Jesus Teaches Truth: A Question-Based Study of John 8

Exploring Grace, Identity, and the Light of Life

John 8:1-31

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” 12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”Jesus Defends His Self-Witness. 13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” 19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” 20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” 23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” 25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” 27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. 28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift[m] up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Introduction

Today, we will study John 8:1–31, where we follow Jesus as He faces the Pharisees who seek to trap Him by bringing before Him a woman caught in adultery. But instead of falling into their trap, Jesus convicts them of their own sin with a few simple words—revealing their hypocrisy and exposing their hearts.

After this encounter, Jesus continues teaching the people, declaring profound truths about who He is, His relationship with the Father, and what it means to truly follow Him. In this chapter, we encounter not only a test of Jesus’ wisdom but a revelation of His identity as the I AM — the Light of the World.

I’ve decided to approach this passage a little differently today.

We will use questions to help us dig deeper into what Jesus is saying and teaching us in these verses. These questions are designed not just to understand the events, but to reflect on how His words apply to our hearts and lives today.

Where is the man that the woman was caught with?

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, for Jesus to judge, but the Law stated that the man and the woman should be stoned. Leviticus 20:10, “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

If she was truly caught in the act, then both individuals would be present. According to the Law in Leviticus 20:10, both the man and the woman must be condemned. Their motive is apparently not justice but to trap Jesus (John 8:6). They ignored the man, violating the Law they claimed to uphold by applying it only partially to shame the woman and test Jesus. They exposed their own hypocrisy. 

Did Jesus violate the law by not stoning the woman?

No—Jesus did not violate the Law. Rather, He upheld it perfectly, exposing the sin of the accusers and demonstrating both mercy and justice. In John 8:7, Jesus said:

“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

Jesus was not teaching that only sinless people can execute judgment (for then no one could ever judge), but He was exposing their specific sin—their hypocrisy and corrupt motives. They ignored the man involved (violating Leviticus 20:10) and twisted the Law to trap Jesus. As it says in John 8:6:

“This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.”

This was a tempting of the Lord, much like Israel’s testing, which is why Deuteronomy 6:16 says:

“You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.”

Jesus, being God in the flesh and the author of the Law, had full authority to interpret and apply it rightly. He did not come to earth to condemn, but to save:

John 3:17 – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Throughout His ministry, we see this same divine pattern:

• With the paralytic, He forgave sins before healing (Mark 2:5–12).

• With the woman at the well, He exposed her life yet offered living water (John 4).

• With Nicodemus, He pointed him to new birth, not condemnation (John 3).

• And with this adulterous woman, He said:“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)

Jesus did not abolish the Law—He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”), by revealing its true purpose: not only to judge sin, but to lead us to grace and truth through Him.

What do you think Jesus stooped down to write on the ground with His finger? Do you recall where else in the bible is the figure of God mentioned as writing something?

The text does not specify what He wrote, and Scripture remains intentionally silent, which may itself be meaningful. However, several biblical and theological interpretations have been proposed:

1. Writing Their Sins or Names

Some suggest He was writing the sins or even names of the accusers. This is supported by Jeremiah 17:13:

“O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD,

the fountain of living waters.”

Jesus, the Fountain of Living Waters (John 4), may be fulfilling this prophecy, writing the names of those forsaking Him.

2. Reference to the Law

Another view is that Jesus wrote parts of the Law of Moses — possibly Leviticus 20:10 or Deuteronomy 22:22–24, which requires both the man and the woman to be condemned.

This would confront them with their selective use of the Law, exposing their injustice.

We See God Writing with His Finger in the following:

1. The Ten Commandments — Exodus 31:18 (NKJV)

“And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Also repeated in: Deuteronomy 9:10 – “…written with the finger of God…”

Just as God wrote His Law on stone to reveal sin and righteousness, Jesus (God in the flesh) now writes on the ground, confronting the hearts of sinners and accusers alike.

