John 8 Part 1

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.” -Jn 8:12

John 8 has many diverse themes, from mercy and grace to repentance and the deity of Christ, each theme drives us to one main point: FOLLOW JESUS. At the closing of the feast of Tabernacles, the lights at the temple are extinguished, reminding the people to look to the coming messiah for hope. Jesus then stands boldly proclaiming that HE is the light of the world, connecting Himself with the pillar of fire in Exodus and to what the celebration was all about to begin with. Deliverance by God from slavery, His faithfulness to provide and guide His people out of darkness. Yet many professing Christians today claim to follow Christ and continue to live in darkness, bringing condemnation on themselves. “19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19. These are the people who say, “Jesus accepts me as I am.”, but never step further into the light; they refuse to follow Jesus. Yes, there is grace for us. Jesus’s first ‘Mission’ to earth was not one of judgment but rather mercy and warning of the coming judgment. Jesus does accept us as we are but loves us enough not to leave us there. He calls us to follow Him out of the darkness, and in doing so, we follow Him to heaven. As He told the woman caught in adultery. “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) She was offered grace and forgiveness but commanded to repent.

The woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-11) is an interesting and controversial passage of scripture. If it seems out of place in the narrative between John 7 and 8 it’s because it is. The earliest manuscripts of John do not contain this story, however, it has been widely accepted as truth and fits in flawlessly with the doctrine of mercy, grace, and repentance. Further, it was included in the canonization of scripture in the 4th century. We at Christian Fellowship hold this passage as true, even if it did not originally belong in this part of the narrative.