October 25, 2025 • 20 mins
A woman stands in the temple, dragged into public shame. Stones are clenched. Laws are quoted. Then Jesus kneels, writes in dust, and turns a trap into a mirror. The crowd leaves quieter than they came, and one voice remains: neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more. From that moment, the chapter opens like a sunrise as Jesus declares, I am the light of the world—inviting those who follow him out of darkness and into life.
We explore how John frames Jesus’ identity with the covenant name echoed from Exodus. When Jesus says I am, he is not reaching for poetry; he is revealing divinity. That claim reorders everything: where we locate truth, how we measure freedom, and why belief is more than mental nods. We unpack the tension with the Pharisees over witness and authority, and why many stumble not for lack of evidence but for love of darkness. The turning point arrives with a promise that has set prisoners free for centuries: you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Freedom is not a slogan; it is a change of master, from sin’s grip to the Son’s grace.
From there, we dig into spiritual parentage, Abraham’s legacy, and the hard edge of Jesus’ words about the father of lies. The crescendo arrives with a sentence that shook the temple courts: before Abraham was born, I am. No middle ground remains. Some reach for stones; others reach for faith. Along the way, we talk about how mercy never excuses sin, how truth heals when received, and how the same light that grows a soul can burn a hardened heart. If you’ve been waiting for a nudge to step into the light—honesty, repentance, and a fresh start—this conversation points the way.
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
(00:20):
Today, John chapter 8.
And if I were to give today atitle, it would be Jesus is the
light that heals and burns.
Jesus is amazing and he'sawesome, but you got to figure
out what you're going to do withJesus.
And so if you let him, he is alight that will heal and restore
and do all the good things.
He is a vitamin D shot like youain't never seen.
(00:42):
But if you don't, he's going toburn you.
And it's just because it's justthe truth, right?
And so we're going to jump intothat.
It's going to be one of the mostuh powerful, impactful uh
stories in the entire NewTestament, but also some
challenging words.
And something that you may nothave noticed, Jesus just
straight up becomes supercontroversial.
We'll get into that in just amoment.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure that
you are, if you're watching onYouTube, you like this video,
(01:04):
you share this video, it reallydoes help us get the word out.
And if you were listening to thepodcast, it really does help us
if you will give us a five-starreview and then let us know how
things are going.
It helps with the wholealgorithm thing because we're
slowly trying to develop acommunity of people.
The man we are rallying aroundsimply reading God's word
together.
Because we truly believe themore we read, the more we dig,
(01:25):
the more we will find and themore God will do in our life.
And I also want to know fromyou, how is God's word
transforming your life?
You can go to our Facebook groupat Bible Breakdown Discussion,
and you can just let us knowwhat's going on.
And I have this question for youtoday.
What is the most challengingscripture for you in the Bible?
Because Jesus is going toconfront some people today
multiple times.
And I would like to know in yourlife, how is how has that worked
(01:48):
out in your life?
What are some challenging placesin God's word and what has God
done for you?
So that's what we're going to dotoday.
In John chapter 8, we have, youknow, we've been saying that the
overall idea, the context ofthis is John was written by the
Apostle John, and he was likethe best friend of Jesus on the
earth.
And so he walked with Jesus andhe talked with Jesus.
(02:08):
And now he is not trying to giveus a blow-by-blow account of the
entire biography of Jesus.
He's more interested in helpingus understand the message of
Jesus.
And John chapter 8 is anotherone of those because seven
different places in the Gospelof John, Jesus declares, I am,
and then he tells you what heis.
And then he also will do a greatmiracle in order to get people's
(02:30):
attention so they willunderstand who he is.
He's like, This is who I am, andI'm going to prove it.
And we also realize that everytime he says I am, it's kind of
lost on us reading it inEnglish.
But if you understand OldTestament culture and everything
else, back in the book ofExodus, when God told Moses who
he was, he said, I am that I am.
(02:52):
And what he was saying is, is itwas the covenant name of God.
The Hebrew letters are Yud, He,Vav, He.
And the best transliteration wehave for that is Yahweh, or if
you want to put the ha in there,you know, the Hebrew uh
pronunciation, it would beYahweh.
And it was the covenant name ofGod, which basically says, I
always was, I always am in thepresent, and I always will be.
(03:15):
I am the unique divine one,Yahweh.
And so every time Jesus says, Iam this, he is actually calling
back to that moment, saying, Iam God, and I am the God who is
the light of the world.
I am the God who is the way, thetruth, and the life.
And so that's why it's kind ofsilly when people will say, Oh,
you read through the entire NewTestament and Jesus never claims
(03:35):
to be God.
You go, Well, have you read thebook of John?
Because seven different times hesays, I am God, and this is an
aspect of who I am.
And so that's why it's soimportant to do some of this
digging so we can fullyunderstand or more fully
understand God's word.
So we're gonna see that today.
It's gonna be awesome.
As always, if you've got yourNLT Bible open with me to John
chapter 8, we're gonna dive intothis together and stop along the
(03:58):
way and just gush.
