John 8,21-30

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’
33 They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’
34 Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it for ever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.[2]’
39 ‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered. ‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would[3] do what Abraham did.
40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
41 You are doing the works of your own father.’ ‘We are not illegitimate children,’ they protested. ‘The only Father we have is God himself.’
42 Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.
43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!
46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?
47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.’

48 The Jews answered him, ‘Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?’
49 ‘I am not possessed by a demon,’ said Jesus, ‘but I honour my Father and you dishonour me.
50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.
51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.’
52 At this they exclaimed, ‘Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.
53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?’
54 Jesus replied, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’
57 ‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ they said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’
58 ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’
59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with my sister on related issues. Today is the sixteenth lecture on the Gospel of John 。Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!

2.My summary of John sixteenth time study:
Hello,everybody! Below is my today’s personal study summary.
In this passage of scripture, Jesus has a serious discussion with a group of Jews about who he is and what it means to follow him.
Jesus begins by telling the Jews who believe in him that if they follow his teachings, they are true disciples. He says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The Jews are confused because they believe they are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves. They ask Jesus how he can say they need to be set free.
Jesus explains that all people who sin are slaves to sin. He gives the example of a family: slaves do not have a permanent place in a family, but sons do. Jesus tells them that if he, the Son of heaven, sets them free, they will be truly free.
Jesus acknowledges that they are descendants of Abraham, but points out that they are trying to kill him because his words have no place in their hearts. He says that he says what he sees in God, and they do what they hear from their own fathers.
The Jews call Abraham their father. Jesus challenges them, saying that if they were truly children of Abraham, they would do what Abraham did.
Instead, they try to kill Jesus, and Jesus tells them the truth that he has heard from God.
Jesus said that they were doing the work of their own fathers.
The Jews claimed that God was their only father. Jesus responded that if God was their father, they would love him because he came from God.
He asked them why they could not understand his message and responded that it was because they could not hear him.
Jesus then told them that they belonged to the devil, who had been a murderer and liar from the beginning. Jesus said that they did not believe him because he was telling the truth.
He challenged them to prove his guilt and asked why they did not believe him if he was telling the truth.
The Jews accused Jesus of being possessed by the devil. Jesus denied this and said that he honored his father, while they did not. Jesus said that whoever kept his word would never die.
The Jews were skeptical because Abraham and the prophets died. They asked Jesus if he considered himself greater than Abraham and the prophets.
Jesus responded that his glory meant nothing if he glorified himself. It was his Father who glorified him.
Jesus said that they did not know God, but he did. Jesus told them that Abraham was so happy at the thought of the day he would see him.
Since Jesus was not even fifty years old, they asked him how he could have seen Abraham.
Jesus replied, “Before Abraham was born, I existed!” This shocked the Jews and they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid and ran away from the temple.
I think the importance of Jesus’ divine identity and the importance of believing in him to truly be free from sin.
Now let Ingrid sister make a go further summary.
3.Sister’s comment from my studying summary:
Hello sister, you already told the most important thing. Here it is important, that the topic of the discussion is, who is the father of the people who refused Christ and who are the children of Abraham.

Jesus said, they cannot be children of Abraham, because Abraham was rightious and did Gods will, what they are not doing.

We have to go back to John 1, there it is written that those who believe in Jesus have the right to be Gods children.

Since there are only two kingdoms in this world: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil, there remains only the devil as the father of the Jewish who not believed in Christ.

We have to be aware in this text, that not all Jewish refused Christ, there were some who believed in him and Nikodemus who defended him.

4. Q list part: base on John 16th items:
   Okay.Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
   We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.
   1. What does Jesus mean when he says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples”?

It is not enough only to belive in Jesus. We have to go on in his word by learning it, teaching it and doing it. So we convert into disciples.

2. How does Jesus define freedom in this passage, and how does it differ from the Jewish understanding of freedom? (Our spiritual freedom, sister can expand on this) 

The Jewish leaders think, being under the law and doing the things Mose taught make them free. But Jesus said: When we know the truth – he himself – we will be free. And most important: free from sin. When we do sin, we are slaves of the sin and not free.

3. What does “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” mean?

Sin is like an addiction like alcohol, cigaretts or drugs. When you have once taken it you are forced to take it again for to feel good and you cannot deside if you buy it or not.

You can get free from these substances, but it is difficult. Jesus offers us freedom from sin and it won t be difficult through his power.

4. Why does Jesus contrast the status of slaves and sons in the family?

He does not want us to be slaves, that only obey, because they are forced to obey. He wants us to be sons who obey, because they love him and the father.

5. How does Jesus respond to the Jewish claim that Abraham is their father, and what does this reveal about their behavior? (Is bloodline so important?)

Jesus said, if you would be children of Abraham you would do, what Abraham did. The Jewish appointed to their bloodline to Abraham, Jesus appointed to the spiritual behaviour which was not conform to the bloodline, so for Jesus bloodline has no importance.

6. Why do Jews have difficulty understanding Jesus’ language and message?

As I mentioned, not all Jews had difficulties to understand Jesus. There were a lot who believed in him.

But the question is always: Am I willy to hear and believe in Jesus or not.
When I want to hear and obey, I will understand, if I am only a religious person with no interest to change my point of view, I will never understand.

7. What does Jesus mean when he says, “You belong to your father, the devil”?

He refers to the acts of the Jewish leaders, that they have the same characteristics as the devil. And at the end the will kill him.

8. Why do Jews accuse Jesus of being possessed by a demon, and how does he respond?

They did not like what he said. In our times, they would accuse him to have a mental dissease. He said, he saw Abraham and that is something, that was totally crazy for them, because they did not accept, that Jesus was before his birth in heaven.

9. What is the significance of Jesus’ saying, “Before Abraham was born, I existed”?

Jesus is eternal and before he was born in Bethlehem, he was with God in heaven.

10. How do Jews react to Jesus’ claims? What does this reveal about their understanding of Jesus’ identity? (There have been too many people who question Jesus’ identity from ancient times to the present, what should we do)

They wanted to stone him, because they did not understand nothing.

In respect of us, we shall go on to read the bible and since the day of pentecostes in Jerusalem, we have the Holy Spirit on earth who helps us and leads us in understanding the bible.

The bible is a book which has to believed and not to be proofed.