NT Lesson 67-68 John 8

 https://www.lds.org/manual/new-testament-seminary-teacher-manual?lang=eng

Lesson 67: John 8:1–30

Introduction

While the Savior was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, some scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Him who was guilty of adultery, and they asked whether she should be stoned. He confounded the accusers and showed mercy to the woman. Jesus also taught that the Father bears witness of Him.

I. John 8:1–11  A woman taken in adultery is brought before the Savior

---Invite students to think of times when they may have encountered or associated with people whose appearance or behavior was not in harmony with the Lord’s standards.

• What challenges might we face when we are with others whose appearance or behavior is not in harmony with the Lord’s standards? (Students may respond that we may be tempted to judge such individuals unrighteously or treat them unkindly.)

---Write the following question on the board:

What should we do in situations when we are with others whose appearance or behavior is not in harmony with the Lord’s standards?

---Look for truths as we study John 8:1–11 that can help answer this question.

---After the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus Christ remained in Jerusalem for a time and taught people at the temple (see John 8:1–2).

---Read John 8:3–6 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what happened as Jesus taught the people.

• What happened as Jesus taught the people?
• What question did the scribes and Pharisees ask the Savior?
• According to verse 6, what was the scribes and Pharisees’ intention? (They were seeking to discredit Jesus in front of the people and establish a reason to accuse Him because they wanted a reason to arrest Him and put Him to death [see John 7:1, 32].)

---If Jesus said to stone the woman, He would have been endorsing a penalty that was unpopular among the Jewish people and prohibited by Roman law. If Jesus said not to stone the woman, He would be accused of disregarding the law of Moses or treating the accepted practices of the past disrespectfully. (See Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:450–51.)

---Read John 8:7–8 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Savior responded.

• According to verse 7, what was Jesus’s response?
• What do you think the Savior wanted these men to realize when He said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”? (verse 7).

---Read John 8:9 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what happened as the Pharisees and scribes considered the Savior’s statement.

• What do you think the phrase “convicted by their own conscience” means?
• What did these men acknowledge by choosing to walk away?
• What truth can we learn from this account about how to avoid condemning others? (Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the following principle: Acknowledging our own imperfections can help us avoid condemning others. Write this principle under the question on the board.)
• How do you think acknowledging our own imperfections helps us avoid condemning others?

---Remind students that this woman was guilty of adultery, which is an extremely serious sin (see Alma 39:3–5).

• What feelings do you think this woman may have had as her sin was exposed to Jesus and a large crowd of people?

---Read John 8:10–11 aloud. Ask the student to also read aloud the Joseph Smith Translation in verse 11, footnote c. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Savior responded to this woman.

• In what way did the Savior show love and mercy to this woman?
• What instructions did the Savior give to the woman?

---To help students understand that the Savior was not condoning this woman’s sin, ask a student to read aloud the following statement by President Spencer W. Kimball:

“His command to her was, ‘Go, and sin no more.’ He was directing the sinful woman to go her way, abandon her evil life, commit no more sin, transform her life. He was saying, Go, woman, and start your repentance; and he was indicating to her the beginning step—to abandon her transgressions” (The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 165).

• What truth can we learn about the Savior from verses 10–11? (Students may use different words but should identify the following truth: The Savior shows us mercy by giving us opportunities to repent. Write this truth on the board.)
• How can understanding this truth help us when we sin?
• How can the two truths we have identified help us respond in situations when we are with others whose appearance or behavior is not in harmony with the Lord’s commandments and standards?
• According to the Joseph Smith Translation of verse 11, what effect did the Savior’s mercy have on the woman?

---Invite students to write in their class notebooks or scripture study journals the feelings they have for the Savior because of His willingness to show us mercy and give us opportunities to repent.

II. John 8:12–30  Jesus teaches that His Father bears witness of Him

---Invite students to close their eyes and try to draw a simple picture of a specific object. Then ask students to open their eyes and compare their drawing with their neighbors’ drawings.

• What are some things you can do better with light?

---Read John 8:12 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Jesus declared about Himself.

• What did Jesus call Himself? (Write the following doctrine on the board: Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.)

---Remind students that Jesus made this declaration at the Feast of Tabernacles. During each evening of the eight-day feast, massive lamp stands, or menorahs, were lit in the courtyards of the temple, providing illumination for the many people who were in Jerusalem for the celebration.

• How did Jesus Christ provide light to the woman taken in adultery and the men who accused her?
• What principle can we learn from the Savior’s words in verse 12? (Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the following principle: If we follow the Savior, we will avoid spiritual darkness and be filled with His light.)
• How do you feel the Savior helps you to avoid walking in spiritual darkness?

---Several Old Testament prophecies indicate that the Messiah would be a light to all nations (see Isaiah 49:6; 60:1–3). Therefore, in declaring Himself to be the Light of the World, Jesus was proclaiming that He was the Messiah.