Just talk about the amazingnessthat is God's word.
Learn some principles of God'sword along the way.
Okay, so let's jump into this,reading it together.
Here we go.
John chapter 8, verse 1 saysthis.
Jesus returned to the Mount ofOlives, but early the next
morning he went back again atthe temple.
A crowd soon gathered, and hesat down and he taught them.
(04:20):
While he was speaking, theteachers of religious law and
the Pharisees brought a womanwho had been caught in the act
of adultery, and they put her infront of the crowd.
Teacher, they said to Jesus,this woman has been caught in
the act of adultery.
The law of Moses says to stoneher.
What do you say?
They were trying to trap himinto saying something they could
use against him, but Jesusstooped down and wrote in the
(04:42):
dust with his finger.
They kept demanding an answer.
So he stood up again and said,All right, but let the one who
has never sinned throw the firststone.
Then he stooped down again andwrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this,they slipped away one by one,
beginning with the oldest, untilonly Jesus was left in the
middle of the crowd with thewoman.
(05:04):
Then Jesus stood up again andsaid to the woman, Where are
your accusers?
Didn't even one of them condemnyou?
No, Lord, she said.
And Jesus said, Neither do I, goand sin no more.
Now there's so many great thingsin this text.
One of the things that's greatabout this is you realize that
this woman was guilty.
Now, we could have a wholenother conversation about how it
(05:26):
takes two to Tango.
You know what I'm saying?
So where's the broski in thiswhole situation?
That's a whole notherconversation.
We have no idea where Brosifwas.
All we know is they brought thislady.
But what's also amazing is thatwe just got through reading the
book of Numbers together.
And do you remember that weirdchapter where the Bible said
that if a husband suspects hiswife of committing adultery,
(05:46):
then what they would do is don'tjust take his word for it, don't
just take her word for it.
But they would say, Bring her tothe tabernacle and take some of
the dust from the tabernaclefloor, mix it with water, and
then have her drink it.
And there would be this thingthat would happen that if she
was innocent, nothing wouldhappen.
Just taste bad.
But if she was guilty, thenthere would be some kind of
reaction in her body that wouldlet you know she was guilty.
(06:08):
That way you didn't have toworry about he said, she said,
other words, let God take careof it.
And so it makes you wonder, theywere bringing her to the
tabernacle.
So they were probably bringingher to mix up some of that water
so they could prove it, eventhough they said they caught her
in the act, so they knew she wasguilty.
But I love how God's word says,Don't take all these other ones,
bring it to me, let me deal withit.
(06:30):
But what I love is is the Biblesaid they brought her, and then
they wanted to go ahead and testJesus.
And so Jesus gets down into onthe ground, he starts to ride in
the dirt.
Well, now we know one of thereasons why he was probably
riding in the dirt was becausein his without saying it, he's
saying, I know that the law saysyou're supposed to take some of
this dirt, but I'm curious.
(06:53):
And people have have guessed foryou know 2,000 years what he
wrote in that dirt.
But think about the setting.
This woman has been caught inthe act of adultery.
Lord knows.
She's probably half-dressed,terrified.
She knows she's on her way todie.
These men are ready to judgeher, and even more so, they
think they're gonna kill twobirds with one stone.
They're gonna judge this lady.
(07:13):
They're also gonna get Jesus,bring her to the temple, and
they'd say, Jesus, this lady hasbeen caught in the act of
adultery.
So basically, we're just gonnago through the formalities of
having her drink the dirtywater, but we already know she's
guilty.
But before we do that, what doyou say?
So Jesus gets down in the dirtthat they're about to make her
drink, and he starts to write.
Now, I don't know what he wrote.
(07:34):
I've heard people say, well,maybe he wrote the names of all
their mistresses down.
I said, Sally, yo, Michelle, youknow, and we don't know what
they wrote, but whatever it was,that in that moment they caught
on to the idea.
When he said, Great, you'reright, she deserves to be
condemned.
But how about we do this?
Whoever one of you, whicheverone of you is without sin, you
(07:56):
go first.
And he got down.
Maybe he was writing down thesins, whatever it was.
But whatever it was, wheneverthey thought about it, they
decided to walk away.
And isn't that amazing that theJesus stands up and he tells
this lady, I don't condemn you,go and sin no more.
In other words, he didn't excuseher sin.
(08:17):
He didn't say that she had neversinned.
He said, Even though you havesinned, I forgive you.
Now go and sin no more.
Isn't that amazing?
That Jesus loves us enough to behonest.
He loves us enough to hold usaccountable.
But then on the other side ofthat, he says, I'll pay for it.
Now you go and you be free.
I love that so very much.
All right, let's keep going.
(08:38):
John chapter 8, verse 12.
The Bible says, Jesus spoke tothe people once more and said, I
am.
Remember what I am means?
I am the light of the world.
If you follow me, you won't haveto walk in darkness because you
have the light that leads tolife.
