John 8:10-11 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those who accused you? has no man condemned you?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.

Jesus came to this world to lift people out of their sins, to free them from bonds of sin that hold them captive in sin.
Jesus does not excuse her sin, but He is there to give her a new life!
He does not condemn, He uplifts, gives hope, forgiveness and courage to live above that sin that once dragged her down.



What about us? when dealing with someone who has slipped into sin, is our attitude like the Pharisees, ready to shame them and stamp them out, or is it the opposite extreme, like the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter five, excusing the sin to make the sinner comfortable?

Or are we like Jesus, lifting up and loving the person, pointing them to victory and a pure life in Christ?

John 8:12 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.

Remember Jesus was attending an important feast at this time.
It was most likely the feast of Tabernacles.

A significant ritual during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), was the Illumination of the Temple. This ceremony involved the lighting of four enormous, golden, oil-fed lamps in the temple's Court of Women. These lamps were approximately 75 feet high. At night the light was seen all over Jerusalem commemorating the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites during their journey in the wilderness.

It was also a symbol of Christ. Everything in the sanctuary services ultimately pointed to Christ!
The prophets had spoken of the Messiah as light!
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Imagine the impact of the words spoken by Jesus in the Temple courtyard when he announced, "I am the Light of the world."
In the words, "I am the light of the world," Jesus declared Himself the Messiah.

Some thirty years earlier the aged Simeon, in the temple where Christ was now teaching, had spoken of Him as "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." Luke 2:32.

The greatest sorrow is realizing the awesome reality that Christ, the Word, had come "The Light was shining in darkness; but "the darkness apprehended it not." John 1:5,

The darkness is the road of sin unto death. Why do people choose the darkness and avoid the light? John 1:4 equates the light of Christ with life. " In Him is life and that life is the light of men"

Don't people want LIFE?!

John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that does evil hates the light, and refuses to come to the light, because they do not want their deeds to be reproved.

But evil is engaging in sin and sin works death in us. (See Romans 7:13)

Jesus left heaven and came to this world to bring us light and life! Offering forgiveness and cleansing and deliverance from sin. John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
John 3:16 God so loved the world that He sent His son into the world so who ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!

John 8:13-14 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, You bear record of yourself; Your record is not true. 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 you cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

When Jesus uttered the great truth: "I AM the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The Pharisees object. They can't accept what Jesus is saying. Their ears are deaf to anything of that nature. They are satisfied with themselves, and were setting themselves up as the ones who were to be followed.

So they raise the formal objection that Jesus is testifying in his own behalf and that self proclaimed testimonies are not true and don't hold up in a legal way.
Jesus had answered that objection already in (John 5:31-37) where he acknowledges the need for more witnesses and made his testimony legally competent by referring to John the Baptist's testimony and pointing them to an even greater witness, His Father, as the ultimate witness, and the Scriptures which testified the truth.

Jesus speaks with total confidence because He knows where He came from -- He came from the Father, with Whom He was in relationship of Oneness and truth. He came to fulfill the everlasting covenant promise made between the Father and Christ before the foundation of the world. Jesus is sure about His identity and mission. He embodies the truth of what it means to be sent by God and He will return to right hand of God the Father when His mission on earth is completed, in order to intercede for the human race. With great desire He longs that they should grasp the truth that He is the answer to all their problems. He is the light of the world, the door, the way, the truth, the light.

But then He makes the sad comment, ?but you cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go."
There is a great disconnect between Him and the people. They can't understanding. Why? There is a lack of faith and spiritual insight, laced with a resistance and rebellion that shut out the light Christ wished to bring to them. This gives us reason to consider how our own misunderstandings and clinging to worldly recognition and ways can create barriers to recognizing and allowing Christ to work out His salvation in our lives.

John 8:15-16 (Jesus said) Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me

Don't judge after the flesh -- what does that mean?

Humans tend to judge others by outward appearances.
1 Samuel 6:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD sees] not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

Jesus said, "I judge no man."
Is Jesus saying He will never judge?
Jesus, in His first Advent, had not come to earth to judge people, but to open and show them the road to heaven, also it was to reveal the character of God. So the time for Jesus to act as the world?s judge had not yet come, but even if he were to begin His future work of judging immediately, his judgment would be true, because of the unity between the Father and the Son.

This text also shows that there are at least two individuals in the Godhead. Since the Jews insisted on having two witnesses as the law required, Jesus gave them two witnesses in the Father and the Son.