---Read John 8:13 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Pharisees responded to the Savior’s declaration.

• How did the Pharisees respond to the Savior’s declaration?
• Why did they say Jesus’s record or testimony was not true? (Because He had testified of Himself.)

---Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the law of Moses required the testimony of at least two men to establish truth (see John 8:17; Deuteronomy 17:6).

---Read John 8:18 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for who else bore witness that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

• According to verse 18, who did the Savior state was a second witness to His divinity? (You may want to emphasize that through this statement Jesus confirmed that He and His Father are two separate beings.)

---Read John 8:19 aloud. Ask the class to look for what the Pharisees did not understand about Jesus and His Father.

• According to verse 19, why didn’t the Pharisees know the Father? (The Pharisees did not know the Father because they did not know Jesus and who He truly was.)
• Based on what the Savior told the Pharisees, what can we do to come to know Heavenly Father? (Students may use different words, but make sure it is clear that as we learn of Jesus Christ, we come to know the Father. Using students’ words, write this principle on the board.)

---To help students understand this principle, invite a student to read aloud the following statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“In all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven. …

“So feeding the hungry, healing the sick, rebuking hypocrisy, pleading for faith—this was Christ showing us the way of the Father, He who is ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness.’ In His life and especially in His death, Christ was declaring, ‘This is God’s compassion I am showing you, as well as that of my own’” (“The Grandeur of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 70, 72).

• According to Elder Holland, what do we learn about our Heavenly Father as we learn about Jesus Christ?

---In John 8:21–24 the Savior warned the Pharisees that if they did not believe in Him they would die in their sins.

---Read John 8:25–30 aloud. Ask the class to look for additional truths Jesus taught the Pharisees about Himself and Heavenly Father. You may want to invite students to mark what they find.

• What additional truths did Jesus Christ teach about Himself and Heavenly Father?
• How do the Savior’s teachings in these verses further help us to understand the relationship between the Savior and Heavenly Father?

---Invite students to take a few minutes to review and ponder the accounts they have studied concerning Jesus Christ’s words and actions in the New Testament this year (including, for example, the account of the woman taken in adultery). You may want to display pictures from the Gospel Art Book ([2009]; see also LDS.org) that depict events from the Savior’s mortal ministry. Invite a few students to summarize an account that they each thought of and explain to the class what it teaches about our Father in Heaven.

---Conclude by sharing your testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Commentary and Background Information

John 8:7. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency provided the following self-test to see if we are sometimes guilty of casting stones:

“My dear brothers and sisters, consider the following questions as a self-test:

“Do you harbor a grudge against someone else?

“Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true?

“Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they have done?

“Do you secretly envy another?

“Do you wish to cause harm to someone?

“If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to apply the two-word sermon from earlier: stop it!

“In a world of accusations and unfriendliness, it is easy to gather and cast stones. But before we do so, let us remember the words of the One who is our Master and model: ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.’

“Brothers and sisters, let us put down our stones” (“The Merciful Obtain Mercy,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 76).

Supplemental Teaching Idea

John 8:1–11. Video presentation—“Go and Sin No More”

Instead of inviting students to read John 8:1–11, you may want to show the video “Go and Sin No More” (3:22) from The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos. This video portrays the events recorded in John 8:1–11 and can be found on LDS.org. Encourage students to follow along in their scriptures. You should still ask students the questions in the lesson, have discussions, and record the principles on the board. The following are suggested places to pause the video to discuss the verses that students would have read:

Play

Pause the video after the Pharisee or scribe in the video asks “What sayest thou?” a second time (time code 1:20). Ask students the questions associated with John 8:3–6 in the main body of the lesson.

Play the video after explaining what the Pharisees and scribes hoped to accuse Jesus of. Pause the video after the Savior says, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (time code 1:32). Ask students the questions associated with John 8:7–8 in the main body of the lesson.

Play the video after the discussion. Pause the video as the Pharisees and scribes begin to leave (time code 1:47). Ask students the questions associated with John 8:9 in the main body of the lesson. You will still need to invite a student to read John 8:9 aloud to have a discussion about the fact that the scribes and Pharisees were “convicted by their own conscience” (verse 9). Play the rest of the video.

© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lesson 68: John 8:31–59

Introduction

The Savior continued teaching at the temple following the Feast of Tabernacles. He taught about freedom from sin. When Jesus Christ proclaimed He was the great Jehovah, the Jews tried to stone Him.