But the Pharisees replied, Youare making those claims about
yourself.
(08:58):
Such testimony is not valid.
Jesus told them, These claimsare valid, even though I make
them about myself, for I knowwhere I came from and where I'm
going.
But you don't know this aboutme.
You judge me by human standards,but I do not judge anyone.
And if I did, my judgment wouldbe correct in every respect
(09:18):
because I am not alone.
The Father who sent me is withme.
Your own law says that if twopeople agree about something,
their witness is accepted asfact.
I am one witness, but my fatheris the one who sent me, is the
other.
Where is your father?
They asked.
Jesus answered, Since you don'tknow who I am, you don't know
who my father is.
(09:39):
If you knew me, you would alsoknow my father.
Jesus made these statementswhile he was teaching in the
section of the temple known asthe treasury, but he was not
arrested because his time hadnot yet come.
Pause real quick.
So what Jesus is saying is, ishe saying, I'm the light of the
world, but you don't get itbecause your your eyes have been
veiled.
You don't want to get it.
And I love how the Biblecontinually says they wanted to
(10:02):
arrest him, they wanted to killhim, but they simply couldn't.
Because his hour had not yetcome.
In other words, they were neverin control.
They were never in charge.
It wasn't until the time wasright that these bad things were
able to happen.
All right, verse 21.
Later, Jesus said to them again,I am going away.
You will search for me, but willdie in your sin.
You cannot come where I amgoing.
(10:23):
The people asked, Is he planningto commit suicide?
Where, what does it mean?
You cannot come where I amgoing.
He continued, You are frombelow, I am from above.
You belong to this world, and Ido not.
That is why I say that you willdie in your sins, for unless you
believe that I am who I claim tobe, you will die in your sins.
(10:44):
Once again, every time you hearhim say, I am, he's not he is
claiming the right of being God.
He is claiming his divinity.
Remember, the whole idea of theGospel of John is John is saying
the message of Jesus was and is,I am God.
So he said, unless you believethat I am God, that I that who I
claim to be, you're gonna die inyour sin.
(11:05):
And so they said, Who are you?
They demanded.
Jesus replied, The one I havealways claimed to be.
I have much to say to you aboutthis and much to condemn, but I
won't.
For I say only what I have heardfrom the one who sent me, and he
is completely truthful.
But they still didn't understandwhat he was talking, that he was
talking about his father.
(11:26):
So Jesus said, When you havelifted up the Son of Man on the
cross, then you will understandthat I am he.
I do not, I do nothing of myown, but I say only what the
Father taught me.
And the one who sent me is withme.
He has not deserted me, for Ialways do what pleases him.
Then many who heard him saythese things believed in him.
(11:48):
So other words, they finally gotit that he is God.
He and the Father are same inessence, different in person.
And they begin to understand howthe Trinity is working.
Verse 31 Jesus said to thepeople who believed in him, You
are truly my disciples if youremain faithful to my teaching.
Pause.
(12:09):
What so he's saying, You are mydisciple if you believe me and
follow me.
So in other words, remember thatword belief isn't just a factual
knowledge, but it is afollowership.
We just made up that word, okay?
So it's believing enough totrust and to then do the things
that God has said.
Now, you are not forgiven,you're not justified by your
(12:29):
actions, you're justified byplacing your trust in the Lord.
The Lord does the miracle ofsalvation, but then we have the
opportunity to walk in thattruth and find life and freedom
in it.
Verse 32 says, and you will knowthe truth because it is the
truth that will set you free.
That's one of the things I loveabout God's word.
(12:50):
I've had people ask me all thetime, well, can you prove God's
word is true?
Absolutely, I can prove God'sword is true.
There's lots of different thingsI can do to prove to you and
facts and evidence and all thatkind of stuff.
But I love to tell people thenumber one way I can prove to
you guys' word is true is bylooking at my life.
I'm by no means perfect.
I got a long way to go.
But if you knew who I was whenGod found me and you know where
(13:11):
I am now, you'd be amazed.
And there's about a billionother people I can share the
exact same story that none of ushave arrived, none of us are
where we want to be, but theproof is that the truth works.
And if you put the truth ofGod's word into your life, watch
it work.
Verse 33.
But we are descendants ofAbraham, they said.
We have never been slaves toanyone.
(13:33):
What do you mean you will be setfree?
Jesus replied, I tell you thetruth.
Everyone who sins is a slave tosin.
A slave is not a permanentmember of the family, but the
son is part of the familyforever.
So if the son sets you free, youwill be truly free, or you are
truly free.
Yes, I realize that you aredescendants of Abraham, and yet
(13:55):
some of you are trying to killme because there's no room in
your heart for my message.
I am telling you what I saw whenI was with my father, but you
are following the advice of yourfather.
Our father is Abraham, theydeclared.
No, Jesus replied, For if youwere really the children of
Abraham, you would follow hisexample.
(14:16):
Instead, you were trying to killme because I told you the truth,
which I heard from God.
Abraham never did such a thing.
