1 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone 4 and asked Jesus, "Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. 5 In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?" 6 They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, "The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 One by one, beginning with the older men, the scribes and Pharisees left. Jesus was left alone with the woman. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?" 11 The woman answered, "No one, sir." Jesus said, "I don't condemn you either. Go! From now on don't sin." 12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark." 13 The Pharisees said to him, "You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn't true." 14 Jesus replied to them, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I'm going. However, you don't know where I came from or where I'm going. 15 You judge the way humans do. I don't judge anyone. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don't make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. 17 Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me." 19 The Pharisees asked him, "Where is your father?" Jesus replied, "You don't know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father." 20 Jesus spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come. 21 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, "I'm going away, and you'll look for me. But you will die because of your sin. You can't go where I'm going." 22 Then the Jews asked, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says, 'You can't go where I'm going'?" 23 Jesus said to them, "You're from below. I'm from above. You're from this world. I'm not from this world. 24 For this reason I told you that you'll die because of your sins. If you don't believe that I am the one, you'll die because of your sins." 25 The Jews asked him, "Who did you say you are?" Jesus told them, "I am who I said I was from the beginning. 26 I have a lot I could say about you and a lot I could condemn you for. But the one who sent me is true. So I tell the world exactly what he has told me." 27 (The Jews didn't know that he was talking to them about the Father.) 28 So Jesus told them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you'll know that I am the one and that I can't do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me. 29 Besides, the one who sent me is with me. He hasn't left me by myself. I always do what pleases him." 30 As Jesus was saying this, many people believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They replied to Jesus, "We are Abraham's descendants, and we've never been anyone's slaves. So how can you say that we will be set free?" 34 Jesus answered them, "I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin. 35 A slave doesn't live in the home forever, but a son does. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free. 37 I know that you're Abraham's descendants. However, you want to kill me because you don't like what I'm saying. 38 What I'm saying is what I have seen in my Father's presence. But you do what you've heard from your father." 39 The Jews replied to Jesus, "Abraham is our father." Jesus told them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did. 40 I am a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. But now you want to kill me. Abraham wouldn't have done that. 41 You're doing what your father does." The Jews said to Jesus, "We're not illegitimate children. God is our only Father." 42 Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you would love me. After all, I'm here, and I came from God. I didn't come on my own. Instead, God sent me. 43 Why don't you understand the language I use? Is it because you can't understand the words I use? 44 You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn't know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he's doing what comes naturally to him. He's a liar and the father of lies. 45 So you don't believe me because I tell the truth. 46 Can any of you convict me of committing a sin? If I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 The person who belongs to God understands what God says. You don't understand because you don't belong to God." 48 The Jews replied to Jesus, "Aren't we right when we say that you're a Samaritan and that you're possessed by a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I'm not possessed. I honor my Father, but you dishonor me. 50 I don't want my own glory. But there is someone who wants it, and he is the judge. 51 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever obeys what I say will never see death." 52 The Jews told Jesus, "Now we know that you're possessed by a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, 'Whoever does what I say will never taste death.' 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets have also died. Who do you think you are?" 54 Jesus said, "If I bring glory to myself, my glory is nothing. My Father is the one who gives me glory, and you say that he is your God. 55 Yet, you haven't known him. However, I know him. If I would say that I didn't know him, I would be a liar like all of you. But I do know him, and I do what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was pleased to see that my day was coming. He saw it and was happy." 57 The Jews said to Jesus, "You're not even fifty years old. How could you have seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus told them, "I can guarantee this truth: Before Abraham was ever born, I am." 59 Then some of the Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus. However, Jesus was concealed, and he left the temple courtyard. GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. | |