Verses 1-6
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Notice Jesus’ calm and patience. He did not feel the need to answer those who challenged Him hastily. He thought before He spoke, and was confident in His answer.
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Be patient under provocation. If people are challenging you, think, and don’t act too quickly. Speak with wisdom, and not hastily. Wise speech is never hasty or impulsive.
Verses 7-9
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Be merciful to the sins of others because we all have received mercy from God for our own sins.
Verses 10-12
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Because Christ took our sins to the cross, God can forgive us. But now that we are forgiven, our task is to go and sin no more. Make it your pursuit to "sin no more", not to excuse sinning sometimes because you think you have grace. Honor God’s forgiveness by continuing your repentance - turning away from sin permanently.
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God’s forgiveness is power to stop your sins (2 Peter 1:9), not an excuse to continue in them.
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Jesus finished by stating that because He is the light of the world, we will be walking in the light when we follow Him.
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Someone following Jesus cannot stay in the darkness of sin. Rather, following Jesus naturally pulls you into the light of repentance and upright living. One cannot continue to practice sin if they are truly following Christ. Christ will drive out their sin like light expels darkness.
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Verses 13-20
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Jesus and the Father together stood as two witnesses of Christ’s authority. But even if Jesus stood by Himself, He says, He would still be trustworthy because He knows where He came from and where He was going—He had knowledge and confidence.
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Knowing the truth gives confidence, even when speaking without outside support.
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- Always work on building your knowledge of the Word and it will help you to be more confident in what you believe - and even when others do not stand with you. This is also helpful for drawing more people in and making you more persuasive to others.
- Verses 15-16. "I judge no one" is probably a reference to Jesus' purpose not to judge the world, but to save the world. Yet even if He did judge - something He will do when He returns - He does not act alone, but always follows the Father's will. Apply this: Do not make it your focus to judge or rebuke people, but if you must, do so with direction from God's Word, not from personal feelings.
Verses 21-27
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Jesus affirms again that He came from heaven, and that He is not a man like us. We are of the world. He is not. We cannot go to heaven, like He, because of our sins. Sin prevents from entering the kingdom.
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Therefore He says, “if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” The added “He” is not present in the original Greek.
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Jesus is telling us that we must believe that He is not of this world and that He is the I AM. Only by belief in Him is sin forgiven, so that we are not prevented from entering the kingdom of heaven.
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Understand that believing that Jesus is God is important for proper belief in Jesus. This is critical to the gospel.
Verses 28-29
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When Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, His identity was made clear to everyone. How so?
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If only God raises the dead, and He had power to raise Himself, that makes Him God. See John 2:19, John 10:18.
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Verse 29. Notice that Jesus said the Father never left Him alone because He always did what pleased the Father.
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Understand that when we sin, we act alone. But when we do what pleases God, God is closest to us. Know that you will experience the most closeness with God as you walk obediently (Psalm 24:3-4, James 4:8). Make it your purpose simply to please God.
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Verses 30-32
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Even though many believed in Him in this moment, Jesus reminded them to truly follow His Word, not merely to believe.
Following the truth of the Word saves us—not just an intellectual belief in the person of Jesus.-
As it is written, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
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Verses 33-47
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Verses 33-35. A slave of sin is someone who simply commits sin. If Jesus makes us "free indeed" (not a slave to sin any longer) then by following Christ truly we will be made over time to "sin no more" - to no longer "commit sin". For if we still commit sin the same way we always did, we are yet slaves, whereas Jesus came to set us free.
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These Jews had some belief in Jesus at first, and they put their confidence in the claim that Abraham was their father, and that God was their Father. But Jesus showed them that their actions proved who they really were, not their claims.
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In their actions, they were rejecting Jesus’ teachings and even thought to kill Him. By claiming to agree with God, while rejecting Jesus, they were liars. And by thinking to kill Jesus for His words, they were murderers. As such, they were of the devil—the ultimate liar and murderer—and not of God.
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Satan speaks a lie from "his own resources". When we believe a lie, we are simply believing our own thoughts and opinions instead of the truth of the Word.
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Whoever's desires we follow is the one whom we've made our father. Seek to do what God desires, and you are making God your father. Seek to do what the devil desires, and you are making the devil your father.
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The main point is this: People are known by their actions, not their claimed beliefs.
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Do not think that someone is okay just because they say that they believe in Jesus. Expose the hypocrisy of their actions and teach them that they must follow all of Jesus’ words if they will be His disciples and be saved by Him.
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Verses 48-59
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After all these words, these Jews change their minds and are now saying that Jesus is demon-possessed! Did they not believe in Him a moment ago (verse 30)?
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But Jesus remains confident. He knows that He is from God, honors God, and glorifies God. And He knows that He comes to save people from the spiritual death of going to hell for their sins.
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Understand that when you know you are walking in obedience to God, you will have great boldness and will not be concerned about what others accuse you of.
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Jesus knew that Abraham and the prophets of old believed in Him by seeing and anticipating His existence and His future coming. How?
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Verse 58. Jesus has always existed; He is eternal. Here He hints that He is God, in few words, by claiming the name, “I AM”—a name reserved only for God (Exodus 3:14).
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This is another great verse to use to show that Jesus both is and said that He was God.
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Verse 59. In a single conversation with Jesus, people that started out believing in Him ended up trying to murder Him.
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Again, truth exposes people’s hearts. And if you want to know whether people truly stand with Christ, speak the truth!