No, you are imitating your realfather.
So Jesus is about to sunburnthese jokers.
Oh, here we go.
They replied, We aren'tillegitimate children.
God himself is our true father.
Pause.
Real quick.
Remember that Jesus was born ofa virgin, Virgin Mary, and
(14:39):
later, you know, before he wasborn, Mary and Joseph were
married, but he did not havesexual relations with her until
after Mary uh Jesus was born.
Well, many scholars believe itwas probably widely whispered
that Jesus was an illegitimateson.
Because it would have beenobvious by the time Mary and
Joseph got married, she waslikely showing, and they weren't
(15:00):
able to go through.
There was a whole thing aboutthe Jewish wedding they weren't
able to do because of all ofthis.
And so this is a slight jab atJesus.
We aren't illegitimate children.
God himself is our true father.
And so it is very possible thatthis is a slight jab at Jesus,
going, you know, it's beenwhispered for years, Jesus, that
you might be illegitimate, butyou know what?
We're not.
And so just a quick little thingthere.
(15:21):
Okay, verse 42.
Jesus told them, If God wereyour father, you would love me,
because I have come to you fromGod.
I am not here on my own, but hesent me.
Why can't you understand what Iam saying?
It's because you can't even hearme.
For you are the children of yourfather, the devil, and you love
and and you love to do the evilthings that he does.
(15:44):
He was a murderer from thebeginning, and he has always
hated the truth, because thereis no truth in him.
When he lies, it is consistentwith his character, for he is a
liar and the father of lies.
So when I tell the truth, younaturally don't believe me.
Which of you can truthfullyaccuse me of sin?
And since I am telling you thetruth, why don't you believe me?
(16:06):
Anyone who does belong, anyonewho belongs to God listens
gladly to the words of God, butyou don't listen because you
don't belong to God.
The people retorted, YouSamaritan devil, didn't we say
all along that you werepossessed by a demon?
No, Jesus said, I have no demonin me, for I honor my father and
(16:26):
you dishonor me.
And though I have no wish toglorify myself, God is going to
glorify me.
He is the true judge.
I tell you the truth, anyone whoobeys my teachings will never
die.
The people said, Now we knowyou're possessed by a demon.
Even Abraham and the prophetsdied, but you say, anyone who
obeys my teachings will neverdie.
(16:46):
Are you greater than our fatherAbraham?
He died, and so did theprophets.
Who do you think you are?
Finally, a good question.
Jesus says, verse 54, finish itup.
If I want glory for myself,doesn't count.
But it is my father who willglorify me.
You say he is our God, but youdon't even know who I am.
(17:07):
Or you don't even know him.
I know him.
If I said otherwise, I would beas great a liar as you.
Jesus, don't mess around, man.
But I do know him and obey him.
Your father Abraham rejoiced ashe looked forward to my coming.
He saw it and was glad.
The people said, You aren't even50 years old.
How can you say you have seenAbraham?
(17:29):
Here it is.
Jesus answered, I tell you thetruth.
Before Abraham was even born, Iam.
Remember, he's calling himselfGod when he says this.
I am Hebrew letters, Yud He,Vav, He, I am Yahweh.
That point, they picked upstones to throw at him, but
Jesus was hidden from them andhe left the temple.
(17:51):
Oh man.
Jesus is the light that healsand burns.
The difference is what you dowith it.
You know what I love about thisis I love if I were to take one
thing out of this, it would beJesus says, you will know the
truth, and the truth will setyou free.
One of the things I love aboutsunlight is you put a you put a
(18:12):
plant in the sun and it causesit to grow.
You put a plant in the sun fortoo long, and you don't add
water to it, it'll cause it todie.
It all depends on how you useit.
What do you do with the lightthat is given?
Do you use it properly or do youuse it improperly, right?
One of the things I love aboutGod's word is God's word is
(18:34):
powerful.
But that's what it is.
God's word is powerful.
It can create life or it cancause death, depending on what
you do with it.
And that's what I love aboutthis is that to the people that
received the message, the Biblesays they believed in him.
The adulterous woman was setfree, but then on the other
side, you have the Pharisees whoare not willing to believe.
And so the same light that isbringing life to others is
(18:58):
burning them.
And so the honest truth for usis that we have the same choice.
We can take the truth of God'sword and to realize that it is
the truth that sets us free.
Or we can take it, and on oneend, we can make it legalistic
and it can bring death insteadof life.
Or we can choose to reject itand will also bring death
(19:19):
instead of life.
And so instead, within thecontext, we take the scripture
as it is, apply it to our lives,and let it set us free.
And I hope that brings some hopeto you today.
So that's what I want to do is Iwant us to, God's been talking
to us so much, so many goodthings from God's Word.
I want you to go to the Biblebreakdown discussion and let me
know what you know really stoodout to you today.
(19:39):
But I want to pray for us, andthen we're gonna read our
scripture and we'll be done fortoday.
Father, thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Then in the fullness of time,you did such an amazing thing.
