John 8

This chapter falls in the middle portion of the Gospel of John. It continues the scene from John 7, in which Jesus, having gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, teaches in the temple.

Outline

• Verses 1–11 When Jesus returns to the temple from the Mount of Olives, the scribes and Pharisees bring before him a woman caught in adultery. Jesus says, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." After they have all left, he does not condemn the woman and sends her away, saying, "Go, and sin no more."
• Verses 12–20 When Jesus calls himself "the light of the world," the Pharisees object that his testimony about himself is not true. Jesus answers that he and the Father bear witness together. He spoke these words in the treasury, near the offering chests.
• Verses 21–30 Jesus says, "Whither I go, ye cannot come," and "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he," and many believe on him.
• Verses 31–36 Jesus tells the Jews who had believed on him that the truth will make them free, and says that whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.
• Verses 37–47 Jesus and the Jews dispute over who are truly the children of Abraham. Jesus tells them that their father is the devil.
• Verses 48–59 The Jews call Jesus a Samaritan and say that he has a devil. When Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I am," they take up stones to throw at him, and Jesus hides himself and leaves the temple.

Key Verses

• John 8:12 "I am the light of the world" — one of the "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John.
• John 8:32 "The truth shall make you free" — frequently cited in discussions of discipleship and freedom.
• John 8:58 "Before Abraham was, I am" — understood as a statement of the preexistence of Jesus, that is, his existence before he came into the world.

Characters and Places

• The woman caught in adultery: an unnamed woman.
• Abraham: the figure the Jews claim as their forefather.
• The temple in Jerusalem: the setting for the teaching and disputes in this chapter.

Points for Reflection

• John 7:53–8:11 is absent from several of the oldest Greek manuscripts, so many translations, including the New Korean Revised Version, print it in brackets. Views on this passage differ. Many scholars hold that it was not part of the original text of John but preserves an ancient tradition about Jesus, while others maintain that it belongs to the original text. Its place in the canon is accepted across denominations.
• The text does not say what Jesus wrote on the ground in verses 6 and 8. Traditional speculations about what he wrote do not come from the text itself.
• Verse 17 refers to the law of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). A widely known interpretation connects the "I am" ("I am he") of verses 24, 28, and 58 with the divine name in Exodus 3:12–15.
• The theme of "the light of the world" continues in John 9 with the healing of the man born blind.

In the Korean Church

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" is frequently quoted in sermons and in everyday speech as a warning against being quick to condemn others. Verse 32 is known as the basis for the motto of Yonsei University, "The truth shall make you free."