John 8:12-47

¹²Jesus spoke again to the people, telling them, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me you won't walk in darkness for you will have the life-giving light.”

¹³The Pharisees replied, “You can't be your own witness! What you say doesn't prove anything!”

¹⁴“Even if I am my own witness, my testimony is true,” Jesus told them, “for I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you don't know where I came from or where I'm going.

¹⁵You judge in a typically human way, but I don't judge anyone.

¹⁶Even if I did judge, my judgment would be right because I am not doing this alone. The Father who sent me is with me.

¹⁷Your own law states that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.

¹⁸I am my own witness, and my other witness is my Father who sent me.”

¹⁹“Where is your father?” they asked him. “You don't know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me then you would know my Father as well.”

²⁰Jesus explained this while he was teaching near the Temple treasury. Yet no one arrested him because his time had not yet come.

²¹Jesus told them again, “I'm leaving, and you'll search for me, but you'll die in your sin. You can't come where I'm going.”

²²The Jews wondered out loud, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says ‘You can't come where I'm going’?”

²³Jesus told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴That is why I told you that you'll die in your sins. For if you don't trust in me, the ‘I am,’ you'll die in your sins.”

²⁵Then they asked him, “Who are you?” “Exactly who I told you I was from the beginning,” Jesus replied.

²⁶“There's much I could say about you, and much I could condemn. But the one who sent me tells the truth, and what I'm saying to you here in this world is what I heard from him.”

²⁷They didn't understand that he was talking to them about the Father. So Jesus explained to them:

²⁸“When you have lifted up the Son of man then you'll know that I am the ‘I am,’ and that I do nothing of myself, but only say what the Father taught me.

²⁹The one who sent me is with me; he has not abandoned me, for I always do what pleases him.”

³⁰Many who heard Jesus say these things put their trust in him.

³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who trusted in him, “If you follow my teaching then you really are my disciples.

³²You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We're descendants of Abraham! We've never been slaves to anyone,” they answered. “How can you say that we'll be set free?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.

³⁵A slave doesn't have a permanent place in the family, but the son is part of the family forever.

³⁶If the Son sets you free, then you're truly free.

³⁷I know you're Abraham's descendants, yet you're trying to kill me because you refuse to accept my words.

³⁸I'm telling you what the Father has revealed to me, while you do what your father told you.”

³⁹“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you really were children of Abraham, you'd do what Abraham did,” Jesus told them.

⁴⁰“But you are trying to kill me now, because I told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham would never have done that.

⁴¹You're doing what your father does.” “Well we are not illegitimate,” they responded. “God alone is our father!”

⁴²Jesus replied, “If God really was your father, you would love me. I came from God and now I am here. The decision to come wasn't mine, but the one who sent me.

⁴³Why can't you understand what I'm saying? It's because you refuse to hear my message!

⁴⁴Your father is the Devil, and you love to follow your father's evil desires. He was a murderer from the beginning. He never stood for the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he reveals his true character, for he's a liar and the father of lies.

⁴⁵So because I tell you the truth, you don't believe me!

⁴⁶Can any one of you prove that I'm guilty of sin? If I'm telling you the truth, why don't you believe me?

⁴⁷Anyone who belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you don't listen is because you don't belong to God.”