I had two experiences recently that had me thinking a lot about time. Both experiences were with my daughters.
My daughter Hannah and I came across a series of old historical pictures that had been expertly colorized. Some of the photos were from the mid 1800's when photography was still rather new, but the effect of colorization made them look current and as if they had been recently taken. Just a little bit of color caused photos that are over 170 years old seem as if they could have been taken today.
The other experience I had was with my daughter Julia. We were home together and decided to watch something on TV, but we couldn't decide what to watch. We eventually settled on streaming an older episode of Jeopardy that was recorded in 2002, and competing against each other to see who got the most answers. She's smart, but I still won, and her response to my victory was, "Well, if I had been alive as long as you have, I would have known more of those answers."
In John 8, Jesus stunned people by revealing the fact that He has existed forever. This passage contains one of His clearest statements about His divinity and eternal nature. He also makes the path to abundant life in the present, and eternal life going forward, clear in this portion of John's gospel. What did He say that made these truths so evident?
I. Jesus is the remedy for death (John 8:48-51)
“The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” ”
How often have you referred to someone as a "good Samaritan?" In our culture, we tend to think of the word "Samaritan" as a positive term, but that wasn't necessarily the case during the time of Christ's earthly ministry. At that time, Samaritans were resented by the Jewish people because of their mixed heritage and their adaptation of certain Jewish religious traditions. When Jesus was being called a "Samaritan" by this group of people, they were doing so to insult him and dismiss His teaching. They also accused Him of being demon possessed. Why?
Many people, when confronted with truth they don't want to hear, will do their best to attack or discredit the messenger. If the authority of the messenger can be called into question, the message itself can be dismissed a little easier. Earlier in John 8, Jesus made it clear that the people He was speaking to weren't as spiritually mature as they liked to tell themselves they were. As you can imagine, they took offense to this and went on the defensive.
Not long ago, I watched this same principal take place. I was leading a meeting to try to help a struggling church, and instead of addressing the obvious issues that were present in the congregation, one of the members spent several minutes attacking the character of a former pastor. He wasn't the issue with the church, but in order to deflect from the obvious, they tried to cut him apart. This was the same tactic that was being used against Jesus in this chapter.
But Jesus confronted these falsehoods with the truth. He made it clear that He was not demon possessed. On the contrary, He was honoring God the Father while this crowd was effectively dishonoring the Father by dishonoring Jesus who is one with Him. Unfortunately, this was evidence that the spirituality of this group of people was false. They claimed to be spiritually alive, but their words and actions demonstrated that they were in fact spiritually dead.
Jesus is the remedy for death, both spiritually and physically. In this passage He said, "if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.". In making this statement, Jesus was proclaiming the fact that He is what this dying world needs. When you're still a slave to sin, like this crowd of people demonstrated they were, you're doomed to die. You'll spend your time here on this earth with a mindset that is governed by an earthly perspective that has no lasting value, then you'll enter into an eternity of separation from God. But those who demonstrate their genuine faith in Christ by keeping His teaching, show that they have been moved from death to life in Christ.
It was hard for this group to accept this teaching from Jesus. They idolized other teachers and prophets. Ironically, it was Jesus that the prophets were all pointing toward in their writings, because Jesus, who is God the Son, is by nature greater than every prophet or teacher.
II. Jesus is greater than the prophets (John 8:52-53)
“The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ”
Have you ever been asked, "Who do you think you are?!!" That's typically a question that you might get when you've confronted someone's sin or stepped on their toes in some other way. And that's the kind of question Jesus was getting from those who opposed Him in this passage. They demanded to know, "Who do you make yourself out to be?" As you can imagine, they weren't going to appreciate His answer.
Every culture has its heroes. In our culture, we have political heroes, military heroes, sports heroes, social heroes, entertainment heroes, and even personal heroes that have impacted our lives in a personal way. At the time recorded in John's gospel, many of the Jews would have listed Abraham and the prophets as their heroes.
For Jesus to say that if anyone keeps His word, they would not die, was to imply that He considered Himself, and His power, greater than Abraham and the prophets who died a natural death. So not only was Jesus confronting their lack of spiritual depth, He was also about to speak of their heroes in such a way as to upset them to the core. But Jesus who created Abraham and the prophets is certainly greater than His creation.
Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27, NLT)
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:20)
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, (Hebrews 7:1)
It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. (Hebrews 7:7)
There are certainly people that I admire, but I try to be careful with tossing the term "hero" around lightly, because in the end, we have one ultimate hero and that's Christ Himself. Is your heart finding a sense of hope and security in Jesus, or are you looking for another hero? Is Jesus the champion you celebrate, or is He merely your runner up?
III. Jesus and the Father are one (John 8:54-56)
“Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ”
I don't know what tone of voice Jesus was using as He communicated these words, but I envision Him being rather clear, serious, and direct as He spoke. He made it clear that He wasn't there to glorify Himself, but the Father. He made it clear that the Father would likewise glorify Him. He also made it clear that He knew the Father and they did not. He spoke the truth, but they were tangled in a web of lies and self-deception.
Jesus is one with the Father. He was illustrating that fact as He spoke of the Father in a personal way. He was also demonstrating that truth as He pointed out the divine glory that the Son shares with the Father. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit live in perfect union.
In His mercy, and by His grace, Christ invites us to live in union with Him as well. Sadly, much of humanity chooses to live as enemies of God. Even more tragically, there are many believers who still treat their union with Christ far too casually.
IV. Jesus is self-existent and eternal (John 8:57-59)
“So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”
I read a news story recently of a musician who was quitting the business because of "ageism." As he has moved into his later 40's, he's finding it difficult to sell albums or get concert bookings because he's been told, "you're too old."
In this context, Jesus was being told the opposite. He was told He wasn't old enough. Jesus was speaking about Abraham as if He had seen him, yet Abraham lived two thousand years earlier. Christ's critics scoffed, "You aren't even 50 yet! How could you have seen Abraham?" At their scoffing, Jesus dropped a verbal bomb on them and said, "before Abraham was, I am." What was He revealing? He was revealing the fact that He is self-existent and eternal. And instead of bowing to worship Him, this group of men tried to stone Him.
How accepting are we of what Christ has said? When He confronts our idols, heroes, and false beliefs, do we thank Him, ignore Him, or try to stone Him? Allow me to ask a few questions that can test that.
In Matthew 5:20, when Jesus says, "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven," do you agree with Him, or search for a loophole to that statement?
In Matthew 5:22, when Jesus says, "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;" do you agree, or try to rationalize holding on to your anger?
In Matthew 5:28, when Jesus says, "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart," do you agree, or do you try to convince yourself you can be one with Christ and still use pornography?
Jesus is the great, "I AM." Are we ignoring Him, stoning Him, or bowing to Him? The posture we're taking will clearly reveal the depth of our relationship with Him, OR whether we even know Him at all.
© John Stange, 2019
