This paper explores the conflict of John 8 within the larger context of the Gospel and in the light of the ancient rhetorical practice of prosopopoeia, or speech-in-character. Prosopopoeia is the creation of speech for characters within a narrative. These speeches were intended to add to the credibility and persuasiveness of the narrative by being “appropriate” for both the person speaking (i.e. conforming to their origins, age, gender, and status) and the situation in which the speech is given (cf. Theon, Prog. 115-118). Although perhaps not prosopopoeia in the traditional sense of lengthy speeches from Greek histories, this paper argues that the Johannine evangelist nevertheless makes use of prosopopoetics by creating appropriate, albeit unnerving, words for Jesus that elevate the audience’s position and add the persuasiveness of his work. In John 8, Jesus builds on conflicts begun in John 7 by shocking his interlocutors with seemingly audacious claims about his identity. According to the perspective of the Jews, Jesus’ words are thoroughly inappropriate because they see Jesus as a man from Galilee who is “not yet fifty years old.” What seems inappropriate to the Jews of John 8, however, is entirely appropriate for the audience of John’s Gospel who has the advantage of the Prologue and narrative asides that provide a more complete characterization of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus’ speech conforms to the origins laid out in the Prologue and has the effect of placing the audience in a privileged position. As such, the audience becomes insiders who understand more about Jesus than those who saw Jesus for themselves. The shock experienced by the Jews in 8:31-59, along with other conflicts that ultimately lead to Jesus’ death, fuels the author’s grander purpose: namely, that of convincing the audience rather than the characters within the narrative.