John 8 Discussion

What if mercy could face a mob and still uphold justice? We journey through John 8 where a public trap turns into a revelation of character, law, and grace. The famous encounter with the woman caught in adultery isn’t a loophole in holiness; it’s a spotlight on due process, hypocrisy, and Jesus’ authority to forgive while calling sin by its name. From dropped stones to cleared hearts, the moment reframes how we think about righteousness and compassion.

The conversation intensifies as Jesus declares, I am the light of the world. We connect that claim to the temple’s imagery—bread, light, presence—and show how Jesus fulfills the entire pattern in himself. Heritage takes center stage too. The crowd leans on Abraham; Jesus presses for allegiance to the truth. We talk about slavery to sin as more than bad habits: it’s bondage to lies, broken by abiding in Jesus’ word. The debate spirals into accusations of demon possession and ends with one of Scripture’s boldest claims: before Abraham was, I am. No metaphor can soften that. It’s a direct claim to divinity that forces a decision.

Expect practical takeaways: how to drop the stone of hypocritical judgment, why confession breaks the cycle of shame, and what it means to actually walk in the light. We name the hard sins—adultery, pornography, hidden deceit—and pair them with a sturdier promise: if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. If you’ve felt stuck between legalism and license, this conversation offers a third way—mercy that doesn’t lower the standard and truth that doesn’t crush the sinner.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting Up John 8
• 0:30 The Textual Variant Explained
• 3:15 Mercy And Law In The Adultery Case
• 7:40 I Am The Light Of The World
• 10:45 Abraham’s Children And True Freedom
• 13:30 Your Father The Devil Debate
• 16:20 Before Abraham Was, I Am

Transcript

Pastor Plek: 0:10

And welcome back to a chapter a day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Plek. That's Pastor Holland. We are talking John chapter 8. We're gonna outline it. We're gonna make some observations, knock out some interpretations about the character of God and the nature of man, and then land the plan with some applications that you can take along your way for your day. All right, so John 8 starts out with the first 11 verses, which are textually disputed, often bracketed as a later insertion, but traditionally placed right here. And it's the story of the woman caught in adultery. We'll talk about that more in a sec. Yeah, uh, then dispute over Jesus' testimony, verses 12 through 20, where Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world. Then we've got the debate of spiritual freedom, and Abraham's children, Jesus warns of his departure and their impending death and sin, unless they believe that Jesus is who he is when he says, I am. And then they question that destination, they get confused. But then we have the really cool part of 48 through 59, where before Abraham was, I am, accused of demon possession and being a Samaritan. Jesus honors the Father while they dishonor him. He promises he'll never taste that believers will never taste death, provoking outcries of um blasphemy and like impossibility. How can he um how can he how does Abraham even know about this? And then that's when Jesus declares, before Abraham was I am, boom, affirming an eternal pre-existence. So they pick up stones to kill him, but it's not his time. All right, so let's get into some observations. Uh, first off, can you talk about this little textual deviation we have going on here? Sure. Um it is a deviation at all.

Pastor Holland: 1:58

Yeah, it says, so like in uh like this Bible, this is an ESV, and it says in the bracket, the earliest manuscripts do not include 753 to 811. There's a little note um, you know, down at the bottom, but uh basically a Bible like the ESV um is not just like, hey, we found um you know a whole Greek Bible uh and we just use that and translate it to English. It's it's really taking all of what you know the earliest manuscripts from different places, you know, around that area, these copies of Greek manuscripts, um, and then yeah, the earliest ones that, you know, the idea there being the ones that are gonna be the closest to the original manuscripts and putting all those together. And so um you have some uh, you know, just single, you know, a single page of a manuscript. You have others that are whole books, you have others that are whole, whole Bibles, but you know, some of those whole Bible manuscripts don't have um or do have uh this section, but some of the earlier ones before that didn't have this section. And so the ESV says, what do we do? We have some manuscripts that include it, some that don't. We're gonna put it in there, but put a note and just kind of explain it.

