John 8:14-50

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Even if I were the only one to say these things about myself, what I say is true, because I know that I came from heaven, and I know that I am going back to heaven. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.

¹⁵You judge people according to human standards. The reason that I am here is not ◄to condemn people/to say that I will punish people► for their sins.

¹⁶But if I did judge people, what I decided would be correct, because I am not the only one who will decide those things. I and the one who sent me will both decide.

¹⁷It is written { Moses wrote} in your law that if at least two people testify that some event has happened, people should consider that what they say is true.

¹⁸I am telling you about myself, and the other one who is telling you about me is my Father who sent me. So you should believe that what we declare is true.”

¹⁹Then they asked him, “ If you have a father whom we can question about you, where is he?” Jesus replied, “You do not know who I really am. If you knew who I really am, you would know who my Father is also.”

²⁰He said these things when he was in the Temple courtyard, near the place where the people put their offerings. This was also very close to the place where the Jewish council met. But no one seized him to arrest him, because it was not yet time MTY for him to suffer and die.

²¹Jesus also said to them, “I will soon be going away. Then at the end of your life you will seek me, but you will die without God forgiving your sins. Where I will go, you will not be able to come.”

²²So the Jewish leaders said among themselves, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that the reason that he said, ‘Where I go, you will not be able to come’?”

²³But Jesus continued by saying to them, “You were born here in this world, but I came from heaven. You belong to those who are opposed to God MTY. I do not belong to them.

²⁴I told you that you will die without God forgiving your sins. If you do not believe that I am who I say that I am, you will die without God forgiving your sins.”

²⁵So they said to him, “You! Who do you think you are?” Jesus said to them, “Ever since I began teaching, I have been telling you who I am!

²⁶I could judge you and say that you are guilty of many things. But instead, I will say only what the one who sent me tells me to say. What he says is true, and I tell the people in the world MTY what I have heard from him.”

²⁷They did not understand that he was talking about his Father in heaven.

²⁸So Jesus said, “I am the one who came down from heaven, but when you lift me up on a cross to kill me, you will know who I am. You will also know that I do not do anything with my own authority. Instead, I say just what my Father has taught me.

²⁹He is the one who sent me, and he helps me. Because I always do the things that please him, he has never abandoned me.”

³⁰As Jesus was saying these things, many people believed that he was ◄ from God/the Messiah►.

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who now said they believed in him, “If you continue to live in accordance with my message, you will truly be my disciples.

³²Then you will know God's truth, and as a result of your believing his truth, he PRS will free you from being controlled by the one who has made you his slaves.”

³³They replied to him, “We are descendants of Abraham. We have never been anyone's slaves. So why do you say we will be freed from being someone's slaves?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Listen carefully to what I am going to tell you. All those who continue to sin are forced to obey their sinful desires MET, just like a slave is forced to obey his master.

³⁵A slave is not a permanent member of a family. But a son is a member of a family forever. Similarly, you say you are members of God's family because you are descendants of Abraham, but really, because you are like slaves of your sinful desires, you are no longer permanent members of God's family.

³⁶So if you allow me to free you, you will truly be free.

³⁷I know that you are Abraham's descendants. But you are trying to kill me because you are not allowing PRS my message to continue to change your inner being.

³⁸I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you do the things that you have heard from your father.”

³⁹They replied to him, “Abraham is our ancestor.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's descendants, your character would be like Abraham's character, and you would do good things like Abraham did.

⁴⁰I have been telling you the truth that I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did not do things like that.

⁴¹No! You are doing the things that your real father does.” They said to him, “ We do not know about you, but we are not illegitimate children. And spiritually, we have only one Father. That is God, and you do not know who your father is!”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, because I came from God, and now I have come here to this world. My coming was not ◄because I appointed myself/with my own authority►. He sent me.

⁴³◄And I will tell you why you do not understand what I say./Do you know why you do not understand what I say?► RHQ It is because you do not want to accept my message.

⁴⁴You belong to your father, ◄the devil/Satan►, and you desire to do what he wants. He has caused people to become murderers from the time when people first sinned. He has abandoned God's truth because he is a liar by his nature. Whenever he lies, he is speaking according to his nature, because he is a liar and is the one who originates MET all lies.

⁴⁵But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me!

⁴⁶Since I have never sinned, ◄none of you can show that I have sinned./can anyone among you show that I have sinned?► RHQ So, since I tell you the truth, ◄there is no good reason for your not believing me!/why is it that you do not believe me?► RHQ

⁴⁷Those who belong to God habitually obey God's message. You do not belong to God, so you do not obey his message.”

⁴⁸The Jewish leaders SYN replied to him, “◄We are certainly right by saying that you believe what is false as the Samaritans do!/Are we not right by saying that you believe what is false as the Samaritans do?► RHQ And that ◄a demon/an evil spirit► controls you!”

⁴⁹Jesus replied, “A demon does not control me! I honor my Father, and you do not honor me!

⁵⁰I am not trying to honor myself. There is someone else who desires to honor me, and he is the one who will judge whether it is I who am telling the truth or whether it is you who are telling the truth.