In this Gospel nine cases have been selected to prove that the Lord Jesus is the life and the life supply to people. The first six cases, in chs. 3—7, form a group of signs signifying that, on the positive side, the Lord is the life and the life supply to us for regenerating, satisfying, healing, enlivening, feeding, and thirst quenching. The last three cases, in chs. 8—11, form a group of signs signifying that, on the negative side, the Lord is life to us to deliver us from the three main negative things: sin, blindness, and death.

The case in this chapter reveals all the matters related to the problem of sin:
1) the source of sin — the devil;
2) the three main items of sin — adultery and fornication, murder, and lies (vv. 3, 41, 44);
3) the bondage, or slavery, of sin;
4) the issue, or result, of sin — death;
5) the One who is without sin — the Lord;
6) the One who is qualified to condemn sin — the Lord;
7) the One who is qualified to forgive sin — the Lord;
8) the One who is able to set people free from sin — the Lord. The Lord is the ever-existing God, the great I Am, who became the Son of Man and was lifted up on the cross to bear our sins; hence, He is qualified to forgive our sins. Furthermore, the Lord, being the eternal God, can come into us to be life and light to deliver us from the bondage and darkness of sin.

The case in this chapter shows also that the religion (represented by the temple — vv. 2, 20) of law (vv. 5, 17) cannot set people free from sin and death; but the Lord Jesus, the I Am, who became the Son of Man and was lifted up on the cross for the serpent-poisoned people, can do what religion and law cannot do. This chapter shows us that Christ, the great I Am, not only is versus sin and death but also is versus religion and law.

Their question here, like those in John 4:20-25 and John 9:2-3, was a matter of yes or no, which belongs to the tree of knowledge, the result of which is death (Gen. 2:17). But the Lord's answer in v. 7 pointed them to Himself, the One who is the tree of life, which results in life (Gen. 2:9).

The Lord Jesus' stooping down was a sign done to humble and calm the proud and self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. It might be that He was writing, "Who among you is without sin?"

Or, Sir.

The scribes and Pharisees could not condemn the woman, because they were all sinful. Only the Lord Jesus was without sin, and only He was qualified to condemn the woman; but He would not.

The light of life (John 1:4) shines within man by the inner sense of life to deliver man from sin.

Or, condemn.

This proves that when the Son was on the earth, the Father was with Him on the earth. The Father can never be separated from the Son, and the Son can never be separated from the Father. When the Son was on the earth, He was still in heaven with the Father (John 3:13). This proves that when God became flesh (John 1:14), it was the Son with the Father, the Father with the Son, in the Spirit (that is, the entire God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit) who became flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). See also v. 29.

From and of are the same word in Greek.

From and of are the same word in Greek.

I am (vv. 28, 58) is the meaning of the name Jehovah (Exo. 3:14), and Jehovah is the name of God (Gen. 2:7), the One who is and who was and who is coming, the self-existing and ever-existing One (Rev. 1:4; Exo. 3:14-15). This name is used in speaking of God in His relationship with man. Hence, it indicates that the Lord is the ever-existing God who has a relationship with man. Any man who does not believe that the Lord is this very God will die in his sins.

The Lord's speaking reveals what He is, in particular His eternal divinity, as the I Am spoken of in the foregoing verse. This is the basic element revealed in the Lord's word.

The phrase lift (or lifted ) up is used also in John 3:14 and John 12:31-34. In 3:14 the Lord as the Son of Man was to be lifted up in the form of the serpent to bear the judgment of God for the serpent-poisoned people. In 12:31-34 the Lord as the Son of Man was to be lifted up for the casting out of the old serpent, Satan, the ruler of the world. Hence, in this chapter the Lord, as the Son of Man lifted up, can deliver the serpent-poisoned people from sin, the serpent's poison.

In Greek the same as reality in John 1:14, 17. The truth is not the so-called truth of doctrine but the reality of the divine things, which is the Lord Himself (see note John 14:6^2a; John 1:14, 17). This verse says "that the truth shall set you free," whereas v. 36 says that "the Son sets you free." This proves that the Son, the Lord Himself, is the truth. Since the Lord is the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9), He is the reality of what God is. Hence, reality is the very divine element of God realized by us. When the Lord as the great I Am comes into us as life, He shines within us as light, bringing the divine element as reality into us. This reality, which is the divine element imparted into us and realized by us, sets us free from the bondage of sin by the divine life as the light of man. When the Lord as the Word of God became flesh (John 1:14), He brought God to us as this reality, that God might be the grace for our enjoyment (John 1:17).

See note John 1:6¹.

Because the devil is the father of sinners, sinners are the children of the devil (1 John 3:10). The devil is the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), and sinners also are serpents, the generation of vipers (Matt. 23:33; 3:7). Hence, they need the Lord in the form of the serpent to be lifted up for them on the cross (John 3:14) to save them not only from sin but also from the source of sin, the devil (Heb. 2:14).

The Lord's word here revealed that in the devil, the father of lies, there is a particular wicked thing that caused him to become the source of sin. This thing is something of his own, his private possession, and it is something that other creatures do not have.

Or, father of lies. Since the devil is the father of liars, he is the source of sin. The divine element of God, working as life and light within man, sets man free from the slavery of sin. But the evil element of the devil, working as sin through death and darkness within man, enslaves man to sin. The devil's nature is a lie and brings in death and darkness. With darkness is falsehood, the opposite of the truth.

See note John 6:63³.

In the principle set forth in ch. 2, this also is the changing of death into life.

In this verse two Greek words are used for know: the first denotes the outward, objective knowledge; the second refers to the inward, subjective consciousness. The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees that they had not known God the Father, even in the outward, objective knowledge, but that He knew the Father in the inward, subjective consciousness.

The Lord as the great I Am is the eternal, ever-existing God. Hence, He was before Abraham and is greater than Abraham (v. 53).