We skipped the woman taken in adultery, but that (true) story will be next up.
The rest of chapter 8 is a continuation of Jesus’ discourse and debate at the Feast of Booths.
* How do you suppose the crowd reacted to Jesus’ dialogue with the Pharisees?
* Why would the Pharisees refuse to believe? Was it really because Jesus was from Galilee?
* Were the Pharisees aware of their own motivations? Are they different from most of us that way?
* Read —
(Lev 24:16 ESV) 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
Jesus surely knew of this command. Why risk death by claiming to be God in a place where the Pharisees held so much power?
* Those Jews who did not believe in Jesus did believe in God, and yet Jesus says they’re damned. Why? Why isn’t faith in God good enough?
* If we’re like whomever we worship, what kind of god did the Pharisees worship?
* Jesus said,
(John 8:32b ESV) “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
He later explains that “free” means free from sin. What does that mean?
* You’ll recall from the Creation 2.0 series that we can define “sin” as diverging from the image of God. That is, when we are unlike God’s image, we sin.
If this is so, then what would we be like if we were free from sin?
* What kind of relationship with God would we enjoy if we were truly free from sin?
* How does believing in (being faithful to, trusting) Jesus reshape us into the image of Jesus?
* Recall Jesus’ teaching in chapter 3 to the Samaritan woman and in 7:37 about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit produces salvation — which is pretty much the same as forgiveness of sins, right? How does the Spirit shape us into the image of Jesus?