Pastor Plek: 3:11

So I think what sometimes why it can be confusing is well, how do they have numbers? I mean, didn't they number them? No, they didn't. There were no numbers. Yeah, no verses. Literally just capital letters all the way through. Yep. And so um, you know, so for some, it's you know, it goes from seven roughly 52 to 812, and it's and there's no like section missing, or it's not numbered anyway. There's no numbers, no chapter division. That came much, much later. And so that's why it's so confusing for some people when they read this that they're like, I don't know if this, why is this a big deal? Um, ultimately, there is nothing theologically off by this at all, and so we can take it as God's word. Um uh, but it's just something to be aware of that it wasn't in the earliest of manuscripts. So when you think about when people say, like, we can't trust the Bible, the people who put the Bibles together today go into the most meticulous effort to make sure that they are not on the wrong side of God when they put the Bible together, and so they're wanting to present it in a way that's the most like, here is what we think is the autographs or the originals, and that we have this in some sections, but it's not in others. We want to make sure that you know that. That doesn't mean it's any less true, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but what it does mean is like if you're not sure if this is the word of God or not, then you can say, okay, not that part um would be okay. Yeah.

Pastor Holland: 4:35

And this is an interesting story too, because you know, you go, man, it's you you really see like the mercy of Jesus um toward a sinful woman, right? That's important to know a lot of people think Jesus is kind of like overturning the law or something. He's not, and he's not because in the Old Testament law, um, in a situation like this, you were to bring forth both both people who were caught in the act. They only bring forth the woman here. So already this is a shady, this is not a real trial. Um, it's and even like back in chapter seven, Nicodemus' words in 751, talking about Jesus, Nicodemus says, Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? Right. Okay, now you see a woman who's brought forth who does not get a hearing. There's no trial, there's no, it's just should we stone her? And uh, so it's actually it's the um the scribes and the Pharisees who are disobeying the law here. And it's this essentially not a legal stoning according to Old Testament law. This is a mob stoning where the whole point is to try to trap Jesus.

Pastor Plek: 5:38

Now, to be fair, Jesus knows she's guilty. Like, so he, as the one who knows the whole story, he could make a granted, they don't know he's actually the son of God who knows all things, but he could have been like, Yeah, let's kill her. But he chooses to reveal their hypocrisy and then say, Okay, which whichever one with you is without sin, you throw the first stone. Yeah.

Pastor Holland: 6:01

And so he he kind of changes the whole thing. He says, Okay, this is not, Jesus was not a civil judge. This was not a real um, you know, a courtroom setting. And uh they, you know, Jesus is not going to, he's actually what Jesus is doing is he's refusing to go around the law. The law says you need two witnesses, you need the man and woman present, you need a fair trial, innocent until proven guilty or unless proven guilty. Um, and so Jesus is actually upholding the law while also twisting it around to expose their hardness of heart. Man, that's good. Um, it's really powerful what Jesus does here. Um, and when it, you know, people always wonder what's he writing in the ground with his finger? It doesn't say. Um I wonder though, like what comes to mind for me is when Moses receives the Ten Commandments, it says that um God wrote them in stone with his finger. Oh, wow. And then you see Jesus writing in the ground with his finger. So perhaps he's writing the Ten Commandments. I like that. And then but it doesn't say.

Pastor Plek: 6:59

So this is just, you know, this is just uh the Holy Spirit conjecture. He you're you're kind of going like uh or holy conjecture. You're saying, like, here's what could happen. He he's writing with God's finger into the ground, the Ten Commandments, and then says, He who's without sin, kind of like motioning to his uh writing, um throw the first stone.

Pastor Holland: 7:20

So yeah, it's an interesting passage. Um, and we do see the mercy of Jesus, but we also see actually see Jesus upholding the law and refusing to go around it like the mob wanted him to.

