John 8:11-15

 

John 8:11 (KJB)

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

Condemn - Pass sentence on or judge against

 

The woman answers the question from the previous verse probably in great humility and great relief that she was not stoned for the sin. She knew that she was guilty and probably deserved to be stoned for that sin because of what the law had demanded. This verse is interesting because Jesus does not condemn her nor pass sentence on her, instead He tells her that she should go and sin no more, which was the same command that He gave to the man at the Pool of Bethesda. Both commands to sin no more are in the Imperative mood making them a command. Now I cannot be dogmatic about this but maybe both of these people had become saved after their meeting with Jesus. The command to sin no more is normally given only to the believer. (Rom 6:11-12 KJV) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. {12} Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Since neither of these people were condemned, it is possible they became saved. Jesus was alone with both people when He told them to sin no more. As believers we are not to engage ourselves in the sins we did before we became saved because there is to be a transformation in our lives. As Paul states in Romans 6:12, that sin should no longer reign in your mortal bodies. He didn’t say the sin was gone from our flesh as he tells us in Romans 7, the sin dwells in the flesh (Rom. 7:18) but it is not to reign over our flesh, that is, we no longer live in sin as we did before we became saved and this is the principle, I believe, that Jesus was conveying to these two people.

 

John 8:12 (KJB)

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

 

Here Jesus goes back to teaching the people that He is the light of the world, that is, He is the truth which has come into the world. Up until this time, religion had shrouded the truth and everything which was taught was darkness because it had no ability to save a person. Jesus is the one who is the light and is the one by whom true salvation comes into the world. (1 John 1:5 KJV) This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Jesus declared that God was the light and that He was the light. Those who have the Son have the Father, and their spiritual eyes will be opened to the truth. It will be like being in total darkness and then in a moment the truth shines as a light in the darkest time. Those who follow Jesus will not walk in the darkness of the kingdom of Satan which is where religion leaves a person because of its inability to save and to focus on the Lord. Religion focuses on what man can do but the true Gospel, which the Lord describes as “the light of life” has that great ability to save a person from their sins. This is the truth of the light that salvation is found in a person and not in a system. Those who walk in Christ will have the abiding light of life in their souls and will never again be deceived by religion.

 

John 8:13 (KJB)

The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

 

Record - Witness

 

Here the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of bearing His own record, in other words, they believed that Jesus was trying to make Himself something so that He would draw people after Himself. They deemed Him to be a false preacher trying to gain a following. They stated that His record or witness was not true. They had nothing to base this accusation on except their own prejudice. They knew the miracles which Jesus did and how He dealt personally with people such as the woman caught in adultery and the man at the pool of Bethesda where He treated them gently but the Pharisees would look down on people like that. They looked down on Jesus the same way just because He did not graduate from a theological school.

 

John 8:14 (KJB)

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.

 

Jesus told them plainly that of He is bearing witness of Himself, that witness is true. Then He explains in the second part of the verse. He knew He was the eternal Son of God and that He came from Heaven and that once His earthly ministry is completed, He also knows that He will be going back to Heaven, to His Heavenly Father. Because of their deadness in religion, He tells them that they do not know from where He came. They had thought that Jesus came from Nazareth and that was it, but the Jews had failed to look beyond Nazareth. The Jews would not be able to tell where Jesus came from nor would they be able to know that He would be going back to Heaven. This statement may also be pointing to the fact that they would also not have knowledge of where He would be going next on His earthly ministry. He would not impart to them the places that He would minister. (John 3:8 KJV) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. The Christian may not know where they will be witnessing tomorrow because the Holy Spirit may guide them in another direction, just like He did with Paul. (Acts 16:6-7 KJV) Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, {7} After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

 

John 8:15 (KJB)

Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

 

Jesus was telling these leaders that their judgments are made according to the flesh and not by having true knowledge. They had based their judgments upon their own biases. Therefore, they would never be able to reach a proper and just conclusion on any matter. If a judgment is made through the eyes of prejudice, it becomes a false judgment and normally winds up condemning an innocent person. Jesus then adds that He judges no man because His first mission to earth was not a mission of condemnation. (John 3:17 KJV) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  The condemnation of the unbelievers will happen on the last day at the Great White Throne Judgment. Just as Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, He was here to pay for the sins of His people. When Jesus returns it will be the time for Judgment. (Heb 9:28 KJV) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. The second time He comes, it will not be in reference to sin, that is, putting away of the sins of the Elect but it will be to gather the saved of earth to Heaven and to judge all the unsaved of the earth.

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