John • The passed-over passages 10 • Jesus talks about truth
- Steve Schott
- Oct 28
- 9 min read
► Previously in John we looked at the 7 signs recorded, and referenced in John 20:30-31, where it says
30Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
► We also explored the 7 "I AM" statements that do not always correspond to the signs, but also add definition to the nature and purposes of Jesus.
► Links to all of these posts can be found at the end of this posting
► Now I'm going to turn my attention to what I call the "passed-over" passages, Those passages from chapter 1 to chapter 12 which I haven't previously dealt with.
► After that we'll deal with chapters 13 to 19, which I call "the end of it all". These chapters deal with a single 24-hour period, that starts with the last supper in the upper room, and takes us all the way to the cross and the tomb.
► And then we'll end with chapters 20 and 21 that I call "the new beginning".
► When I previously covered parts of chapter 8, specifically when Jesus refers to Himself as the "Light of the World", I skipped over these two passages. At the time, the passage I was covering was so large, that I wanted to focus particularly on that topic. But mixed in the middle of that are a couple of additional sections dealing with truth.
The truth will set you free → John 8:31 to 38
John 8:31-38 → 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”
► In the midst of Jesus dialogue in chapter 8, where He said "I AM the Light of the World", which by the way was followed up in chapter nine with Jesus healing the man born blind, He also had these two exchanges with the people that I wanted to deal with separately so they wouldn't be lost amongst so much other information.
► 8:31 →"those Jews who had believed Him" → indicating that His comments were being addressed, at least here, to those already believing in Him. When He told them "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;...", He wasn't saying that their salvation was based on continuing to obey. What He was saying was that the "proof" of their belief would be validated by their ongoing attachment to Jesus. The word "then", which is italicized in most versions of the Bible, is not actually in the original Greek NT text. The choice by translators to use that particular connecting word can lead someone to think that you can only be a true disciple of Jesus AFTER you have proven yourself by "continuing".
• Having a relationship with Jesus is a 2 part process. The 1st is to be saved. Coming to Jesus in faith, trusting Him that what He did on the cross is sufficient to save us from our sins.
• BUT, the 2nd part is what is called "sanctification", which is a big theological word, which basically means the process of becoming holy, or being set apart.
• Part 1 is like birth. God brings you to a point of a new birth - salvation. A distinctive moment when you become one with the Creator of the universe.
• Part 2 is like growing. After your birth, you continue to grow and change as you develop toward adulthood. A constant movement toward maturity - sanctification.
► 8:32 → "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." I can't tell you how many times I've heard this quoted in books and movies.
• Taken all by itself, it can convey the idea, that if you just know the truth you will have freedom.
• It's a great sentiment, but it's taken out of context. Nothing wrong with freedom. Nothing wrong with truth. But hey gang, you can't claim the value of verse 32 WITHOUT including the caveat of verse 31.
• The attainment of that freedom producing truth, is based on being a disciple of Jesus, which is evidenced by a consistent pattern of following the word of Jesus.
• There's a phrase I've seen on T-shirts that really is true...
> Know Jesus, know truth - No Jesus, no truth.
• It's a simple formula. If you want to know the truth, you have to know the Giver of truth - Jesus.
► 8:33 → The people respond to Jesus' implication that they are not free by saying "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone;...". This is not true.
• They have totally forgotten the slavery Israel endured during the time after Joseph died, 400 years in Egypt.
• They've totally forgotten being subjugated by the Greeks in the inter-testamental period.
• And they've totally forgotten their current oppression under Rome.
► 8:34 → Jesus turned the dialogue from physical slavery to a spiritual one by stating "everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." He's trying to get them to think beyond their day-to-day experiences and think with eternity in mind. He also is now appealing to each person's personal existence, instead of the collective national one.
► 8:35 → In this verse Jesus is contrasting slavery with being a son.
► 8:36 → Jesus tells them that true freedom comes from THE Son, obviously referring to Himself.
► 8:37 → He then acknowledges their descendancy from Abraham, but also that instead of acknowledging Jesus for who He really is, that they want to kill him.
• Based on the conversation at this point, it is leaning toward the idea that these "believers", as they are described in V31, are not true believers, at least not when it comes to having faith in Jesus.
► 8:38 → "My Father;... your father." Jesus here is comparing that Jesus is doing the will of God, His Father, while telling them they are obeying THEIR father, which later in the text (v44) He says in the devil.
• We jump now over John 8:39-47, where there is continued dialogue about being children of Abraham. Jesus points out to them that they are children of the devil rather than children of Abraham. They, in turn, apparently being aware of Jesus' mother being pregnant before she was married to Joseph, call Him illegitimate.
If anyone keeps My word he will never see death → John 8:48 to 55
John 8:48-55 → 48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ 53 Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
► 8:48 → The people, in response to Jesus' assertation of their demonic heritage, put that claim back on Jesus, and to go a step further, calling Him "a Samaritan", which in essence is saying that not only is He not a Jew, He's a member of the clan the Jews most hate.
► 8:49 → Jesus attesting that he is NOT of the devil, but that He honors God, and is also being dishonored by them.
► 8:50 → Jesus also mentioning that He doesn't seek His own glory, but that God seeks His glory, and also judges them.
► 8:51 → Jesus here comes back to the idea of keeping "My word" that He had also mentioned in 8:31. "If anyone keeps My word he will never see death."
► 8:52 → The Jews immediately react to that statement, affirming their claim that He is demon possessed. Basically stating that everyone dies, so how can Jesus promise anything otherwise.
► 8:53 → Asking Jesus if He is "greater than our father Abraham, who died?" and also "whom do You make Yourself out to be?". Both very good questions, the answers of which they are not ready to hear.
► 8:54 → Jesus telling them that it is God "who glorifies Me...".
► 8:55 → Jesus also telling them that they do not really know the God that He knows. And also that if He said He didn't know God, He'd be a liar like they are.
So what?
► So there is a lot of back and forth dialogue about who is who's father (Abraham, God) and who's really a Jew and who's not.
► But from Jesus' perspective, the key to being in a right relationship with God, that of being God's child, is to keep Jesus' word.
► The two key factors, given by Jesus in regards to keeping His word are this...
1st → that by keeping His word, and showing that they are true disciples, that they will know the truth, and be set free by it. Not physical freedom necessarily, but spiritual freedom. That of being free from sin and it's disastrous results.
2nd → that by keeping His word, and assuming that word has set us free (1st point), that it now also provides eternal life. The end result of having received the truth of God into our lives, is that we will also receive forgiveness, opening us up to experience the blessings of heaven.
► So my challenge to all of us is to carefully examine the claims of Christ - and to receive Him as our Savior and Lord. In doing so, we will know the truth, and be set free (from sin) and be given eternal life.
The Signs
The "I AM" Statements
► I AM #5 • I AM the Resurrection and the Life - Jesus is the SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE → John 11:24-27
► I AM #6 • I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life - Jesus is THE WAY TO THE FATHER → John 14:1-6
Comparison between the 7 signs & the 7 "I AM" Statements
Photo • 2025/10/24 - double rainbow in Portland, OR.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org”
All linked verses are from the YouVersion at www.Bible.com
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