2. Judgment of Belshazzar — Daniel 5:5 (NKJV)

“In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote… on the plaster of the wall…”

In Daniel, God wrote judgment against a proud and rebellious king. Jesus may be enacting a similar moment of judgment — not against the woman, but against the hypocritical accusers.

We can never be sure what Jesus wrote but the whole incident points us to:

• His divine identity (God wrote with His finger at Sinai),

• His authority over the Law,

• His right to judge, and yet His choice to extend mercy.

Why did the oldest leave first?

The oldest left first likely because their greater life experience, deeper guilt, and stronger awareness of the Law and their own hypocrisy made their consciences quicker to respond.

One by one, the rest followed — as truth stood silent before them, writing in the dust.

Why did the Pharisees reject Jesus’ testimony, and how does He defend its validity?

Because it was not sufficient for a man to testify for himself, but Jesus do not need testimony of any other human because He is God, He is all true. He taught extensively about witness to his deity in John 5.

John 8:18, “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

What Is Jesus Revealing About Himself in verses 23 and 24?

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

In this striking contrast between Himself and His audience, Jesus reveals:

1. His Divine Origin: “You are from beneath... I am from above”

2. His Heavenly Nature:“You are of this world; I am not of this world”

3. His Divine Name : “I AM” (ἐγώ εἰμι / ego eimi)

The phrase “I am He” in English appears with “He” italicized in the NKJV because it is not in the Greek. What Jesus literally says is: “If you do not believe that I AM (ἐγώ εἰμι), you will die in your sins.”

This is a direct reference to the divine name revealed in Exodus 3:14:

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.”’” 

By using the phrase “I AM”, Jesus is declaring His deity in the clearest terms — something the Pharisees would understand immediately. In fact, later in John 8:58, He uses the same phrase again:“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

And their response? “Then they took up stones to throw at Him…” (v. 59). Because they understood that He was claiming to be God.

Jesus is saying:

“Unless you believe that I AM — the eternal, self-existent God — you will die in your sins.”

This is not just a moral statement, but a gospel warning and a revelation of divine identity.

What is the significance of Jesus’ phrase “When you lift up the Son of Man…” in verse 28?

The phrase “lift up” is used by Jesus in John’s Gospel to refer specifically to His crucifixion.

John 3:14 – “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

John 12:32–33 – “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (v.33 explains: “This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”)

So, Jesus is pointing to His coming death on the cross.

“Then you will know that I am He…”

Again, “He” is italicized — the Greek reads: “Then you will know that I am” (ἐγώ εἰμι / ego eimi). The crucifixion would be the moment of public revelation of who Jesus is — the I AM, the Son of God.

In closing, I would like to go back to verse 12,

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

What is the promise Jesus gives us in verse 12 and what is the condition?

He promises that we can never walk in darkness but have the light of life and the condition to get this promise fulfilled in our lives is to follow Him. Darkness signifies sin, and a separation from God.

Darkness signifies sin, and a separation from God

Proverbs 4:19, “The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

Isaiah 59:2, 9 “But your iniquities have separated you from your God…

Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us;

We look for light, but there is darkness!” (vv.2, 9)

Romans 13:12, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Ephesians 5:8, 11, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

Whereas Light is God and God is the source of light, and spiritual revelations and knowledge

Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?”

Isaiah 60:19–20, “..But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, Nor shall your moon withdraw itself; For the LORD will be your everlasting light…”

1 John 1:5–7, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…”

Revelation 21:23, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”

2 Corinthians 4:6, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

In biblical Greek, the word ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō), translated "follow" in John 8:12, means to walk the same path, and even more deeply, to:

• Go in the same direction,

• Stay close behind,

• Live in alignment with,

• Walk in obedience to a teacher or master.

Jesus is not merely asking for agreement — He is inviting us to walk the same path as Him, leaving behind the path of darkness (sin, self, deception), and stepping into the path of light (truth, life, righteousness).

Psalm 119:105 – "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

1 John 1:7 – “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship…”

And as Jesus is The Light of this world, he called us to be light too.

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

And also,

Philippians 2:14-16: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”