Jesus says that those abide in him will be set free.  (8:31-32)  How do his hearers respond to this?  (8:33)  Why is it so upsetting to them?

Jesus says that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.  (8:34)  What do you think he means by this?  How does our relationship with sin in our lives resemble slavery?  (See also Romans 6.)  How can we be set free from that slavery?

Why (and how) does Jesus challenge whether or not his hearers are actually offspring of Abraham?  (8:37, 8:39-41)  (See also Romans 2:17-29, Romans 9:6-13.)  What does it mean to be a child of Abraham?

Jesus implies twice that his hearers are offspring of someone other than Abraham (8:38, 8:41), and then eventually clarifies that they are offspring of the devil (8:44).  What do you think he means by this?  What are we to make of such a significant claim?  (See also Genesis 3:15.)

Jesus’s hearers fire several different insults at him.  (8:41, 8:48, 8:52)  Why do you think that they are so quick to dismiss what Jesus says, and to attack him with insults?

Jesus claims to have special, first-hand knowledge of Abraham, despite the fact that Abraham lived several centuries before Jesus’s birth.  (8:56)  How can he claim this?

What do you think Jesus means when he says: “Before Abraham was, I am”?  (8:58)  What exactly is he claiming here?  Why does he choose those specific words?

How do his hearers respond to his claim?  (8:59)  What does their response tell us about what they understood Jesus to be claiming in 8:58?

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