Jesus, thank you for coming tothis earth, splitting time in
half, entering into our time andour space, walking with us and
setting us free.
And Lord, you know what I loveabout you the most is you love
us enough to tell us the truth.
(20:00):
And so, Lord, sometimes thattruth it burns, and sometimes
that truth it it slices, butonly to heal.
You only reveal what you intendto heal.
And when we come to trust you,we come to trust your word.
And wherever you convict us isan area you're ready to heal us.
And we receive that today.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Never forget, God's Word saysthe reason why this was written
(20:22):
is that you may continue tobelieve that Jesus is God and
that by believing in Him you mayhave life by the power of His
name.
I love you so much.
I'll see you tomorrow for Johnchapter nine.
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
(00:20):
Today, John chapter 8.
And if I were to give today atitle, it would be Jesus is the
light that heals and burns.
Jesus is amazing and he'sawesome, but you got to figure
out what you're going to do withJesus.
And so if you let him, he is alight that will heal and restore
and do all the good things.
He is a vitamin D shot like youain't never seen.
(00:42):
But if you don't, he's going toburn you.
And it's just because it's justthe truth, right?
And so we're going to jump intothat.
It's going to be one of the mostuh powerful, impactful uh
stories in the entire NewTestament, but also some
challenging words.
And something that you may nothave noticed, Jesus just
straight up becomes supercontroversial.
We'll get into that in just amoment.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure that
you are, if you're watching onYouTube, you like this video,
(01:04):
you share this video, it reallydoes help us get the word out.
And if you were listening to thepodcast, it really does help us
if you will give us a five-starreview and then let us know how
things are going.
It helps with the wholealgorithm thing because we're
slowly trying to develop acommunity of people.
The man we are rallying aroundsimply reading God's word
together.
Because we truly believe themore we read, the more we dig,
(01:25):
the more we will find and themore God will do in our life.
And I also want to know fromyou, how is God's word
transforming your life?
You can go to our Facebook groupat Bible Breakdown Discussion,
and you can just let us knowwhat's going on.
And I have this question for youtoday.
What is the most challengingscripture for you in the Bible?
Because Jesus is going toconfront some people today
multiple times.
And I would like to know in yourlife, how is how has that worked
(01:48):
out in your life?
What are some challenging placesin God's word and what has God
done for you?
So that's what we're going to dotoday.
In John chapter 8, we have, youknow, we've been saying that the
overall idea, the context ofthis is John was written by the
Apostle John, and he was likethe best friend of Jesus on the
earth.
And so he walked with Jesus andhe talked with Jesus.
(02:08):
And now he is not trying to giveus a blow-by-blow account of the
entire biography of Jesus.
He's more interested in helpingus understand the message of
Jesus.
And John chapter 8 is anotherone of those because seven
different places in the Gospelof John, Jesus declares, I am,
and then he tells you what heis.
And then he also will do a greatmiracle in order to get people's
(02:30):
attention so they willunderstand who he is.
He's like, This is who I am, andI'm going to prove it.
And we also realize that everytime he says I am, it's kind of
lost on us reading it inEnglish.
But if you understand OldTestament culture and everything
else, back in the book ofExodus, when God told Moses who
he was, he said, I am that I am.
(02:52):
And what he was saying is, is itwas the covenant name of God.
The Hebrew letters are Yud, He,Vav, He.
And the best transliteration wehave for that is Yahweh, or if
you want to put the ha in there,you know, the Hebrew uh
pronunciation, it would beYahweh.
And it was the covenant name ofGod, which basically says, I
always was, I always am in thepresent, and I always will be.
(03:15):
I am the unique divine one,Yahweh.
And so every time Jesus says, Iam this, he is actually calling
back to that moment, saying, Iam God, and I am the God who is
the light of the world.
I am the God who is the way, thetruth, and the life.
And so that's why it's kind ofsilly when people will say, Oh,
you read through the entire NewTestament and Jesus never claims
(03:35):
to be God.
You go, Well, have you read thebook of John?
Because seven different times hesays, I am God, and this is an
aspect of who I am.
And so that's why it's soimportant to do some of this
digging so we can fullyunderstand or more fully
understand God's word.
So we're gonna see that today.
It's gonna be awesome.
As always, if you've got yourNLT Bible open with me to John
chapter 8, we're gonna dive intothis together and stop along the
(03:58):
way and just gush.
Just talk about the amazingnessthat is God's word.
Learn some principles of God'sword along the way.
Okay, so let's jump into this,reading it together.
Here we go.
John chapter 8, verse 1 saysthis.
Jesus returned to the Mount ofOlives, but early the next
morning he went back again atthe temple.
A crowd soon gathered, and hesat down and he taught them.
(04:20):
While he was speaking, theteachers of religious law and
the Pharisees brought a womanwho had been caught in the act
of adultery, and they put her infront of the crowd.
Teacher, they said to Jesus,this woman has been caught in
the act of adultery.
The law of Moses says to stoneher.
What do you say?
