John 8:28–59

²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that I am he. You will know that these things I do are not by my own authority but that I say only what the Father has taught me. ²⁹The One who sent me is with me. I always do what is pleasing to him, so he has not left me alone.” ³⁰While Jesus was saying these things, many people believed in him.

Freedom from Sin

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

³³They answered, “We are Abraham’s children, and we have never been anyone’s slaves. So why do you say we will be free?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, everyone who lives in sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵A slave does not stay with a family forever, but a son belongs to the family forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be truly free. ³⁷I know you are Abraham’s children, but you want to kill me because you don’t accept my teaching. ³⁸I am telling you what my Father has shown me, but you do what your father has told you.”

³⁹They answered, “Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s children, you would do ⁿ the things Abraham did. ⁴⁰I am a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. ⁴¹So you are doing the things your own father did.”

But they said, “We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father; he is the only Father we have.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were really your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority; God sent me. ⁴³You don’t understand what I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. ⁴⁴You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and was against the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he shows what he is really like, because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I speak the truth, you don’t believe me. ⁴⁶Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷The person who belongs to God accepts what God says. But you don’t accept what God says, because you don’t belong to God.”

Jesus Is Greater than Abraham

⁴⁸They answered, “We say you are a Samaritan and have a demon in you. Are we not right?”

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I have no demon in me. I give honor to my Father, but you dishonor me. ⁵⁰I am not trying to get honor for myself. There is One who wants this honor for me, and he is the judge. ⁵¹I tell you the truth, whoever obeys my teaching will never die.”

⁵²They said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon in you! Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching will never die.’ ⁵³Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died, too. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I give honor to myself, that honor is worth nothing. The One who gives me honor is my Father, and you say he is your God. ⁵⁵You don’t really know him, but I know him. If I said I did not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey what he says. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham was very happy that he would see my day. He saw that day and was glad.”

⁵⁷They said to him, “You have never seen Abraham! You are not even fifty years old.”

⁵⁸Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” ⁵⁹When Jesus said this, the people picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself, and then he left the Temple.