³⁶If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ✦ ³⁷I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. ✦ ³⁸I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.” ✦ ³⁹They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ✦ ⁴⁰But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. ✦ ⁴¹You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.” ✦ ⁴²Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me. ✦ ⁴³Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word. ✦ ⁴⁴You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father. ✦ ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. ✦ ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ✦ ⁴⁷He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.” ✦ ⁴⁸Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?” ✦ ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ✦ ⁵⁰But I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. ✦ ⁵¹Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.” ✦ ⁵²Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’ ✦ ⁵³Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?” ✦ ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God. ✦ ⁵⁵You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him, and keep his word. ✦ ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.” ✦ ⁵⁷The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM. ” ✦ ⁵⁹Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by. ✦

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In this chapter

Concept I AM Concept The Light of the World

Where this chapter connects

John 8 ·73 John 7 ·26 John 5 ·25 John 10 ·20 John 17 ·18 John 12 ·16 John 3 ·15 John 14 ·13

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 8YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 8David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 8Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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