They were trying to trap himinto saying something they could
use against him, but Jesusstooped down and wrote in the
(04:42):
dust with his finger.
They kept demanding an answer.
So he stood up again and said,All right, but let the one who
has never sinned throw the firststone.
Then he stooped down again andwrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this,they slipped away one by one,
beginning with the oldest, untilonly Jesus was left in the
middle of the crowd with thewoman.
(05:04):
Then Jesus stood up again andsaid to the woman, Where are
your accusers?
Didn't even one of them condemnyou?
No, Lord, she said.
And Jesus said, Neither do I, goand sin no more.
Now there's so many great thingsin this text.
One of the things that's greatabout this is you realize that
this woman was guilty.
Now, we could have a wholenother conversation about how it
(05:26):
takes two to Tango.
You know what I'm saying?
So where's the broski in thiswhole situation?
That's a whole notherconversation.
We have no idea where Brosifwas.
All we know is they brought thislady.
But what's also amazing is thatwe just got through reading the
book of Numbers together.
And do you remember that weirdchapter where the Bible said
that if a husband suspects hiswife of committing adultery,
(05:46):
then what they would do is don'tjust take his word for it, don't
just take her word for it.
But they would say, Bring her tothe tabernacle and take some of
the dust from the tabernaclefloor, mix it with water, and
then have her drink it.
And there would be this thingthat would happen that if she
was innocent, nothing wouldhappen.
Just taste bad.
But if she was guilty, thenthere would be some kind of
reaction in her body that wouldlet you know she was guilty.
(06:08):
That way you didn't have toworry about he said, she said,
other words, let God take careof it.
And so it makes you wonder, theywere bringing her to the
tabernacle.
So they were probably bringingher to mix up some of that water
so they could prove it, eventhough they said they caught her
in the act, so they knew she wasguilty.
But I love how God's word says,Don't take all these other ones,
bring it to me, let me deal withit.
(06:30):
But what I love is is the Biblesaid they brought her, and then
they wanted to go ahead and testJesus.
And so Jesus gets down into onthe ground, he starts to ride in
the dirt.
Well, now we know one of thereasons why he was probably
riding in the dirt was becausein his without saying it, he's
saying, I know that the law saysyou're supposed to take some of
this dirt, but I'm curious.
(06:53):
And people have have guessed foryou know 2,000 years what he
wrote in that dirt.
But think about the setting.
This woman has been caught inthe act of adultery.
Lord knows.
She's probably half-dressed,terrified.
She knows she's on her way todie.
These men are ready to judgeher, and even more so, they
think they're gonna kill twobirds with one stone.
They're gonna judge this lady.
(07:13):
They're also gonna get Jesus,bring her to the temple, and
they'd say, Jesus, this lady hasbeen caught in the act of
adultery.
So basically, we're just gonnago through the formalities of
having her drink the dirtywater, but we already know she's
guilty.
But before we do that, what doyou say?
So Jesus gets down in the dirtthat they're about to make her
drink, and he starts to write.
Now, I don't know what he wrote.
(07:34):
I've heard people say, well,maybe he wrote the names of all
their mistresses down.
I said, Sally, yo, Michelle, youknow, and we don't know what
they wrote, but whatever it was,that in that moment they caught
on to the idea.
When he said, Great, you'reright, she deserves to be
condemned.
But how about we do this?
Whoever one of you, whicheverone of you is without sin, you
(07:56):
go first.
And he got down.
Maybe he was writing down thesins, whatever it was.
But whatever it was, wheneverthey thought about it, they
decided to walk away.
And isn't that amazing that theJesus stands up and he tells
this lady, I don't condemn you,go and sin no more.
In other words, he didn't excuseher sin.
(08:17):
He didn't say that she had neversinned.
He said, Even though you havesinned, I forgive you.
Now go and sin no more.
Isn't that amazing?
That Jesus loves us enough to behonest.
He loves us enough to hold usaccountable.
But then on the other side ofthat, he says, I'll pay for it.
Now you go and you be free.
I love that so very much.
All right, let's keep going.
(08:38):
John chapter 8, verse 12.
The Bible says, Jesus spoke tothe people once more and said, I
am.
Remember what I am means?
I am the light of the world.
If you follow me, you won't haveto walk in darkness because you
have the light that leads tolife.
But the Pharisees replied, Youare making those claims about
yourself.
(08:58):
Such testimony is not valid.
Jesus told them, These claimsare valid, even though I make
them about myself, for I knowwhere I came from and where I'm
going.
But you don't know this aboutme.
You judge me by human standards,but I do not judge anyone.
And if I did, my judgment wouldbe correct in every respect
(09:18):
because I am not alone.
The Father who sent me is withme.
Your own law says that if twopeople agree about something,
their witness is accepted asfact.
I am one witness, but my fatheris the one who sent me, is the
other.
Where is your father?
They asked.
Jesus answered, Since you don'tknow who I am, you don't know
who my father is.
(09:39):
If you knew me, you would alsoknow my father.
