Month: March 2021

10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheep fold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
¹² The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

¹⁹ Again the Jews were divided because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” ²¹ Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²² At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴ So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶ but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.^{a  30} The Father and I are one.”

³¹ The Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”
³⁴ Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— ³⁶ can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹ Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹ Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many believed in him there.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Why do you think Jesus used the image of sheep and a shepherd here? How do you think his audience responded to this image? What is the difference between the shepherd and a thief?

2. How does Jesus link the idea of a shepherd to himself? To his ministry? What does he do for his “sheep”? What are the parallels between a “good” shepherd and Jesus? What is the difference between Jesus and a hired hand? 

4. Who are the “other sheep” Jesus refers to in verse 16? Why do you think he includes them at this point? What do you think he means by “one flock, one shepherd?”

5. How does Jesus describe his relationship to God? What is the nature of his authority? How do the people respond to this assertion?

6. Where does the next interchange take place. What is going on? What do the people ask Jesus?

7. How does Jesus answer the question? What image does he use? Why don’t the people believe him?

What does he say about the Father and himself?

8. How do the people react to this claim? How does Jesus respond to their actions? What evidence does he tell the people to look at to support his claim?

Get Personal

How does Jesus continue to be your good shepherd “gate?” When do you rely on his protection? When do you listen for his voice? When have you sought “pasture” through Jesus? What “miraculous works” have you looked at recently?

10:1. Sheepfold — several shepherds would pen their sheep together for security at night and then retrieve them the next morning with a unique call which the sheep would recognize. Jesus’s audience would also be familiar with the devotion required of a good shepherd, since sheep need a lot of attention.
The best-known image of God as a shepherd is Psalm 23, but Jeremiah prophesied: I will give you shepherds after my own heart, [3:15].
10:7. Gate — Jesus presents himself as both the protection for the sheep and the means through which the sheep achieve security.
10:16. Other sheep — a clear reference to the Gentiles who would accept Jesus as

their Lord and Savior, and who would join with Jewish believers as one “flock” or one body (church) with Christ as the “shepherd” and head.
10:22. Festival of the Dedication — Hanukkah is not one of the prescribed festivals of the Torah. It is also called the “Festival of Lights” because it celebrates the lamp oil that lasted eight days to cleanse the Temple after a Greek ruler defiled it in 165 B.C.E.
10:24. Tell us plainly — the irony is that Jesus has been declaring he is equal with God, the Father. But he explains it one more time [vv. 25-30].
10:34. Is it not written — Jesus is referring to Psalm 82:6: I say, “you are gods and children of the Most High.”

9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷ saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”  ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸ Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰ The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^{a  36} He answered, “And who is he, sir?^a Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Why would the disciples ask a question about who sinned in reference to a blind person? How does Jesus respond to the question?

2. What does Jesus say about sin in this exchange? What does he say about his work? Do you think the disciples understood Jesus’ point here?

3. What does Jesus do about the blind man? Why do you think he used the mud rather than just healing directly?

4. What happens next to the man? How do his friends and neighbors react? How do the Pharisees get involved in this situation? What is their main concern? How does the man answer the questions? How would you have responded?

6. Why do the Jews have such a hard time accepting this healing? What are they really trying to discover? How do the man’s parents respond to this miracle? Why do you think they reacted this way?

8. How does the man deal with round two of the questioning? How do the Pharisees respond to this turn of events? 

9. What does Jesus do after the man is sent out from the Pharisees? How does the man respond to Jesus’ question? What does he really need to know?

Get Personal

What do you recall about your first “meeting” with Jesus? Did it involve healing or “fixing” something? Have there been times when your natural sight has made you blind to God’s truth or to God’s actions in your life? How has God helped you to become “blind” so that you might “see” his kingdom? 

9:1. Blind — blindness figures throughout the Bible. Both for compassion and for avoidance as punishment for doing wrong, as in the disciples’ question about who sinned. Blindness often is a symbol of misunderstanding or not seeing and acknowledging the truth about God — or about Jesus as this chapter details.
9:4-5. Night . . . light — Jesus contrasts darkness – with no understanding – with the light of his presence as the Word of God, or full understanding.
9:7. Siloam — this pool provided the sacred water used for the Feast of Tabernacles. Elisha also sent a person to water (the Jordan River) to be healed, [details are in 2 Kings 5:10-14].
9.17. Prophet – the man is correct –

Jesus is the ultimate declaration of who God is. 
9:21. Of age — to testify – 13 for a Jewish male.
9:22. Put out — the synagogue was the center of social as well as religious life. Expulsion would make a person an outcast from the community.
9:25. Know — ultimately this is all we can say as well: “I was not in a relationship with God and now I am in a loving, saving relationship with God – because of Jesus Christ.”
9:39-41. Blind — Jesus uses the term as a metaphor for spiritual blindness – the Pharisees can not understand the truth of God’s kingdom because they can “see” only the things of this world.

