No, I'm saying the relevance of Java ends at the source level. When the app is converted to DEX bytecode and then compiled to native code there is no dependency on the language or JVM as you seem to think.

There clearly is, otherwise Google would have been able to update to Java 8 on Android by now.

No, the reason Google isn't going to update to Java 8 is due to the litigation from Oracle. Google will likely transition to a new language so why invest time and money upgrading to a language they're going to abandon soon.