John 8

Again, in the temple, Jesus was teaching the people, when the Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Him and accused her of being caught in the very act of adultery. (Notice they did not bring the second party, the man!) According to Moses, this woman should be stoned. They wanted to know what Jesus thought, that they may accuse Him of offending the Law. But Jesus ignored them. They pressed Him more. Then He told them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 

I guess they all were in sin (probably even adultery) themselves, because they were "convicted by their conscience," and they all left, one by one. Jesus then told the woman that He did not condemn her either (BUT) to "go and sin no more."

Again, Jesus told the people that He was the Light of the World. "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The Pharisees sought to argue and contradict Him, but He continued:

Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgement is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 

They did not know the Father, whom they said they did. But Jesus told them that if they had known Jesus, they would have known the Father. He told them that their father is of this world, the devil. And He warned them that they will die in their sins. 

He also told the Jews who did believe Him that "if they abide in His word, they are His disciples; and they shall know the truth, and the truth shall make them free." But the unbelievers challenged Him, saying, "How can You say You will be made free?" (They believed they were free.) But Jesus assured them that anyone who sins is already a slave of sin. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

The Pharisees were confused and did not understand Jesus' words. They could not understand because they did not want to know Him or the Father because their hearts were for the desires of the devil, to sin  and to do evil. "He who is of God hears God's words..."

Next they tried to accuse Jesus of having a demon. Jesus explained that if anyone kept His word he shall never see death. This opened a new argument because the Jews wanted to know why Abraham and the prophets died if they were of God. Jesus told them that Abraham "rejoiced to see [Jesus] day, and he saw it and was glad." But they did not understand that Abraham and the prophets taught of the coming day of the Savior, and they live because they believed. 

What really boiled the blood of the unbelievers was when Jesus told them:

Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

He made Himself EQUAL to God because He is.

COMMENTARY

The Jewish religious rulers were right about the Law of Moses. The woman should have been stoned. Jesus showed them to be hypocrites because for one, they did not bring the man. Also, when Jesus caused them to examine their conscience, that is, to see if there was any sin in them, He gave the requirements for being a judge. We do have the right to judge others, but are we sinless? Probably we should not be so quick to throw stones at others.

OK, the woman is guilty of sin. Now what? Jesus was not "reversing" the Mosaic law, but He put His cross in place of her sin. Jesus will take the place for her adultery. He did not come to condemn the world but to be the Savior. 

And not only did He come to redeem sinful man, but also to reveal God to man. When He said He was the Light of the World, He gave three supporting evidences for His claim:

1. He knows where He came from (the Father).

2. He judges no man after the flesh, but the judgement that comes from God. 

3. God the Father bore witness to Him (His baptism).

"We become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but Jesus is God's Son because of His position in the Trinity. He is God the Son, and He addresses God the Father. If you are going to know God the Father, you must come through Jesus Christ."

The religious rulers thought Jesus was going to kill Himself because He said He was going where they could not go; but they did not understand that He was giving Himself as a ransom to be the propitiation for many. People who die in their sins, die the natural consequence for iniquity. 

When Jesus told them that the truth shall make them free, He was talking about their spiritual bondage. When we go to Jesus because we believe in Him, we no longer worry about if our good deeds will save us from our wickedness. We know they cannot. We rest knowing that Jesus paid all our debts instead.

Finally, Jesus committed (in the eyes of the religious rulers) blasphemy because He used the same expression that God did when He said He was I AM. This was another reason they took up stones to kill Him. They did not like being put into the situation where they either had to believe God or believe themselves. All this time they had been doing things their way, and now, Jesus brought the Light to shine on their deeds and make them decide. Whom did they want to serve?