Gospel of Saint John, Chapter 8, a chapter of sin… and freedom proposed, almost explained but certainly guaranteed!
Jesus: “I go and you will seek me, and in your sin you will die. Where I go you cannot come.”
Jesus: “You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sin.”
Jesus: “Neither will I condemn thee. Go thy way, and from now on sin no more.”
Jesus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits a sin is a slave of sin… I speak what I have seen with the Father; and you do what you have seen with your father.”
Ironically, suicidal sin is referenced here in this chapter of the Bible in terms of Jesus possibly taking his own life. This is new to me as the only talk of suicide I was aware of previously in the Bible was that of Judas Iscariot, the disciple of Christ who took his life after betraying Jesus. And, oh yes, those sheep that ran off the cliff to their deaths in the ocean below after Jesus exorcised demons from them. Perhaps suicidal death of devils is not sin?
The Jews therefore kept saying, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”
Is the worse sin of all suicide? I don’t know, not mine to judge but like a natural death there is isolation with suicide and no more human ability to interact, to love one another as we know love to be. Perhaps the worse sin of all is a self-inflicted sense of isolation, while we are still living, with no love present either in the giving or the receiving. That would be and is tragic for so many people, myself included at desperate, thankfully brief moments in my life. Let desperation pass and let your recovery and return back to a full life begin with you as the song ‘Let there be peace on earth’ I sung as a child rings true to me—“and let it begin with me…” Make peace with yourself, please!
Want to come out of isolation? Jesus, himself could do nothing, accomplish nothing, without his relationship to God, his Father. Not only can we emerge from isolation, it is possible, very probable, 100% guaranteed with Christ that we will never be alone again in this world or the next.
Jesus: “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that of myself I do nothing; but that I preach only what the Father has taught me. And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to him.”
Jesus: “If you will abide in my word, you shall be my disciple indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Key point being that we must abide in the word, the Bible.
Jesus: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me does not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” Key point is that we have a right, an innate right, to live a life of light. So get plugged in and live a life of brightness and prosperity!
There is a light of life, we all are all Sinners but can sin no more with Christ’s redemption… there is freedom now and eternally ahead!
Day 92: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Light of Life, We are all Sinners but Sin No More… There is Freedom Ahead!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint John Chapter 8.
Bible Notes:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John
Saint John, the disciple and Apostle whom Jesus loved, was the brother of James and the son of the fisherman Zebedee and Salome.
First a disciple of John the Baptist, he was called to follow Christ.
The purpose of his Gospel he states as follows: “these are written that you may believe the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing you may have life in his name.”
John Chapter 8: An adulteress brought to Jesus; Her accusers leave; Jesus tells her to sin no more; Christ, the light of the world; His testimony is true; Necessity of belief in Jesus; He is the Son of God; The Jews claim descent from Abraham; They are slaves to sin; They do nit the works of Abraham; The are the children of the devil; The Jews claim Christ has a devil; Christ is from eternity.
Scribes & Pharisees: “Master, this woman has just now been caught in adultery. And in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such persons. What therefore, dost thou say?”
Jesus: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
But hearing this, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest.
Jesus: “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned thee?”
Woman: “No one, Lord.”
Jesus: “Neither will I condemn thee. Go thy way, and from now on sin no more.”
Jesus: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me does not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Pharisees: “Thou bearest witness to thyself. Thy witness is not true.”
Jesus: “Even if I hear witness to myself, my witness is true, because I know where I came from and where I go. But you do not know where I came from or where I go. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And even if I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but with me is he who sent me, the Father. And in your Law it is written that the witness of two persons is true. It is I who bear witness to myself, and he who sent me, the Father, bears witness to me.”
Pharisees: “Where is thy father?”
Jesus: “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would then know my Father also.”
And no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Jesus: “I go and you will seek me, and in your sin you will die. Where I go you cannot come.”
The Jews therefore kept saying, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”
Jesus: “You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sin.”
Pharisees/Jews: “Who art thou?”
Jesus: “Why do I speak to you at all! I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you; but he who sent me is true, and the things that I heard from him, these I speak to the World.”
Jesus: “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that of myself I do nothing; but that I preach only what the Father has taught me. And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to him.”
Jesus: “If you will abide in my word, you shall be my disciple indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Jews: “We are children of Abraham, and we have never yet been slaves to anyone. How sayest thou, ‘You shall be free.’
Jesus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits a sin is a slave of sin. But the slave does not abide in the house forever; the son abides there forever. If therefore the son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are the children of Abraham; but you seek to kill me because my word takes no hold among you. I speak what I have seen with the Father; and you do what you have seen with your father.”
Jews: “We have not been born of fornication; we have one Father, God.”
Jesus: “If God were your Father, you would surely love me. For from God I came forth and have come; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot listen to my word. The father from whom you are is the devil, and the desires of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie he speaks from his very nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth you do not believe me. He who is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear is that you are not of God.”
Jews: “Are we not right in saying that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”
Jesus: “I have not a devil, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks and who judges. Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keep my word, he will never see death.”
Jews: “Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and thou sayest, ‘If anyone keep my word he will never taste death.’ Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who dost thou make thyself?
Jesus: “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is your God. And you do not know him, but I know him. And if I say that I do not know him, I shall be like you, a liar. But I know him, and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced that he was to see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Jews: “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am.
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