Who Is He?

The tension was growing. His own brothers were embarrassed of him and didn’t believe him. Jesus was keeping his ministry quiet to wait for the right time. The religious leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus but wanted to discredit him first. They were looking for the Christ but he was not what they had in mind. Who is he?

Therefore many from the crowd… said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.”

The religion of the Pharisees had blinded them to the very truth standing in front of them. They tried many times to catch Jesus in situations to taint or destroy his reputation with the people. Now they think they have him for sure. The scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. Here is Jesus’ dilemma. Old Testament says that she should be put to death, but Roman law says, as a Jew, you cannot use capital punishment. So, they bring this woman to him and say, “Now, what are you going to do?” They really think they have him now. Jesus bent down and wrote in the sand. Don’t we all want to know what he was writing? I have heard several different opinions but there is no proof of what is true. He is just perfect!! This is his response:

“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

How easy is it to identify with the woman who is being accused and how easy is it to identify with those who want to throw stones but can we identify with the forgiving heart of Jesus? One by one the accusers walked away in conviction and Jesus stood up and asked, the woman where were her accusers. Finding that they had gone Jesus told her to go and sin no more.




The Pharisees also tried to invalidate him by saying his claims were legally faulty because he had no other witness. This is a part I love because Jesus tells them that he has a witness. He told them that he bears witness of himself and the Father bears witness of him. They just did not understand. It is difficult to understand but the truth is we are not supposed to comprehend God. It is impossible. Jesus said,

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Jesus also tells them that because they are not of God they do not believe him.
The last part of chapter eight really gets intense because the religious leaders were trying to make Jesus out to be a crazy man with a demon. Everything Jesus said was way over their head. They could not see past their pride and arrogance. John 8:58 is a verse that to this day divides people. Either you believe Jesus is who he says he is or you believe he is a crazy man. The problem is that people ignore the fact that Jesus claimed to be “I Am” and move on to say that he was a good teacher and maybe a prophet or even JUST the son of God (like a god but not worthy of worship). The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the deity of Christ and even have their bible translated to reflect their theology. Millions of people are deceived. What do you think made those people so mad? Right after Jesus said “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” they picked up stones to throw at him. To be a follower of Christ is not a life of comfort and/or painless. If you love Jesus people will hate you. Jesus said they hated him first.