भाष्य सध्या फक्त इंग्रजीत उपलब्ध आहे. मराठी भाषांतर प्रगतीपथावर आहे.
John 8 — Ye Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Make You Free
The woman taken in adultery — He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her... Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. I am the light of the world. He bears witness of Himself; the Father bears witness. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They say they are Abraham's seed. Ye are of your father the devil. Before Abraham was, I am. They took up stones to cast at Him.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
— John 8:31-32
- v.1-11 The woman taken in adultery
- v.12-30 The light of the world
- v.31-47 Truth that makes free; sons of the devil
- v.48-59 Before Abraham was, I AM
The second great I am. He claims to be what the sun is to the day. The follower has the light of life, not in himself, but in the One he follows.
Shall not walk in darkness. Following Christ is the cure for moral and spiritual dimness. Not because the follower is brilliant but because the One ahead is.
Often quoted without verse 31 — if ye continue in my word. The freedom is for disciples, not casual visitors.
The truth shall make you free. Free from what? The next verses show — from sin (v.34), from the slavery of the family of the devil (v.44). Christian liberty is liberation from sin's mastery.
The most explicit claim of Christ's deity in the Gospels. I am — the divine Name of Exodus 3:14. The Jews understood the claim and tried to stone Him for it.
Before Abraham was. He preceded the father of the Jewish people by an existence that did not begin. The eternal Son announced.
Verse 11 is the model for how grace and truth meet in the church. Welcome the sinner; do not endorse the sin. Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Either half without the other distorts the gospel. Both, every time.
John 8 contains Christ's clearest claim to deity — Before Abraham was, I am. The chapter's grace toward a condemned woman and truth-claim against an unbelieving crowd are the same Lord. He is the light of the world, the truth that frees, the eternal I am. The chapter ends with stones in their hands and Him slipping through. The cross would be His chosen hour, not theirs.
Two perfect halves. Neither do I condemn thee — grace toward the past. Go, and sin no more — direction for the future. Either alone is not the gospel.
A cure for the modern misreading of grace. Christ's acquittal is not approval; His direction is not condemnation. Both, in this order, every time.