John 8:17-19 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

God the Father and Jesus bear the same testimony all through scripture. They work in complete oneness of purpose. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him;....and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-3,14)

Before Creation even began, an irrevocable covenant was made between the Father and the Son. Jesus would be the active agent in Creation, all things were Created by Him, and He would redeem mankind should they fall. This man Who stood before those Pharisees and Jewish leaders was none other but Christ Who had come from the very throne of God and become a human. He must go forward and finish the work which He had undertaken, or all the world would perish.

The accusing Pharisees did not understand this. They did not want to understand for everything Christ had done and said was in agreement with scripture. They could have known, they could have recognized the Messiah and seen the character of God in Christ. They took pride in themselves on their supposed superior knowledge of God, but they did not know the Father, and therefore they did not know Christ; for to know the Father was to know Christ, and to know Christ is to know the Father.
.But their own desires blocked out the truth.

John 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
.

We are reminded that Jesus was teaching in a public area of the temple. The treasury is believed to be the place where people came to deposit their gifts.
We read of another account of Jesus in this part of the temple in the book of Luke:
Luke 21:1-3 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

At this point the Pharisees were restrained from arresting Jesus. Earlier we read that Jesus withdrew from Judea because His hour had not yet come. (John 7:1-6) Yet when He came back and taught openly in the temple, we read here that they "sought to take Him" yet "no man laid hands on Him because His hour had not yet come". Though Jesus at times worked elsewhere to avoid the hostility, but when duty called Him to the place of danger, His Father restrained wicked men from laying hands on Him.

Jesus was teaching in a public area within the temple for, even though the time of His death had not yet come, the time was right to openly and plainly lay out the facts of salvation before these people. He spake openly to them .
He needed to make it plain, to give them every chance to repent and accept what He had come to offer. This was the time of their Divine "visitation" by God's Son Himself to bring them peace and life!
Later when the time had come when they did arrest Jesus, and initiated their mocking trial,
John 18:20 Jesus answered, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

John 8:21-24 Then Jesus spoke again unto them, I (myself) go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, you cannot come.
22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he said, Whither I go, you cannot come.
23 And he said unto them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 That is why I said to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you refuse to believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins.

In the Greek Jesus uses the significant clause that puts strong emphases on the word "I".
It's important to see this emphases -- "I alone" and no other, I am the divine Son of God come down from heaven on this mission to save sinners who are from below, of this world.

Jesus is appealing to them, calling out, saying, I came from heaven to bring you peace and salvation, but I'm going back to heaven, and you will wish for that which I came to give you, but if you reject me, you will die in your sins, you will never be able to come to heaven but will perish with the wicked.

Jesus wants them to understand that He is the only Savior, He can save them from their sins, they don't need to die in their sins and be lost. Jesus keeps repeating the phrase three times, "you will die in your sins" not as a curse, but as an appeal, hoping they would grasp that He was the One Who could save them from that end.

.
8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am [he], ye shall die in your sins.

IF
The "if" opens the door of forgiveness. Sins unrepented and unforgiven bring death. But if they believe in the One Who can forgive and cleanse them from sin, they can have forgiveness and a new life, they need not die in their sin.

But sadly the listeners don't even acknowledge what Jesus is saying, they simply grasp at the His emphases on the word "I", and ask, so, is He saying he will attempt suicide?

They are deaf to the warning and to the appeal.

We can understand why a few days later, as Jesus looked down on Jerusalem He wept.

Luke 19:41-44 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong unto your peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes...For the days shall come, that your enemies shall cast a trench about you,...and not leave in you one stone upon another; because you did not know the time of your visitation.

John 8:25 Then said they unto him, Who are you? And Jesus said unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

The listeners are not interested in hearing Who Jesus was. He had just pleaded with them to believe, for He alone could save them from their sin. He has offered them grace and escape from sin and eternal death. If they persisted in rejecting Him they would be lost -- they would die in their sins, and be forever barred from the eternal kingdom of God!

Their answer was a sneer -- "Who do you think you are?" sort of of retort.

But Jesus says, I haven't changed my claims. From the beginning, even until now, I'm telling you the same things. There is so much more I could tell you, but the One (speaking of His heavenly Father) has told me what, and how much to say, and He is true. I will only say what He has told me to say to you. Jesus wanted them to understand that with every word of warning and of judgment from His lips, they were hearing God's warning and verdict.