I. John 8:31–36  Jesus teaches about freedom from sin

---To help students remember what they learned in the previous lesson, hold up a small stone. Invite students to briefly summarize how the Savior responded when some scribes and Pharisees brought Him a woman taken in adultery and what He taught afterward (see John 8:1–30). (The Savior did not condemn the woman and told her to “sin no more” [verse 11]. Afterward Jesus taught that He is the “light of the world” [verse 12] and that as we believe in Him and obey His teachings, we come to know the Father.)

• According to John 8:30, how did Jesus’s actions and words affect many of the Jews?

---Point out that although many of the Jews believed in Jesus, some Jews continued to challenge Him as He taught the people about discipleship, truth, and freedom versus bondage.

---Draw the following diagram on the board:

---Read John 8:31–32 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Jesus said we need to do in order to be free.

---Invite students to come to the board and fill in the blanks based on what Jesus said we need to do in order to be free. The completed diagram should look similar to the following:

(click to view larger)

• What does it mean to “continue in [Christ’s] word”? (verse 31).
• How would you summarize as a principle statement Jesus Christ’s teachings recorded in verses 31–32? (Students may use different words, but make sure it is clear that if we continue in Jesus Christ’s word, then we will be His disciples and know the truth, which will make us free. Consider writing this principle on the board. You may also want to point out that John 8:36 emphasizes that it is because of Jesus Christ that we can be made free.)

---Invite a student to read aloud the following statement by Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Ask the class to listen for what we can be free from if we live according to the Savior’s word:

“Free from the damning power of false doctrine; free from the bondage of appetite and lust; free from the shackles of sin; free from every evil and corrupt influence and from every restraining and curtailing power; free to go on to the unlimited freedom enjoyed in its fulness only by exalted beings” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:456–57).

---Read John 8:33 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Jews believed made them free.

• What did the Jews believe would make them free? (They mistakenly believed that simply being descendants of Abraham and heirs to the Abrahamic covenant entitled them to spiritual freedom.)

---Read John 8:34–36 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Jesus indicated the people needed to be freed from.

• According to verse 34, what did the Savior indicate the people needed to be freed from?

---Point out that the Greek verb translated as “committeth” in verse 34 suggests the idea of continuing in sin rather than repenting.

• What principle can we learn from verse 34? (After students respond, write the following principle on the board: If we commit sin and do not repent, then we become the servants of sin.)
• What does it mean to be a “servant of sin”? (You may want to point out that the word translated as “servant” may also be rendered as “slave.”)

---To help students visualize the relationship between the two principles they have identified, draw the following diagram on the board:

• Why might some people today confuse these truths by believing that following the Savior places us in bondage, while committing sin results in freedom?

---To help the class further understand the two principles they identified, invite a student to read aloud the following statement by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“Yielding to [Satan’s] temptations leads to a narrower and narrower range of choices until none remains and to addictions that leave us powerless to resist. …

“… The world looks at things through Korihor’s lens, considering obedience to God’s laws and ordinances to be ‘bondage’ (Alma 30:24, 27). …

“… Does anyone doubt that, as a consequence of possessing all light and truth, God possesses ultimate freedom to be and to do?

“Likewise, as our understanding of gospel doctrine and principles grows, our agency expands. First, we have more choices and can achieve more and receive greater blessings because we have more laws that we can obey. … Second, with added understanding we can make more intelligent choices because we see more clearly not only the alternatives but also their potential outcomes” (“Moral Agency,” Ensign, June 2009, 49, 50–51).

---Divide students into pairs. Invite each pair to study an assigned section of For the Strength of Youth (booklet, 2011). Ask students to draw the following chart in their class notebooks or scripture study journals (you may want to draw it on the board). Invite each pair to read together their assigned section of For the Strength of Youth and fill out the chart.

Standard discussed in For the Strength of Youth:	In what ways can living this standard bring freedom?	In what ways can failing to live this standard bring bondage?

---After sufficient time, invite each pair to switch partners with another pair and teach what they learned about the standard they studied. After sufficient time, invite a few students to report what they learned to the class.

• What freedoms promised in For the Strength of Youth have you personally experienced?

---Invite students to write down a specific way they will seek to be free by living according to the Savior’s word.

II. John 8:37–59  Jesus testifies of His divinity

---Invite students to briefly respond to the following question:

• Whom do you know who is very similar to his or her father?

---Take turns reading aloud from John 8:37–40, 44–45. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Jewish leaders who opposed the Lord were different from the great Old Testament prophet Abraham, whom they claimed as their father.

• According to verse 39, what did the Savior say they would do if they were the children of Abraham?
• According to verse 40, what were they seeking to do that Abraham would never have done?
• According to verses 44–45, who did Jesus say was their father? (The devil.) In what ways did they follow the devil?

---In John 8:46–50 the Savior taught that those who are of God receive His word. The Jewish leaders tried to insult Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan (as Samaritans were generally despised by the Jews) and claiming He was possessed by a devil.