Pastor Plek: 7:31

So I think that's pretty neat. Yeah, and here you have the woman being told, go and sin no more, just like the uh the guy that was lame for 38 years, hey, go and sin no more, something else worse will happen to you. Yeah. So Jesus isn't light on sin. Right. He is like, this is a problem. Okay, and then also I do appreciate that this is where Jesus gets into being the light of the world. As you mentioned, I think it was in the last podcast in chapter seven, uh, Jesus was the uh living water. Then in chapter six, he is the bread of life, and now here you see him being um uh the light of the world, which goes back to what you were saying before about how the temple within the holy place, you had the menorah or the candlestick with the candles that would light up uh the room. You'd have the show bread, and then you have the altar of incense. And so here uh Jesus is the bread of life, he is the uh not only is he asking to have fellowship with you, he is the actual dinner uh or he is the bread that you're you are to eat. Yeah, and he's also the light, he is the whole temple experience. Yeah, and he's also the sacrifice, and he's also you know, right.

Pastor Holland: 8:36

Yeah, we're gonna see more and more as you go on through John. Again, five signs out of seven, we're now at the second I am statement of I am the light of the world. And the reason I don't think we even mentioned this, the reason the I am statements is a thing is because when God first reveals his name to Moses in Exodus chapter three, um, you know, God says to Moses, I am who I am. Moses is like, well, who should I say sent me, right? When I go tell Pharaoh, uh, let my people go, or whatever. Who who's sending me? And God says, Tell them I am who I am, or I am that I am. That idea of the name Jehovah or Yahweh, um the Lord in all caps in the Old Testament. It's it's this name that means I am who I am. In Greek, it's ego I mean.

Pastor Plek: 9:19

Ego I mean. I am who I am. It's kind of a weird deal how that's so cool. Um, okay. Then I love how the Jews start accusing him of being a demon. Yeah. Or worse yet, I'm not sure which one's worth the Samaritan or a demon. Pretty much on the same level. Um, and he doesn't respond to the Samaritan comment, which I sort of appreciated. Uh, but he's like, I'm not a demon. What's wrong with you people? And then the I am statement here, not only is it I am the light of the world, before Abraham was, I am. Yeah.

Pastor Holland: 9:50

That's so he's just hammering, I am the Lord, I am God, I am one with the Father, I am equal with God, like over and over and over. To the people who say Jesus never claimed to be God, you just uh you gotta learn how to read the Bible.

Pastor Plek: 10:06

Yeah, yeah. But I think that's whoever verse 47, whoever hears, whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you're not of God. If you are not of God, then you're gonna say, Jesus never said he was God. Right. Because you don't have ears to hear. Right. All right, let's get into some uh truths about the nature of man.

Pastor Holland: 10:29

We are slaves to sin, Jesus says. Um they're they're like uh Jesus talks about being set free, and um, you know, they're like, what are you talking about? We're not slaves. Um and Jesus is like, actually, you are slaves, you're slaves to sin. Um, and you need to be set free.

Pastor Plek: 10:47

Um, how about people claim spiritual spiritual heritage but reject the truth that exposes who their true father is? Um, and so they want the spiritual heritage of Abraham, but they embody the devil's traits, lies, um, showing deceptive per self-perception, and they prefer um the illusion that they're doing everything right over the liberating conviction. Yeah.

Pastor Holland: 11:17

There is something about the nature of man too, of like we can be easily incited into kind of like mob violence, or you know, they're they're just there's all these people who are so ready to stone this woman, and it's like her guilt has not even been established, and yet they're just ready to stone her. The Pharisees want to trap Jesus, like you just see the um depravity of humanity in this.

Pastor Plek: 11:42

Yeah, that's good. Um, yeah, how about this? It's simple. Unbelief leads to death and isolation from God. Uh, you know, this is where there's almost a willful ignorance, um, where tradition stifles Christ. It's like, I don't want any of that. I'm stuck with what I got, and I don't want um, and they're um they're gonna die in their unbelief.

Pastor Holland: 12:07

Yeah, we can be um sons of the devil. Jesus says, your father is the devil. You are of your father, the devil, verse 44. Yeah, your will is to do your father's desires. So here's our sinful nature. Unless you've been set free by Jesus, you've got a nature that wants to lie and kill, like the devil.

