John 8

John 8:7

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Since you plead the law against this offender, I gainsay not; but am ready to second Moses herein: in the mean time, do not ye prosecute that in her, whereof yourselves are guilty: she hath well deserved to be stoned; but who shall be her executioners? If any of you be innocent, let his hand be first upon her.

John 8:11

And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: Go, and sin no more.

Howsoever thou hast deserved, it is not mine office, to pass sentence of condemnation upon thee: since therefore thine accusers are sent away by their own guiltiness, it is not for me to prosecute thee; go thy ways, repent thee of this great wickedness, and take heed thou be not miscarried into this sin any more.

John 8:14

Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

Howsoever, in the ordinary course of human proceedings, it is true, that no man’s testimony is to be taken concerning himself; yet, in this case of mine, who am a Divine Person, exempted from all possibility of error, God in the Flesh, it is far otherwise. Being such a one, though I do bear record of myself, yet the record cannot but be true: for I, and I only, VOL. IV. R know whence I came, even from the bosom of mine Eternal Father; and whither I am returning, even to the repossession of that glory: but ye, judging only according to the outward appearance, know neither of these.

John 8:15

Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

Ye presume to judge according to your carnal affections, and follow your outward senses in the judgments ye pass on me; and, in the mean time, will not endure me, who do not challenge or execute that power, which I might, in judging you.

John 8:16

And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

Not that I do disclaim or forsake that right, but make use of it when I see it meet; and, whensoever I do judge any man, my judgment is true, and altogether infallible; and such, as whereby ye may be convinced, according to your own rules: for I am not alone; the Father, that sent me, is with me, and testifieth with me and for me.

John 8:21

Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.

I am now shortly going away, and removing from the earth; and then, in vain shall ye seek for help from me, whom ye have despised; imploring the aid of the Divine Power of that Messiah, whom ye have rejected: justly therefore do I cast you off, and suffer you to die in your sins; barring you out from my presence; for, whither I go, ye shall never be allowed to come.

John 8:22

Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.

Then said the Jews, What means this threat of his departure, whither we shall not come to him? Will he kill himself? If he do, he shall indeed go alone: we list not to follow him on that condition.

John 8:23

And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above.

It is to no purpose to speak to you of heavenly things: ye cannot be capable of my Doctrine: ye are altogether earthly and sensual, and savour nothing but earthly things; I am from heaven, and my Doctrine is accordingly.

John 8:24

For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

For if ye believe not that I am the Son of God, the true Messiah, that should come to save the world, ye shall die in your sins.

John 8:25

And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

I am not one, that is suddenly and unexpectedly started

John 8:26

I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

If I minded to take advantage of your wickedness and infidelity, I have matter enough to accuse and condemn you for; but that is not my errand, for which I came: only I must tell you, these contempts and this unbelief of yours will not be let go unpunished; for my Father, that sent me, as he is Truth itself, so he will certainly make good that which I have delivered to the world from him, and that which he hath spoken to the world by me.

John 8:27

They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

All this while, their understandings were so blinded, that they did not perceive that he spake unto them, concerning God the Father; and that dreadful judgment of his, before which they must appear, and receive the due sentence of their obstinate unbelief.

John 8:28

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; &c.

When ye have lifted up me, the Son of Man, to the Cross; and have fastened me to that tree of shame and curse, whereon I shall suffer an ignominious and painful death; ye shall then know, both by the miraculous signs which then shall appear to the world, and by the wonderful consequences of my glorious Resurrection and Ascension, that I am that Messiah, whom ye have expected; and that I am not a mere man, as ye now suppose, and that I do nothing of myself, &c.

John 8:29

And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

The Eternal Father, that sent me, he is inseparably with me: he hath not left me alone: his Godhead is mine; I am one with him, and therefore I can do nothing, but that, which is perfectly pleasing unto him. VIII. 31, 32. 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. I, who know your hearts, do well see, that, upon these words of mine, ye do now believe in me; but, take heed that this faith of yours be not unsteady and temporary: see that ye continue constant in the profession of my Name, and then ye shall indeed be my disciples: and then ye shall have the R 2 Truth of God further revealed unto you; and this divine Evangelical truth shall so work with you, that it shall bless you with the liberty of the Sons of God, making you free from the bondage of sin and Satan, under which ye are now held.

John 8:33

They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

What tellest thou us of freedom? Tell this to the forlorn heathens, who are born to servitude: as for us, we are the seed of faithful Abraham, and that, not of the bondwoman, but of the free: we scorn the imputation of bondage, and abhor the very name of it: why dost thou then tell us of being made free?

John 8:34

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Indeed, ye challenge a natural freedom; but ye are morally slaves and vassals: howsoever ye please yourselves, ye are servants to a base Master, even Sin; for, whosoever yields himself over to the commission of sin, as ye do, is no other than a slave and vassal unto sin.

John 8:35

And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

Ye brag of your privileges and liberty; but how long will this last? Ye are in God’s family, but as Ishmael was in Abraham’s: ye may challenge and usurp a kind of liberty and immunity; but it shall soon be at an end, as his was: the truth is, ye are servants of sin, and not sons of God; and, it is not for a servant to make account of a perpetual claim to the house, or stay in it: if ye be once the adopted sons of God, ye may challenge a room in his house; but, as ye are, ye have none.

John 8:36

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Neither shall ye attain to this happy condition of spiritual freedom, unless the Son of God do invest you with it: your own endeavours will but enthral you more; his grace and mercy must only work your deliverance.

John 8:37

I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

I know ye are Abraham’s seed, according to the flesh; but what will this avail you, while ye are strangers from the faith of Abraham? This is too plain, in that ye seek to kill me, in whom Abraham believed; a wickedness, which ye could never yield unto, if ye had given place to that saving word of mine, which hath been delivered unto you: that very contempt of yours hath drawn upon you this hateful sin of your murderous intentions against me.

John 8:38

I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

My Doctrine is such, as I have received from my Heavenly Father, and therefore holy and divine: your practices are such, as ye have received from that true father of yours, whom ye will be very unwilling to acknowledge.

John 8:41

We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

We could not be true born, if we had any other father than that one, whom we challenge: being the sons of Abraham, it must needs follow, that we are the sons of God: only God therefore, who is the Father of faithful Abraham, is the Father of us who are his true children.

John 8:43

Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my words.

I have spoken plain enough to you: why do ye not understand my speech? The fault is in none, but in yourselves: ye are so carried with prejudice and disaffection, that ye will not apply your minds to listen unto that, which I deliver unto you.

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil.

Pretend and profess what ye will. I must point you to your true father: ye are of your father the Devil.

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

He is both a practiser of lies himself, and the author and cause of them in others: when he utters lies, he doth but his kind: if at any time he let fall a truth, that is but stolen and usurped: his proper work is, both to lie, and to move lies in others.

John 8:51

If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

If a man keep my saying, he shall be surely freed from everlasting death.

John 8:56

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Your father Abraham, by a lively faith, foresaw this coming of me, the Messiah, and lived in that faith of his; and in that spiritual life rejoiced with joy unspeakable and glorious.

John 8:57

Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Thou canst not so boast of age, as to make thyself near fifty years old: thou appearest to be much short of that; and hast thou lived so long, as to have seen Abraham?

John 8:58

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

I tell ye, O ye fond Jews, my being is not to be measured by my coming in the flesh: I am that God, which was and is from everlasting. Abraham had his being in time; mine is from eternity: your fathers knew me by the name of I AM: I am still so to you; yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever.

John 8:59

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

But Jesus withdrew himself from them; and, by his secret power, so avoided their hands, as that they were not able, in his passage through the midst of them, to stay or touch him.