Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. The confrontation with religious authorities continues in the temple, likely still in the court of women.
2. Jesus’ opponents, after hearing Him say that they are of their father the devil, accuse Jesus of being a hated, religiously errant, Samaritan and also of having a demon Himself.
3. Jesus immediately denies such a possibility and restates that He in fact honors the Father. Plus, that He seeks the glory of His Father and not His own.
4. Then most shockingly, Jesus states that if anyone keeps His word they will not experience death. And by death, He is referring to eternal and conscience separation from God. (see Luke 16:19–31)
5. Jesus’ hearers do not understand and retaliate with the fact that Abraham is already dead, which to them confirms their notion that Jesus has a demon.
6. Once again Jesus states He does not seek His own glory.
7. If Jesus were to deny His relationship with God the Father He would be a liar like His listeners were.
8. Jesus even states that Abraham rejoiced that he would see the day when He would be incarnated.
9. To those hearing Jesus’ words, they cannot possibly grasp the meaning of His words.
10. Now comes the 3^rd of the “I Am” sayings: “before Abraham was, I am.” Here is the ego eimi based on Exodus 3:14. Jesus states He is in fact God.
11. The reaction, which His opponents thought quite proper in the face of what they considered blasphemy, would be to kill Jesus by stoning.

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.

1. Some of Jesus’ hearers believed in Him. Is this saving faith? Likely not, but a step in the right direction. Some of these may have been converted on the Day of Pentecost. The sign of genuine conversion is a continued abiding or remaining in the words of Jesus.
2. The hearers protest they had never been enslaved. Of course, this is not politically true what with the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Syrian, and Roman occupations, but they likely mean religious bondage.
3. Sin enslaves and this is not restricted to individual sinning, but rejection of Jesus Himself. Only the Son makes free. They are not free because they mean to kill Him.
4. Jesus reveals something so very frightening: they have a father, who is not Abraham, but is the devil. For indeed if they were in fact Abraham’s children, they would believe in and accept Jesus as the son of the Father, the Messiah.
5. In fact, these people’s intent is to kill Jesus, the very son of the Father.
6. Jesus explains that if they were Abrahams children, they would love Him.
7. The reality is these opposers cannot even stand to hear what Jesus is saying.
8. Now He tells them that their father is the devil, that means, they are under the influence and power of Satan. And their opposition to Jesus is inspired by the devil.
9. Jesus now, in my opinion, reaches out in love to those who are opposing Him. There is love in the wording.