Pastor Plek: 12:27

Okay, how about let's get moving to true uh truth about the character of God. How about uh Jesus is merciful, yeah, um, but he also exposes sin uh for what it is. Yeah. Like he forgives a sin, but then isn't like, oh, it's cool. Like, I understand you had a hard life, and you know, you didn't have a dad around, so you kind of hook up with whatever dude you see that's nice to you. He doesn't go there, he's just like, hey, that's sin, stop it. Um, I forgive you uh now, or I neither do I condemn you, and now go and sin no more. I I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah.

Pastor Holland: 13:03

And he's merciful, he's also just. He does not go along with the mob that wanted to, you know, he without guilt being established, without a fair trial, with all that, Jesus uh operates um justly.

Pastor Plek: 13:16

Um how about Jesus is God, he is the God of Exodus three. Yeah. Um, he is in the burning bush. Uh he is I am. He is I am, yeah.

Pastor Holland: 13:33

Grammatically, that sounds weird, but it is completely true. It's the same, you know. Before Abraham was, I am. Like he could have said, before Abraham was, I was. Yeah. But that like that's still too limiting temporally. You know, before Abraham was, I am. It's like I'm outside of time. I am the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. Uh yeah, Jesus is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient.

Pastor Plek: 13:59

You see, all I mean, I think that's why it's so wild to think about all of the ancient of days, all the future of days encompass into one man who's who's outside of space and time, but in a moment just enters into um humanity, and it's so incredible to think of all that power, all of that might, all of that glory encapsulated into one body is just incredible. Yeah, wow. Um, how about God wants to free us from slavery? We kind of said that before, but like he's he's wanting us free. Uh, I guess our problem is we don't recognize we're a slave. Yeah, right.

Pastor Holland: 14:38

Yeah, I think to get to application as well. Um be free. Be free. Um if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. Um, you need freedom. Uh go to Jesus and you know, bel knowledge to believe if you want to get to spec, knowledge to believe.

Pastor Plek: 14:55

If the sun sets you free, you'll be free. Yeah. Let's look at that. So sin to avoid or confess, a promise to claim, example to follow, command obey, or knowledge to believe. Love what you put out there. How about um command obey? Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. How about practice restraint and accusation without a fair trial? That's good. That's good.

Pastor Holland: 15:16

Yeah. Um the idea of him saying, uh, go and sin no more, you know, you in terms of application and an example to follow is like to be merciful to others and to be patient and to be gracious, and at the same time hold the standard. You don't lower the standard. You don't say like, it's not that bad, you know, it's okay. You say there's grace for you, but repent and sin no more. Turn away from that.

Pastor Plek: 15:45

Nice. Um how about a sip of sin to confess is maybe just hypocritical judgment that condemns others while excusing your own self. Yeah. Sin to confess, sexual immorality. Nice.

Pastor Holland: 15:56

Adultery, um, adultery, pornography, uh, which you know Jesus called uh adultery in the heart, lusting after someone with your eyes, um, uh with your thoughts, confess those sins, and believe that Jesus can set you free.

Pastor Plek: 16:11

Maybe that's the I've I think you said it, but the promise to claim of uh if you abide my word, you are truly my disciple, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Um, I I just love that. And I think so many people are stuck in sin, stuck in the cycle of sin and the struggle, and there's constant guilt and shame. And Jesus, when you come to him, he takes that shame off of you, and you need freedom, and he's there to do just that. Amen. Um anything else that you want to land on? Just how about knowledge to believe? He is the I am. Yeah. I love that.

Pastor Holland: 16:51

Yeah. Last one, I would say verse 12 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, um, but will have the light of life. Walk in the light, come out of the darkness today. Confess your sin. Reach out to somebody, um, pray to Jesus today. Ask God to set you free um and walk in that freedom.

Pastor Plek: 17:11

Hey, thanks so much for watching, and we pray that you take this along your day. We'll see you tomorrow on a chapter, a day.