But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Very early in the morning, he went to the temple again, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle, and they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.+Lev 20:10 What then do you say?” They said this to test him, so they would have something to accuse him of.
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. When they kept on asking him, he looked up and said to them, “Whoever is sinless among y’all can throw the first stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
When they heard this, they departed one by one, beginning with the oldest until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing in the middle. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, sin no more.”]
I Am #2: The Light of the World
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world.+Isa 60:1 Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going. But y’all don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. Y’all judge according to the flesh. I am not judging anyone. Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. It is also written in y’all’s law that the testimony of two humans is true.+Deut 17:6 I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
So they asked him, “Where is your Father?”
Jesus answered, “Y’all know neither me nor my Father. If y’all knew me, you would know my Father also.” Jesus spoke these words near the offering box as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
So Jesus told them again, “I am going away, and y’all will seek me, and y’all will die in your* sins. Where I am going, y’all can’t come.”
Then the Jews said, “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, y’all can’t come’?”
He said to them, “Y’all are from below; I am from above. Y’all are of this world; I am not of this world. I told y’all that y’all will die in y’all’s sins, because unless y’all believe that I am he, y’all will die in y’all’s sins.”
Then they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to y’all from the beginning. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning y’all. However, ʜᴇ who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from ʜɪᴍ I say to the world.”
They didn’t understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Humanity, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but I speak the things the Father has taught me. Hᴇ who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to ʜɪᴍ.”
As he spoke these things, many believed in him.
The Truth Will Set You Free
So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, “If y’all remain in my word, then y’all are truly my disciples. Then y’all will know the truth, and the truth will set y’all free.”
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, ‘Y’all will be set free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly I tell y’all, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave doesn’t live in the house forever, but a son remains forever. So if the Son sets y’all free, y’all will be free indeed. I know that y’all are Abraham’s offspring, yet y’all are seeking to kill me, because my word finds no place in y’all. I say the things which I have seen with my Father, and y’all also do the things which y’all have seen with y’all’s father.”
They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If y’all were Abraham’s children, y’all would do the works of Abraham. But now y’all are seeking to kill me, a man who has told y’all the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. Y’all do the works of y’all’s father.”
They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were y’all’s Father, y’all would love me, for I proceeded from God and am now present. I haven’t come on my own initiative, but ʜᴇ sent me. Why don’t y’all understand what I am saying? It’s because y’all are unable to hear my word.
Y’all are of your* father the devil, and y’all want to do what your* father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, y’all don’t believe me. Which of y’all can prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t y’all believe me? The one who hears the words of God is of. The reason y’all don’t hear is because y’all are not of God.”
Jesus Declares His Eternality
Then the Jews answered him, “Aren’t we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan, and are possessed by a demon?”
Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father and y’all dishonor me. I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it and judges. Very truly, I tell y’all, if anyone obeys my word, they will never see death.”
Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, they will never taste of death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. My Father, of whom y’all say, ‘Hᴇ is our God,’ glorifies me. Y’all have not known ʜɪᴍ, but I know ʜɪᴍ. If I said, ‘I don’t know ʜɪᴍ,’ I would be a liar like y’all. But I know ʜɪᴍ and keep ʜɪꜱ word. Y’all’s father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I tell y’all, before Abraham came into existence, I am.+Exo 3:14”
At this, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.