2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
September 10, 2025
John 8:12-51
Verse 12. We are following Jesus as he continues to speak in the temple area following the Feast of the Tabernacles (John 7:14). As we noted in earlier studies, the feast was a reminder of how God provided for the people during the forty-year journey through the wilderness. The feast consisted of many rituals that symbolized various ways God provided during that time. Jesus alluded to a symbol in the feast and declared that he is the fulfillment of that symbol. The symbol he is referring to is the lighting of the candelabra during the feast. The lighting of the candelabra was a symbol of the Pillar of Fire that led the Israelites at night as they traveled through the wilderness. The Pillar of Fire was there to guide the Israelites during the darkness. Jesus already spoke concerning how he is the very fulfillment of the wilderness experience symbols. He declared he was the true manna (bread from heaven), and the true source of living water. Now Jesus declares that he is the light that guides one out of spiritual darkness towards the true promise land (heaven). Jesus is speaking of spiritual matters and not earthly matters. The Jews considered the Pillar of Fire to be a symbol of God’s presence. For Jesus to say he was the light was to say he was the presence of God with man. This light is the light that gives sight to the blind; the spiritually blind.
Verse 13. The Pharisees challenged his claim not based on its truthfulness, but on a technicality. The Pharisees challenge Jesus by stating that he cannot testify on his own behalf. The only problem with that is that Jesus cannot testify when he is being charged with a crime as in John 5:31. In this case Jesus is not accused of any crime so he can surely testify to whether something is true or not that he has seen.
Verses 14-18. The defense of our Lord is awesome. The first qualification of a witness is that they be an actual witness. Someone who has seen what they are talking about. The Jewish religious leaders spoke with great authority about things they never experienced. Now, they seek to challenge our Lord’s authority and credibility as a witness. Only He and the Father can testify about heavenly things because they have firsthand knowledge of them. Who else is qualified as a witness if not our Lord? He knows where He has come from and where He is going. His opponents do not know where He has come from or where He is going. Jesus states that the law requires two to be witnesses. He is one and the Father is the other. There is no one who can testify about what goes on in Heaven except the ones who can transcend both heaven and earth.
Verses 19-20. The Pharisees challenge Jesus by asking who the father he speaks of is. The Pharisees are taking a stab at Jesus inferring that he was an illegitimate child. Later in the chapter they will imply that he is the son of a Samaritan. Jesus will show them that they are the illegitimate children in this discussion. Jesus responds by telling the Pharisees that they don’t know his father or him. Jesus continues and says that if they really knew who he was they would know who his father was. Jesus said all this within feet of the Sanhedrin council chambers. Even though he said all this, and they had been trying to capture him, no one laid a hand on him.
Verses 21--22. Jesus continued his telling the crowd that he would leave this place and go somewhere where they could not follow him. He was speaking of returning to sit at the right hand of the father, but they thought he was talking about going down to the grave. He then declared that they cannot go because they will die in their unbelief, and perish in hell. In verse 12, Jesus invites men to follow Him as the “Light of the world.” Now, having been rejected by many as the true light, He issues a strong word of warning. He is going away. When He is gone, they will look for Him, but they will not find Him. Such people will “die in their sins,” and they will not be able to go where He is going. What is clear to us now is completely misunderstood by those who reject Him. Our Lord’s adversaries presume they are going to heaven, and if Jesus is their enemy, then He must be going to hell. If Jesus is going to a place that they cannot go, then Jesus (in their minds) must be going to hell. And so, they jump to the conclusion that He is speaking of His own death by suicide. Our Lord’s adversaries presume they are going to heaven, and if Jesus is their enemy, then He must be going to hell. He is not talking about suicide or going to hell. He is saying that once He goes away, it will be too late for them. They will need Him, and they will seek Him, but they will not be able to go where He has gone. They will not find Him to help them. I believe Jesus means they will “look for Him” in the sense that they will eagerly look for the Messiah to “come” and to save them in their hour of distress and need. Little do they realize that He has come to save them, and yet they have rejected Him.
Verses 23-30. Jesus gets blunt, and says that they, that question him, are not in a position to question him because they are not from above like he is, they are from below. He warns them that if they do not believe in who he is, they will have to pay the cost of their own sins and die in their sins. The Pharisees respond by asking him who he is that they should believe in him. Jesus responds by telling them he is the same person that he has been claiming to be all the time. He doesn’t need to say it again; he has already said it repeatedly. His story has not changed. As a matter of fact he declares that he is going to say more things to them that will trouble them, and it will be even harder to believe in him because it will make them feel worse than before. Jesus declares that they will indeed finally know him when he is crucified and rises again on the third day. His words were so powerful that many put their faith in him as he spoke. Many heard his warning and knew that they needed to put their trust in him.
Verses 31-32. Jesus spoke to those who believed and told them that they would have true freedom if they held to the truth of his words. Jesus words were reminiscent of how the Israelites were set free from the pharaoh in Egypt. Jesus would be a spiritual Moses leading his people from the slavery of sin.
Verses 33-41. The Pharisees responded that they were descendants of Abraham and had never been slaves. The Jews claim to be Abraham’s descendants, but only in a merely physical sense, they are his sons, but that is not what it means to be a true “son of Abraham.” True sons of Abraham would have faith and would recognize who Jesus is. These Jews think that because they were born Jewish they have eternal life. Jesus argues that being born Jewish is not enough. That is why he told Nicodemus one must be born again. They reject the word of Jesus, which reveals the truth, and which would set them free. Instead of believing in Jesus, they seek to kill Him. Here is a great contrast.
They think they speak for God, and yet Jesus is the One who speaks of those things He has seen while He was with His Father in heaven.
They claim to be the offspring of Abraham, and yet by their deeds, they show that they do not honor God by trusting in His Son because they are trying to kill Him,
They are “sons” of someone, but they are not “sons” of Abraham in the way they believe they are. Their practice reveals their true “father.”
Verses 42-47. Jesus tells the disbelieving crowd that the reason they don’t recognize him is because they are children of the devil. They are just like their father. Their father lies, and their father is about murder. Jesus tells the crowd that he can see the family resemblance. Jesus even states that the reason they don’t understand him is because he is speaking his father language and they are speaking their father’s language.
Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are not able to understand his message because he speaks the language of the father and they speak the native tongue of Satan. When the Jews hear this, they point the finger back at Jesus and tell him that he is demon-possessed not them.
Verses 49-51. Jesus responds to the accusation of being demon possessed, and he gives the Pharisees something else to think about. Jesus tells the Pharisees that demon possessed people don’t glorify God like he does. He doesn’t seek his glory but the glory of the father. Jesus basically tells them that they cannot point to an incident where he promoted himself. If Jesus wanted to promote himself, he would act like the Pharisees and lord his authority over people. Jesus always acted humbly and gentle unlike the Pharisees. Jesus also tells the Pharisees that they prove to be the ones who are demon possessed because they dishonor the one who honors the Father. To dishonor Jesus when he honors the father is to dishonor the Father. Jesus moves from responding to the accusation to highlighting his divinity. He tells the crowd that if they believe his words they will never die.
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