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The Gospel According to John In our last study we examined John 8:12-30. It concluded with the statement that many believed on Christ. But the faith of the greater portion of those who had believed on Him was soon shaken. As to whether an interval of time separates verses 30 and 31 is a question, but it is immaterial to the understanding of the passage. Verses 31-59 constitute the third series of dialogues between Jesus and His enemies. Jesus Jesus Christ always attempted to help everyone in his struggle against Satan and sin and unbelief. He, therefore, said to those Jews who, only with the intellect, believed that He was the Messiah, "If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Whenever the Word of God is sowed in the hearts of men, it must be grasped by faith, or Satan will come immediately, snatch it away, and the person will not be benefited at all. Apparently such was the situation with the bulk of the people who believed on Him on this occasion. But it is not enough to believe temporarily. One must abide in the Word, must embrace it with the whole heart and hold tenaciously to it. Jesus told His listeners that in this way they would be truly His disciples and would know the truth which would make them free. Of course, He was speaking of their liberation from spiritual bondage. The Jews The character of the faith and of the understanding of Jesus that His listeners had is immediately revealed by the fact that they replied, seemingly with resentment, "We are Abraham's seed and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?" Their statement that they had never been in bondage to any man, meaning that their country had never been under foreign domination, was false. They had been under Babylonian, and Medo-Persian, and Greek domination; and they were then under the iron hand of Rome. No true believer would have replied to the Lord Jesus as these Jewish leaders did. Jesus Then Jesus explained what bondage He had in mind, namely the bondage to sin: "34 … Everyone that committeth sin is the bond servant of sin. 35 and the bond servant abideth not in the house for ever: the son abideth for ever. 36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed, yet ye seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you. 38 I speak the things which I have seen with my Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from your father" (vs. 34-38). Let us bear in mind that the Jews whom Jesus addressed here were those who believed on Him. His plain statements show that their belief was only temporary and was indeed superficial. These so-called believers were seeking then to kill Jesus, something that Abraham, whom they claimed to be their Father, would never have done. Moreover Jesus said that He was speaking to them only those things which He had seen with His Father, but that they would do the things which they had heard from their father. This statement shows that there was an impassable gulf existing between Jesus and those so-called believers. The Jews These believers had said to Jesus, "Our father is Abraham." Literally they were descendants of Abraham. They had the Abrahamic blood flowing in their veins, but their spirit was far from that of Abraham. Jesus Jesus declared that, if they were the children of Abraham, they would do the works of Abraham; but they were seeking at that time to kill Him, a man who had told them nothing but the truth which He had heard from God the Father. Then Jesus said that Abraham had never acted in that way. He declared that they were doing the works of their father, but at this point He did not reveal to them who their father was, as He did a little later. The Jews As the Jews did not understand what Jesus was saying, they became enraged and slurred Him by saying. "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God" (vs. 41). This remark was an allusion to His origin, and echo of their knowledge of His having been born of a virgin, but it put the worst construction upon the facts, which were evidently known. Jesus In verses 42-47, Jesus continued His discussions with His opponents, saying, "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me." If God were their spiritual Father, as they said, they would have loved Jesus, as He was the very manifestation of God in human form. Jesus asked, "Why do ye not understand my speech?" Then He answered His own question: "Even because ye cannot hear my word." The reason that they could not understand Him was that they were carnal and He and His words were spiritual. The carnal man cannot receive and understand the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned, as the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians, chapter 2. Then Jesus spoke plainly and said: "Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do." Though they were literally the descendants of Abraham, yet in a spiritual sense they were under the control of the devil and evil influences. They did not have the truth, did not want it, and were not interested in spiritual things; therefore Jesus said that they were of their father the devil and the lusts of their father they willed to do. They actually willed to do the will of the devil, for they were being governed and controlled by earthly carnal things. Jesus accused the devil of being a murderer from the beginning. When he was created, he was put over the works of God's hand. He was the anointed cherub, as we see in Ezekiel 28:10-19. He soon became puffed up and, thinking that he could match swords with the Lord, plotted a revolt against God and His government. Jesus said, therefore, that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth because the truth was not in him. He was made holy, upright, and righteous; but pride befogged his reason and his desire to do the will of God. Jesus In reply Jesus said to His opponents, "I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye dishonor me. 50 But I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall never see death" (vs. 49-51). Possibly one reason that the Jews on this occasion said Jesus had a demon was that they did not understand who He was and, therefore, attributed to demons the power by which He wrought miracles. Jesus thereupon told them that He was honoring God and, consequently, God was working in and through Him, but they were dishonoring Him. Since Christ honored God, God in turned honored Him and worked in a special manner through Him. He showed that He was not seeking His own glory, and pointed out that "there is one that seeketh and judgeth." He concluded this special phase of the discussion by saying, "If a man keep my word, he shall never see death" (vs. 51), that is, the second death, banishment from the presence of God and from the glory of His might, which lasts for ever and ever. Obviously He had the second death in mind because believers, like other people, experience physical death. The Jews In reply the Jews said to Jesus, "Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?" (vs. 52,53). The words of Jesus were meaningful, but His unspiritually minded opponents could not comprehend what He was saying or recognize who He was. But knowing that He possessed superhuman power, they again asserted that He had a demon, the inference being that this demon was working for Him. Since He was speaking of the physical death, they declared, "Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my words he shall never taste death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?" They reasoned that, if Jesus should never die, He was superior to Moses, Abraham, and the prophets. They, therefore, wanted to know from His own lips whom He considered Himself to be. Jesus 54 "Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me: of whom ye say that he is your God; 55 and ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you, a liar: but I know him and keep his word. 56 your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." The Lord Jesus, purposely holding on to the thought that God was with Him and supporting Him in every way, said, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing." If He were simply boasting, then, of course, His glory was in vain: but, praise be to God, the Father was the One who was glorifying Jesus and working through Him. Continuing, Jesus said that He knew God and added, "If I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you, a liar." He closed this phase of the discussion with the statement, "I know him, and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." Evidently God had promised on some occasion to reveal to Abraham a vision of the future in which he would see the days of Messiah. Believing the promise, Abraham rejoiced in anticipation of its fulfilment. Finally, at the psychological moment, God gave the vision of Christ and His glory to Abraham, who rejoiced in this newer and fuller revelation. Who would not rejoice to be honored by God in seeing such a marvelous, unprecedented revelation as Abraham did on this occasion? The Jews The Jews, still unspiritually minded, could not comprehend what He said. Some said unto Him, "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" They all knew that Abraham had lived two thousand years before the coming of Christ. At the time of this conversation, Christ was not yet fifty years old. The Jews could not understand how He could have seen the days of Abraham. That was to them a great mystery. But Christ was God in human form. He was the God-man, not God and man, but the God-man. Jesus In reply Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was born, I am." He claimed His eternal, underived existence. His enemies understood that He was claiming to be God—that is, God in human form. Being baffled the more and being unable to see the light, they took up stones to cast at him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. |