#14: “Jesus Teaches About Light and Truth”
SCRIPTURE: John 8:12-38
INTRO:
I’m sure some of you are saying, “Larry, you left out the part about the
woman caught in adultery. You left out the first eleven verses of this chapter 8.”
If that’s the case, then I will say, “You’re right. I did leave out verses 1 through
11 of chapter 8, and I’ll tell you why.
For the accuracy of the Scripture text, we must rely on the oldest copies
of Scripture that we have. The fact is the earliest and best Greek manuscripts
don’t contain verses 7:53 through 8:11. Other evidence comes from the fact that
none of the early church fathers who wrote in Greek commented on this
passage. In other words, they wrote as if it didn’t exist. Other recent
manuscript discoveries do not contain verses 7:53 through 8:11. What’s more,
in many of the late Greek manuscripts which include the story of the adulterous
woman the account varies so much in wording that there are at least sixty
different readings. In addition, the account occurs in various locations, such as
after John 7:36, after 21:24, and after Luke 21:38. The conclusion is that these
verses were added by some well-meaning scribe sometime after the 9th century.
So, while it’s an interesting story, it can’t be taken as descriptive of
something that actually happened. So, our study today will begin with John
8:12.
Jesus is still in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths. He has been
teaching that He has “living water” to give. Now He begins to teach that He is
the “light of the world.”