---Read John 8:51–53 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the question the Jewish leaders asked Jesus.

• What question did they ask Jesus? (You may want to invite students to mark the question “Art thou greater than our father Abraham?” in verse 53.)

---Read John 8:56–58 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for Jesus’s response to the Jews’ question.

• What was Jesus’s response to the question “Art thou greater than our father Abraham?” (You may want to invite students to mark the phrase “before Abraham was, I am” in verse 58.)

---Read John 8:58, footnote b silently, looking for the meaning of the term “I am.” Then ask the following questions:

• What does the term “I am” mean? (The term identifies Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; you may also need to explain that the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. You may want to invite students to write in their scriptures the following truth: Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament.)
• Based on your study of verse 58, what was Jesus’s response to the question about whether He was greater than Abraham?

---Display several pictures from the Gospel Art Book ([2009]; see also LDS.org) that depict miracles recorded in the Old Testament (such as Three Men in the Fiery Furnace, no. 25; or Daniel in the Lion’s Den, no. 26).

• If you had been standing before Jesus and had heard Him declare that He was the one who had wrought the miracles recorded in the Old Testament, how might you have responded to Him?

---Read John 8:59 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Jewish leaders responded to Jesus’s declaration that He was Jehovah. Invite students to report what they find.

• Why do you feel it is important for us to know that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament?

---Consider inviting a few students to share with the class their testimonies of Jesus Christ. You may want to conclude by sharing your own testimony as well.

Scripture Mastery Review

Quizzes and tests give students opportunities to test their memory of scripture mastery passages. Clues could include key words or scripture references, quotations from passages, or scenarios that illustrate the truths taught in passages. Quizzes and tests could be given verbally, on the board, or on paper. After students have taken a quiz or test, consider pairing any students who are struggling with scripture mastery passages to work with high-scoring students. The higher-scoring student could act as a tutor to help the student with the lower score study and improve. (If you do this, make sure to do it in a manner that does not embarrass students who are struggling.)

Commentary and Background Information

John 8:33. “We be Abraham’s seed”

The declaration of the Jews that they are Abraham’s seed manifests a common misconception relating to the Abrahamic covenant and the doctrine of foreordination. The following explanation from the Bible Dictionary clarifies the promises made to and the responsibilities of Abraham’s seed:

“Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation). Then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase. Finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity (D&C 132:29–50; Abr. 2:6–11). … Abraham’s posterity would receive certain lands as an eternal inheritance (Gen. 17; 22:15–18; Gal. 3; Abr. 2). These promises taken together are called the Abrahamic covenant. …

“The portions of the covenant that pertain to personal salvation and eternal increase are renewed with each individual who receives the ordinance of celestial marriage (see D&C 132:29–33). Those of non-Israelite lineage, commonly known as gentiles, are adopted into the house of Israel, and become heirs of the covenant and the seed of Abraham, through the ordinances of the gospel (Gal. 3:26–29).

“Being an heir to the Abrahamic covenant does not make one a ‘chosen person’ per se but does signify that such are chosen to responsibly carry the gospel to all the peoples of the earth. Abraham’s seed have carried out the missionary activity in all the nations since Abraham’s day. (Matt. 3:9; Abr. 2:9–11)” (Bible Dictionary, “Abraham, Covenant of”).

John 8:58. What does the phrase “before Abraham was, I am” mean?

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the meaning and significance of the term “I am”:

“Jesus was Jehovah … (see Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; Isa. 26:4). The use of this holy name is also confirmed in modern scripture (see Moro. 10:34; D&C 109:68; D&C 110:3; D&C 128:9). Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word hayah, which means ‘to be’ or ‘to exist.’ A form of the word hayah in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament was translated as I AM (see Ex. 3:14).

“Remarkably, I AM was used by Jehovah as a name for Himself (see D&C 29:1; D&C 38:1; D&C 39:1). Read the following intriguing dialogue from the Old Testament. Moses had just received a divine appointment he did not seek, a commission to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. The scene takes place atop Mount Sinai:

“‘Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?’

“No doubt Moses felt inadequate for his calling, even as you and I may when given a challenging assignment.

“‘And Moses said [again] unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

“‘And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

“‘And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever’ (Ex. 3:11, 13–15).

“Jehovah had thus revealed to Moses this very name that He had meekly and modestly chosen for His own premortal identification: ‘I AM’” (“Jesus the Christ: Our Master and More,” Ensign, Apr. 2000, 6–7).

© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Right margin extras:

Adapt teaching methods to meet students’ needs

Teaching methods and skills are merely tools to help students learn and are not ends in themselves. Select methods that will best help students understand the content, doctrines, and principles of a particular scripture block and apply those doctrines and principles in their lives. Remember that without the Spirit, even the most effective teaching methods will not fully succeed.