Chapter Eight
Jn. 8:1. And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Jn. 8:2. And in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him. He sat down and taught them.
Jn. 8:3. The scribes and Pharisees then brought to Him a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst,
Jn. 8:4. They said to Him: Teacher! this woman was caught in adultery;
Jn. 8:5. Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such women: what do You say?
Jn. 8:6. They said this, testing Him, that they might find something to accuse Him of. But Jesus, stooping down, wrote with His finger on the ground, paying no attention to them.
Jn. 8:7. When they continued asking Him, He straightened up and said to them: let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.
Jn. 8:8. And again, stooping down, He wrote on the ground.
Jn. 8:9. But they, having heard this and being convicted by their conscience, began to go out one by one, beginning from the eldest to the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Jn. 8:10. Jesus, straightening up and seeing no one except the woman, said to her: Woman! Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?
Jn. 8:11. She answered: no one, Lord. Jesus said to her: neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.
Jn. 8:12. Again Jesus spoke to the people and said to them: I am the light of the world;
Since they constantly reproached Christ with Galilee and took Him to be one of the prophets, He shows them that He is not one of the prophets. "I," He says, "am the Light of the world, light in the proper sense, not a prophetic light, that is, incomplete and feeble, but the true light, not confined to the boundaries of Galilee or Palestine, but the Light of the world and the Master of all people. I am the One of whom the prophet said: 'I have set Thee for a light of the Gentiles' (Isa. 42:6). This saying you can also use against Nestorius. For the Lord did not say 'in Me is the light of the world,' but 'I am the light of the world.' He who was seen as Man was Himself also the Son of God and the Light of the world, and not as Nestorius idly babbled, that the Son of God dwelt in a mere man. No! The Son of Mary and of God, as has been said, was one.
Jn. 8:12. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
"Whoever follows Me," He says, "will not walk in darkness," that is, will not remain in error, but will be freed from error and darkness. By this He at once commends Nicodemus and the officers, as acting uprightly and therefore being in the light, and hints to the Pharisees that they are in error and darkness, and are secretly plotting schemes.
Jn. 8:13. Then the Pharisees said to Him: You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.
When He said "I am the light of the world," they accuse Him of bearing witness about Himself. O madness! He constantly brings forth testimonies about Himself from Scripture, yet they accuse Him of bearing witness about Himself.
Jn. 8:14. Jesus answered and said to them: Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.
Therefore He also answers them according to their craftiness. Let it be so, that I Myself bear witness of Myself. Although in reality it is not so, but I have three witnesses – My Father, My works, and the Scripture, as was also said above (John 5:33, 5:36, 5:37, 5:39). Let us suppose that I Myself bear witness of Myself. But even if I Myself bear witness of Myself, My witness is true because I know that I am the Son of God, and not a mere man, but One who comes from above, and God. How then is My witness false, when I am God, and therefore worthy of belief? God is undoubtedly worthy of belief even in witness concerning Himself. Moreover, I am also going to the true God. How then, intending to go to the True One, would I lie?
Jn. 8:15. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
"I," He says, "as God and the One who has come from above, bear witness concerning Myself the truth; but you look only at what is visible, and, since I am in the flesh, you take Me for mere flesh, and not for God and the One who has come from God."
"You judge according to the flesh," that is, erroneously. Just as one who lives according to the flesh is said to live viciously, so too of one who judges according to the flesh it must be said that he is an unrighteous judge.
Jn. 8:16. And if I judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me.
Then, as if someone were to say: "If we Jews judge unjustly, then why do You not punish, why do You not condemn?" He says: "I did not come for the purpose of judging. I now judge no one; and if I do judge, My judgment is true, and if I wished to judge, you would be condemned. But now you remain without condemnation not because I supposedly cannot condemn you, but because now is not the time, since the condemnation upon you I am reserving until the Second Coming."