Jesus made these statementswhile he was teaching in the
section of the temple known asthe treasury, but he was not
arrested because his time hadnot yet come.
Pause real quick.
So what Jesus is saying is, ishe saying, I'm the light of the
world, but you don't get itbecause your your eyes have been
veiled.
You don't want to get it.
And I love how the Biblecontinually says they wanted to
(10:02):
arrest him, they wanted to killhim, but they simply couldn't.
Because his hour had not yetcome.
In other words, they were neverin control.
They were never in charge.
It wasn't until the time wasright that these bad things were
able to happen.
All right, verse 21.
Later, Jesus said to them again,I am going away.
You will search for me, but willdie in your sin.
You cannot come where I amgoing.
(10:23):
The people asked, Is he planningto commit suicide?
Where, what does it mean?
You cannot come where I amgoing.
He continued, You are frombelow, I am from above.
You belong to this world, and Ido not.
That is why I say that you willdie in your sins, for unless you
believe that I am who I claim tobe, you will die in your sins.
(10:44):
Once again, every time you hearhim say, I am, he's not he is
claiming the right of being God.
He is claiming his divinity.
Remember, the whole idea of theGospel of John is John is saying
the message of Jesus was and is,I am God.
So he said, unless you believethat I am God, that I that who I
claim to be, you're gonna die inyour sin.
(11:05):
And so they said, Who are you?
They demanded.
Jesus replied, The one I havealways claimed to be.
I have much to say to you aboutthis and much to condemn, but I
won't.
For I say only what I have heardfrom the one who sent me, and he
is completely truthful.
But they still didn't understandwhat he was talking, that he was
talking about his father.
(11:26):
So Jesus said, When you havelifted up the Son of Man on the
cross, then you will understandthat I am he.
I do not, I do nothing of myown, but I say only what the
Father taught me.
And the one who sent me is withme.
He has not deserted me, for Ialways do what pleases him.
Then many who heard him saythese things believed in him.
(11:48):
So other words, they finally gotit that he is God.
He and the Father are same inessence, different in person.
And they begin to understand howthe Trinity is working.
Verse 31 Jesus said to thepeople who believed in him, You
are truly my disciples if youremain faithful to my teaching.
Pause.
(12:09):
What so he's saying, You are mydisciple if you believe me and
follow me.
So in other words, remember thatword belief isn't just a factual
knowledge, but it is afollowership.
We just made up that word, okay?
So it's believing enough totrust and to then do the things
that God has said.
Now, you are not forgiven,you're not justified by your
(12:29):
actions, you're justified byplacing your trust in the Lord.
The Lord does the miracle ofsalvation, but then we have the
opportunity to walk in thattruth and find life and freedom
in it.
Verse 32 says, and you will knowthe truth because it is the
truth that will set you free.
That's one of the things I loveabout God's word.
(12:50):
I've had people ask me all thetime, well, can you prove God's
word is true?
Absolutely, I can prove God'sword is true.
There's lots of different thingsI can do to prove to you and
facts and evidence and all thatkind of stuff.
But I love to tell people thenumber one way I can prove to
you guys' word is true is bylooking at my life.
I'm by no means perfect.
I got a long way to go.
But if you knew who I was whenGod found me and you know where
(13:11):
I am now, you'd be amazed.
And there's about a billionother people I can share the
exact same story that none of ushave arrived, none of us are
where we want to be, but theproof is that the truth works.
And if you put the truth ofGod's word into your life, watch
it work.
Verse 33.
But we are descendants ofAbraham, they said.
We have never been slaves toanyone.
(13:33):
What do you mean you will be setfree?
Jesus replied, I tell you thetruth.
Everyone who sins is a slave tosin.
A slave is not a permanentmember of the family, but the
son is part of the familyforever.
So if the son sets you free, youwill be truly free, or you are
truly free.
Yes, I realize that you aredescendants of Abraham, and yet
(13:55):
some of you are trying to killme because there's no room in
your heart for my message.
I am telling you what I saw whenI was with my father, but you
are following the advice of yourfather.
Our father is Abraham, theydeclared.
No, Jesus replied, For if youwere really the children of
Abraham, you would follow hisexample.
(14:16):
Instead, you were trying to killme because I told you the truth,
which I heard from God.
Abraham never did such a thing.
No, you are imitating your realfather.
So Jesus is about to sunburnthese jokers.
Oh, here we go.
They replied, We aren'tillegitimate children.
God himself is our true father.
Pause.
Real quick.
Remember that Jesus was born ofa virgin, Virgin Mary, and
(14:39):
later, you know, before he wasborn, Mary and Joseph were
married, but he did not havesexual relations with her until
after Mary uh Jesus was born.
Well, many scholars believe itwas probably widely whispered
that Jesus was an illegitimateson.
Because it would have beenobvious by the time Mary and
Joseph got married, she waslikely showing, and they weren't
(15:00):
able to go through.
There was a whole thing aboutthe Jewish wedding they weren't
able to do because of all ofthis.
