Moses hath commanded us to stone such — If they spoke accurately, this must have been a woman, who, having been betrothed to a husband, had been guilty of this crime before the marriage was completed; for such only Moses commanded to be stoned. He commanded indeed that other adulteresses should be p... [ Continue Reading ]
That they might have to accuse him — Either of usurping the office of a judge, if he condemned her, or of being an enemy to the law, if he acquitted her. Jesus stooping down, wrote with his finger on the ground — God wrote once in the Old Testament; Christ once in the New: perhaps the words which he... [ Continue Reading ]
He that is without sin — He that is not guilty: his own conscience being the judge) either of the same sin, or of some nearly resembling it; let him — as a witness, cast the first stone at her.... [ Continue Reading ]
Beginning at the eldest — Or the elders. Jesus was left alone — By all those scribes and Pharisees who proposed the question. But many others remained, to whom our Lord directed his discourse presently after.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hath no man condemned thee? — Hath no judicial sentence been passed upon thee?... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither do I condemn thee — Neither do I take upon me to pass any such sentence. Let this deliverance lead thee to repentance.... [ Continue Reading ]
He that followeth me shall in nowise walk in darkness — In ignorance, wickedness, misery: but shall have the light of life — He that closely, humbly, steadily follows me, shall have the Divine light continually shining upon him, diffusing over his soul knowledge, holiness, joy, till he is guided by... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou testifiest of thyself; thy testimony is not valid — They retort upon our Lord his own words, John 5:31; if I testify of myself, my testimony is not valid. He had then added, There is another who testifieth of me. To the same effect he replies here, John 8:14, Though I testify of myself, yet my... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye judge after the flesh — As the flesh, that is, corrupt nature dictates. I judge no man — Not thus; not now; not at my first coming.... [ Continue Reading ]
I am not alone — No more in judging, than in testifying: but I and the Father that sent me — His Father is in him, and he is in the Father, John 14:10; and so the Father is no more alone without the Son, than the Son is without the Father, Proverbs 8:22, Proverbs 8:30. His Father and he are not one... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 19:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then said they to him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered — Showing the perverseness of their question; and teaching that they ought first to know the Son, if they would know the Father. Where the Father is — he shows, John 8:23. Meantime he plainly intimates that the Father and he were distinct pe... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye are — Again he passes over their interruption, and proves what he advanced, John 8:21. Of them that are beneath — From the earth. I am of them that are above — Here he directly shows whence he came, even from heaven, and whither he goes.... [ Continue Reading ]
If ye believe not that I AM — Here (as in John 8:58) our Lord claims the Divine name, I AM, Exodus 3:14. But the Jews, as if he had stopped short, and not finished the sentence, answered, Who art thou?... [ Continue Reading ]
Even what I say to you from the beginning — The same which I say to you, as it were in one discourse, with one even tenor from the time I first spake to you.... [ Continue Reading ]
I have many things to say and to judge of you — I have much to say concerning your inexcusable unbelief: but he that sent me is true — Whether ye believe or no. And I speak the things which I have heard from him — I deliver truly what he hath given me in charge.... [ Continue Reading ]
They understood not — That by him that sent him he meant God the Father. Therefore in John 8:28 he speaks plainly of the Father, and again claims the Divine name, I AM.... [ Continue Reading ]
When ye shall have lifted up — On the cross, ye shall know — And so many of them did, that I AM — God over all; and that I do nothing of myself — Being one with the Father.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Father hath not left me alone — Never from the moment I came into the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
The truth — Written in your hearts by the Spirit of God, shall make you free — From guilt, sin, misery, Satan.... [ Continue Reading ]
They — The other Jews that were by, (not those that believed,) as appears by the whole tenor of the conversation. We were never enslaved to any man — A bold, notorious untruth. At that very time they were enslaved to the Romans.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus answered — Each branch of their objection, first concerning freedom, then concerning their being Abraham's offspring, John 8:37, &c. He that committeth sin, is, in fact, the slave of sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the slave abideth not in the house — All sinners shall be cast out of God's house, as the slave was out of Abraham's: but I, the Son, abide therein for ever.... [ Continue Reading ]
If I therefore make you free, ye — shall partake of the same privilege: being made free from all guilt and sin, ye shall abide in the house of God for ever.... [ Continue Reading ]
I know that ye are Abraham's offspring — As to the other branch of your objection, I know that, ye are Abraham's offspring, after the flesh; but not in a spiritual sense. Ye are not followers of the faith of Abraham: my word hath no place in your hearts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye do the deeds of your father — He is not named yet. But when they presumed to call God their Father, then he is expressly called the devil, John 8:44.... [ Continue Reading ]
I proceeded forth — As God, and come — As Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye cannot — Such is your stubbornness and pride, hear — Receive, obey my word. Not being desirous to do my will, ye cannot understand my doctrine, John 7:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
He was a murderer — In inclination, from the beginning — Of his becoming a devil; and abode not in the truth — Commencing murderer and liar at the same time. And certainly he was a killer of men (as the Greek word properly signifies) from the beginning of the world: for from the very creation he des... [ Continue Reading ]
Because I speak the truth — Which liars hate.... [ Continue Reading ]
Which of you convicteth me of sin? — And is not my life as unreprovable as my doctrine? Does not my whole behaviour confirm the truth of what I teach?... [ Continue Reading ]
He that is of God — That either loves or fears him, heareth — With joy and reverence, God's words — Which I preach.... [ Continue Reading ]
Say we not well — Have we not just cause to say, Thou art, a Samaritan — An enemy to our Church and nation; and hast a devil? — Art possessed by a proud and lying spirit?... [ Continue Reading ]
I honour my Father — I seek his honour only.... [ Continue Reading ]
I seek not my own glory — That is, as I am the Messiah, I consult not my own glory. I need not. For my Father consulteth it, and will pass sentence on you accordingly.... [ Continue Reading ]
If a man keep my word — So will my Father consult my glory. We keep his doctrine by believing, his promises by hoping, his command by obeying. He shall never see death — That is, death eternal. He shall live for ever. Hereby he proves that he was no Samaritan; for the Samaritans in general were Sadd... [ Continue Reading ]
If I honour myself — Referring to their words, Whom makest thou thyself?... [ Continue Reading ]
He saw it — By faith in types, figures, and promises; as particularly in Melchisedec; in the appearance of Jehovah to him in the plains of Mamre, Genesis 18:1; and in the promise that in his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Possibly he had likewise a peculiar revelation either of... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou art not yet fifty years old — At the most. Perhaps the gravity of our Lord's countenance, together with his afflictions and labours, might make him appear older than he really was. Hast thou seen Abraham — Which they justly supposed must have been, if Abraham had seen him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Before Abraham was I AM — Even from everlasting to everlasting. This is a direct answer to the objection of the Jews, and shows how much greater he was than Abraham.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then they took up stones — To stone him as a blasphemer; but Jesus concealed himself — Probably by becoming invisible; and so passed on — With the same ease as if none had been there.... [ Continue Reading ]