They Failed to Seize Jesus

By Mary Vee
John 8 

Peter

Photo by Mary Vee. View from the Mount of Olives facing
the Temple area

My name is Peter, I am a disciple of Jesus. We are in the temple courts standing near the place where the offerings are placed.

Photo by Mary Vee, The top of
the Mount of Olives today.

The other disciples and I stood nearby when Jesus when a crowd gathered. They waited for him to speak.

Jesus turned to them and said, "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The Pharisees moved among the crowd. These were the same men who tried to test Jesus by bringing the adulterous woman for him to judge. They ended up walking away without throwing a stone at her.

They probably saw he crowd and rushed over to prevent them from listening to Jesus' teachings. They seemed ready to question Jesus again as they pushed toward the front of the crowd. One Pharisee said, "Here you are. You are acting as your own witness and that makes the testimony you share among these witnesses not valid."

Jesus said, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid. I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I was or where I will go. You judge me by your human standards. I pass judgment on no one. 

"But if I do choose to judge, my decisions are right. I am not alone. I stand with the Father who sent me. In your own Law, it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself. My other witness is the Father who sent me."

A Pharisee said, "All right. So, where is your father?" He looked around the temple. "Is he here?"

Photo by Mary Vee
On top of the Mount of Olives,
the Disciples Prayer is
posted in many languages.

Jesus said, "You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father."

As expected the Pharisees were not happy with Jesus. They tried to seize him but failed. Later I learned that this was not yet the appointed time. Jesus had more work to do.

What happened next? Next week I will tell you more. 

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.