8³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
³³ They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶ So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸ I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

³⁹ They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, ⁴⁰ but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴ You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying 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 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps myword will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ ⁵⁵ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{a  58} Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does Jesus describe a “disciple?” What are the key characteristics? What is the result of being a disciple?

2. How do the Jewish leaders respond to Jesus’ declaration about freedom? What are they looking at? What prevents them from understanding what Jesus is talking about?

3. Why do the Pharisees rely so much on Abraham? What is the result of this type of faith? What is different than what Jesus is offering?

4. Why is it important to know who our “father” is (vv. 42-45). Why do you suppose Jesus speaks so strongly about the Jews “father” in this exchange?

5. What does Jesus mean when he says anyone who keeps his word won’t see death? How does the crowd react to this? 

6. How does Jesus describe the relationship between himself and Abraham? What is different from the Jews understanding of Abraham?

Get Personal

What are you “free” from today that had bound you in the past? How has God helped you become more free? 

8:31. Believed — For John the term is more than just agreeing that something is true or correct; it is accepting what Jesus says about himself and then acting as if it is true. Paul says the knowledge of God and his work is available to every person, [19; Rom. 1:19-20], but we have to be open to the Holy Spirit to understand and act on this knowledge. 
8:32. Truth — to a Jew, God is “truth,” so Jesus is talking about more than being correct or accurate.
Free — the Greek word means not restrained, controlled or under obligation. Our separation from God – our sin – actually forces us to act consistent with this world. Believing in the truth about Jesus restores our relationship with God and gives us the ability to act consistent with his values.
8:33. Descendants — the Pharisees have it wrong. First, Jesus is talking about spiritual freedom, not an economic or political condition. Second, the Jews were slaves in Egypt and captive servants of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
8:34. Slave to sin — see Note on 8:32.
8:37. Descendants of Abraham — Jewish tradition said that being a descendant of Abraham all but guaranteed salvation; but Jesus points out the flaw in this teaching.
8:39. Doing what Abraham did — Jesus reminds his Jewish listeners that Abraham was the model for spiritual piety.
8:41. Your father — Jesus tells the Pharisees their true father is devil – “the father of lies.”

8:44. Devil — the Greek word means “false witness” or “accuser,” usually with an evil or harmful intent.
8:48. Samaritan . . . demon — because of the hatred between the two parts of the ancient kingdom (Samaria was the first part of Israel to be conquered, Judea, the other part, was eventually conquered also) even the names became insults. 
8:51. Never see death — Jesus’s declaration here parallels his assertion in v. 32: a person who is now in a positive relationship with God (keeping Jesus’ word) will never be out of that relationship, which is spiritual “death.”
8:52. But the Jews take him literally (and even here they are wrong: Elijah did not die but was taken up into Heaven [2 Kings 2:11]).
8:54. He is our God — Jesus quotes the core Jewish confession, but he calls it empty because they don’t really “know” God as Abraham did.
8:56. Abraham rejoiced — Jesus is referring to God’s promise in Genesis 22:15-18: The irony is that Abraham actually had the faith the Jewish leaders who are now relying on him do not have.
8:58. I am — Jesus uses the most significant description of God the Father for himself [check Exodus 3:14]. Note the use of the present tense [see Note on 8:24]. (The Jews understand this reference as blasphemy and try to stone him.)

8¹² Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” ¹³ Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I judge no one. ¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷ In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸ I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” ¹⁹ Then they said 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.” ²⁰ He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹ Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”  ²⁵ They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?  ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” ²⁷ They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. ²⁹ And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” ³⁰ As he was saying these things, many believed in him.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Why do you suppose Jesus uses the metaphor of light to describe himself? How does this compare with Jesus’ offer of “living water” earlier in this chapter?

2. What is the next argument the teachers and Pharisees bring against Jesus? Why is the number of witnesses important?

3. How does Jesus respond to the challenge about witnesses? How does he demonstrate he is fulfilling even this part of the Law of Moses?

4. Why do the Jews have such a hard time understanding Jesus’ references to where he is going? What point is Jesus making by telling them they will not be able to follow him?

Get Personal

How have you “lifted up” Jesus recently? How has this verified his identity for you – as savior, as Lord, as “living water,” as “the light of (your) world?” How can you lift Jesus up for others?