And so this is a slight jab atJesus.
We aren't illegitimate children.
God himself is our true father.
And so it is very possible thatthis is a slight jab at Jesus,
going, you know, it's beenwhispered for years, Jesus, that
you might be illegitimate, butyou know what?
We're not.
And so just a quick little thingthere.
(15:21):
Okay, verse 42.
Jesus told them, If God wereyour father, you would love me,
because I have come to you fromGod.
I am not here on my own, but hesent me.
Why can't you understand what Iam saying?
It's because you can't even hearme.
For you are the children of yourfather, the devil, and you love
and and you love to do the evilthings that he does.
(15:44):
He was a murderer from thebeginning, and he has always
hated the truth, because thereis no truth in him.
When he lies, it is consistentwith his character, for he is a
liar and the father of lies.
So when I tell the truth, younaturally don't believe me.
Which of you can truthfullyaccuse me of sin?
And since I am telling you thetruth, why don't you believe me?
(16:06):
Anyone who does belong, anyonewho belongs to God listens
gladly to the words of God, butyou don't listen because you
don't belong to God.
The people retorted, YouSamaritan devil, didn't we say
all along that you werepossessed by a demon?
No, Jesus said, I have no demonin me, for I honor my father and
(16:26):
you dishonor me.
And though I have no wish toglorify myself, God is going to
glorify me.
He is the true judge.
I tell you the truth, anyone whoobeys my teachings will never
die.
The people said, Now we knowyou're possessed by a demon.
Even Abraham and the prophetsdied, but you say, anyone who
obeys my teachings will neverdie.
(16:46):
Are you greater than our fatherAbraham?
He died, and so did theprophets.
Who do you think you are?
Finally, a good question.
Jesus says, verse 54, finish itup.
If I want glory for myself,doesn't count.
But it is my father who willglorify me.
You say he is our God, but youdon't even know who I am.
(17:07):
Or you don't even know him.
I know him.
If I said otherwise, I would beas great a liar as you.
Jesus, don't mess around, man.
But I do know him and obey him.
Your father Abraham rejoiced ashe looked forward to my coming.
He saw it and was glad.
The people said, You aren't even50 years old.
How can you say you have seenAbraham?
(17:29):
Here it is.
Jesus answered, I tell you thetruth.
Before Abraham was even born, Iam.
Remember, he's calling himselfGod when he says this.
I am Hebrew letters, Yud He,Vav, He, I am Yahweh.
That point, they picked upstones to throw at him, but
Jesus was hidden from them andhe left the temple.
(17:51):
Oh man.
Jesus is the light that healsand burns.
The difference is what you dowith it.
You know what I love about thisis I love if I were to take one
thing out of this, it would beJesus says, you will know the
truth, and the truth will setyou free.
One of the things I love aboutsunlight is you put a you put a
(18:12):
plant in the sun and it causesit to grow.
You put a plant in the sun fortoo long, and you don't add
water to it, it'll cause it todie.
It all depends on how you useit.
What do you do with the lightthat is given?
Do you use it properly or do youuse it improperly, right?
One of the things I love aboutGod's word is God's word is
(18:34):
powerful.
But that's what it is.
God's word is powerful.
It can create life or it cancause death, depending on what
you do with it.
And that's what I love aboutthis is that to the people that
received the message, the Biblesays they believed in him.
The adulterous woman was setfree, but then on the other
side, you have the Pharisees whoare not willing to believe.
And so the same light that isbringing life to others is
(18:58):
burning them.
And so the honest truth for usis that we have the same choice.
We can take the truth of God'sword and to realize that it is
the truth that sets us free.
Or we can take it, and on oneend, we can make it legalistic
and it can bring death insteadof life.
Or we can choose to reject itand will also bring death
(19:19):
instead of life.
And so instead, within thecontext, we take the scripture
as it is, apply it to our lives,and let it set us free.
And I hope that brings some hopeto you today.
So that's what I want to do is Iwant us to, God's been talking
to us so much, so many goodthings from God's Word.
I want you to go to the Biblebreakdown discussion and let me
know what you know really stoodout to you today.
(19:39):
But I want to pray for us, andthen we're gonna read our
scripture and we'll be done fortoday.
Father, thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Then in the fullness of time,you did such an amazing thing.
Jesus, thank you for coming tothis earth, splitting time in
half, entering into our time andour space, walking with us and
setting us free.
And Lord, you know what I loveabout you the most is you love
us enough to tell us the truth.
(20:00):
And so, Lord, sometimes thattruth it burns, and sometimes
that truth it it slices, butonly to heal.
You only reveal what you intendto heal.
And when we come to trust you,we come to trust your word.
And wherever you convict us isan area you're ready to heal us.
And we receive that today.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Never forget, God's Word saysthe reason why this was written
(20:22):
is that you may continue tobelieve that Jesus is God and
that by believing in Him you mayhave life by the power of His
name.
I love you so much.
I'll see you tomorrow for Johnchapter nine.
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