Day 283 – Jesus’ Ministry in Jerusalem

• The start of John 8 needs some brief explanation. You may be aware that we don’t have any original copies of the Bible, and that the text we have comes from many different copies made over the centuries. Nearly all the copies of all the books in the Bible are identical, but John 8:1-11 are not in the earliest copies that we know of. This leaves us a difficult question – are they original, or were they added later? There is nothing in these verses which has theology which disagrees with the rest of the Bible, but it’s also worth saying that it would be wise not to focus on it or use it as a basis for study either. Therefore, despite the fact that our title today refers to it, I will not be providing any notes about these verses. It’s very interesting to consider that in the whole Bible, these are the only disputed verses – quite astonishing when you consider the age of the documents… unless there was a heavenly author, of course!
• The rest of John 8 follows the thread of the conversations that Jesus was having in John 7, which we read yesterday. In it, He’s answering the questions posed by the Pharisees and other bystanders who were challenging his claim to be God. It’s challenging stuff, and cannot be easily skim-read. Make sure you’ve thoughtfully read John 8, even if you don’t understand all of it.
• “I am the light of the world” is a well known claim by Jesus. The bible talks a lot about “light” – can you think of some different instances of this, and how they might refer to Jesus? Consider the words in the passage we read in John 3 too.
• Jesus confused the people when he says he was “going [somewhere] you cannot come” in John 8:21. What was he referring to? What did those listening think Jesus was going to do?
• Consider a sinful pattern of behaviour that you have in your life, whatever it may be. Can you get rid of that sin on your own? Have you tried? If you have regularly tried and failed, could you consider John 8:31-38? Focus especially on verses 34-36. In Jesus we can be truly free. How do you think that might help you?
• John 8:39 onwards talks about who the “father” of the people challenging Jesus is. There are some references to Abraham as the father of the Jewish nation, but Jesus was talking about the devil, suggesting that some of the people listening didn’t love God at all. Imagine you were a Jewish leader, hearing Jesus speak the words of verses 39-47 to you. How would you feel?
• Jesus said, in John 8:51, that everyone who kept His word would never see death. This was a source of much confusion to the people surrounding him! What did Jesus mean by this, considering the fact that we all die (as the Jews argued in verse 52-53)?
• What was the significance of Jesus’ odd words in verse 58? We’ve thought about it before in these notes, and the passage in Exodus will help, perhaps. Why did it anger the Jews enough to try and stone Jesus?

The New Testament is often an easier to read than the Old Testament, especially the gospels, but they often talk of things which are very thought-provoking, challenging our hearts and our actions. This is especially the case when Jesus talks about His divine nature, such as we read today, and how we react to those statements. In this chapter alone, Jesus challenged those listening to Him about His nature, His mission, dealing with sin, battling the devil, the freedom found in the truths of the scriptures, and much more!

Perhaps you could pick just one of those things to think about in your notes and prayer today.