8:12. Light — the Festival of the Tabernacles also commemorated God’s guidance in the wilderness [check Numbers 9:15-19]. Jesus promises to provide this gift of God just as he did with the water [7:37].
Jesus is also echoing the Old Testament’s use of light as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, as well as of God’s presence. Just as with “the Word,” Jesus is light in all these senses. He is the knowledge of God among us even as he is God in our midst. If we believe what he says and trust the Holy Spirit we will have the “light that leads to life” that only God can provide. John uses a similar image in his first letter: This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all, [1 John 1:5].
8:13. Testimony not valid — the Mosaic law required two witnesses to verify testimony: One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses, [Deut 19:15].
8:15. Human standards — Jesus is clearly distinguishing his work from the work of the Pharisees and teachers: not only did he not come to judge humans, if he would judge it would be according to vastly different standards than the Jews were used to. In fact it’s their human standards that prevent them from seeing Jesus’ true identity.
8:18. One witness . . . the other — Jesus invokes God the Father as his second witness required by the Jewish law.

8:19. Where is your father? — the Pharisees are still thinking about their world: if Jesus’ father is a witness, they want to hear his testimony in court.
Since you don’t know — Jesus makes it clear the Jewish leaders are denying God when they deny his true identity.
8:20. Treasury — the area where peoples’ gifts and offerings were received. John stresses that it is not yet time for Jesus’ death and resurrection.
8:21. Die in your sin — in the singular it usually means separation from God: the Pharisees will physically die because their unbelief keeps them separated from the source of life.
8:24. I am — Jesus uses the same name that God gave Moses for himself: I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you [Exodus 3:14]. Jesus repeats the claim in v. 28.
8:28. Lifted up — there are probably three layers of meaning in Jesus’ use of this phrase. First, the Jews lifted Jesus up onto the cross, where he accomplished his purpose as savior. Second, Jesus was “lifted up” at the resurrection, as the first born and the promise of the new life. Finally, when we lift up Jesus in our faith and testimony we are declaring our knowledge and belief in who he is — and whose we are.
8:30. Believed in him — the irony is that the teachers of the law – the “experts” – could not accept the evidence of Jesus’ identity from their own law; but other people could see and believe.

⁷³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him.
³³ Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴ You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸ and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.”
⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? ⁴² Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” ⁴³ So there was a division in the crowd because of him.
⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵ Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” ⁴⁶ The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” ⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? ⁴⁸ Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ⁵¹ “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” ⁵² They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

8⁵³ [Then each of them went home,
¹ while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground  ⁹ When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is going on as this section opens? Where is Jesus? Who else is involved? What do the leaders do in response to the crowd’s reactions?

2. Why do you think Jesus tells the Jews he will be leaving? How do the Jews react to this declaration? Why don’t they understand what Jesus is talking about?

3. What does Jesus do on the last day of the festival? Why do you think he did this? How do the people react to his claim? How do you think you would have responded?

4. Why are the people confused about Jesus’ identity? Why are the Jewish leaders so focused on Jesus coming from Galilee? Who tries to redirect their thinking? Does this help?

5. What happens the next day? Where is Jesus? What is he doing? Who interrupts?

6. What do the Jewish teachers ask Jesus? Why is this a gotcha question [see Notes]? How does he finally answer their question? What do the Jews do in response to Jesus’ direction? What does Jesus do regarding the woman?

Get Personal

How has the “living water” Jesus talks about affected your life recently? Have there been times when you’ve looked in the wrong place for Jesus? How has God helped you focus on where he really is?

7:33. “And then . . .” – Jesus prophesies his death and resurrection.
7:38. Living water — Jesus applies Zechariah’s prophecy read each day at the festival to himself: On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, [14:8], as well as Isaiah’s prophecy: For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. [44:3].
7:40. The prophet — the “prophet like [Moses]” from Deut 18:15. The irony is that Jesus is, in fact, the complete prophet – he doesn’t just speak the word of God, he is the Word.
7:41. Galilee . . . Scriptures clearly state — again the Jews demonstrate their ignorance of the Scriptures they claim to understand. Jesus was born in Bethlehem [Micah 5:2], but he grew up in Galilee, which Isaiah foretold: in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. [Isa 9:2].
7:48. Has any one of the authorities — the Pharisees’ pride evidently extends to believing that their “no” votes determine Jesus’ identity.

7:50. Nicodemus — check chapter 3.
7:51. Legal — Mosaic Law required that an accused person must be heard before a verdict or judgment could be declared, [Deut 1:16].
7:52. No prophet — wrong again: Jonah and Elijah were both from the area of Galilee.
7:53-8:11. most scholars believe this story, which may be true, is a later addition, since none of the earliest manuscripts include it.
8:3. Caught in adultery — unlikely unless the man was part of a set-up, (but he was not arrested with the woman as the law requires).
8:5. Stoning — Mosaic Law specified execution of the man and the woman by stoning as the punishment for adultery, [Deut 22:22].
8:6. To test him — Roman law did not allow Jews to execute anyone. If Jesus says she should be killed he goes against Roman law; if he says not to kill her he ignores Mosaic Law.
8:7. Who is without sin — Jewish teaching agreed that everyone has violated the Law at some time.
8:9. Went away — Jesus exposed the Jewish leaders’ true motives and hypocrisy and thereby removed their reason for being there.