Today we will conclude Chapter 8, which records the final confrontation between the Jewish leaders and Jesus before He is brought before a sham court and crucified.
The record of this confrontation begins in Chapter 5 where Jesus, according to the Jewish leaders, violated the Sabbath by healing a man who had been infirm for 38 years. Then Jesus, in Chapter 5, preaches a sermon on His deity. This is the place in the Bible to refer to for the deity of Christ. There are, of course, many references to Christ’s deity, but none as clear and commanding as this one.
In Chapter 6, Jesus fulfills Elisha’s miracle when He multiplies the loaves and fish. He fulfills Job’s prophecy of God as He treads on the sea. Then Jesus preaches that He is the True Bread from heaven sent by God the Father.
In Chapter 7, Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 14 as He comes to the Mount of Olives and is Himself the object of the Feast of the Tabernacles and the Living Water.
In Chapter 8, Jesus concludes His confrontation with the Jewish leaders. We have come to the place in Chapter 8 where Jesus says that it is necessary for a believer in Christ to abide in His word. The result of saving faith is to abide or live in His word. The promise is that such a one will know the truth and they will be free.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
But in verse 33, the Jewish leaders are offended with the idea that they are in bondage to anyone.
33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"
Surely these men could not mean that they have never been in political bondage. They were not ignorant of their own history. In Egypt before they were a nation, at least seven times in the period of the Judges, the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity, and at this moment they are under the rule of the Roman emperor. The coins in their purses have the image of Caesar on them and they are under Roman authority.
But they are offended at the suggestion that they had not the truth. If they did not have the truth then it would mean that their worship of God was false. And that is precisely what Jesus had told them. These most religious of men did not know God!
Their claim to God was their ancestral relationship with the patriarch Abraham. They could each one trace his family tree back to one of the tribes of Jacob and to Moses and to Abraham. Of course we are the children of God because we have our birth certificates to prove it!
The Apostle Paul explains who are the true children of Abraham:
Romans 9:6-8
6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
That truth about who are the children of God is as difficult for some people today to grasp as it was for these Jews. The majority of Christians today are being taught that God is going to restore the Jewish nation because they are Jews.
How does this apply to us?
Young people, it is a great blessing if your mother and daddy are Christians and to be raised in a Christian home. But the fact of the circumstance of your birth does not mean that you are a Christian. Just like Nicodemus, you must be born again! If you, individually, do not trust in the righteousness of Jesus Christ you will die in your sins.
Before Jesus specifically answers their claim to be Abraham’s descendents, He first tells them the nature and power of spiritual bondage and the source of true freedom.
34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Everyone, Jew or Gentile who continually practices sin is a slave of sin. The claim to being a child of God must be backed up with a life that gives some evidence of repentance and obedience to God’s word.
Romans 6:16
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
The unbeliever sins and sins and sins and has no intention of changing or repenting. He may flip and flop with resolutions but he really has no intention of quitting his sin. The power of sin lies in the love of sin!
The believer also sins but the believer repents, and sins and repents but he is making some progress towards a sanctified life.
An unregenerate person does not appreciate being told that their own personal righteousnesses, when placed before God as a means of acceptance by God, are as filthy rags in His sight.
An unregenerate person does not appreciate being told that they are dead in trespasses and sins.
Jesus [35] makes a contrast between a slave who may enjoy the privileges of his master’s house but does not have any permanent claim to those benefits. A son is always a son and has the right of inheritance.
Contrast the Pharisee who pretended to be a child of God and the true child of god made free indeed by the Son.
The slave of sin may enjoy his sin for a season but unless he repents he will learn too late the awful cost of his rebellion against God.
And so the confrontation continues between a group of religious and lost men and the Son of Man.
37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."
39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."
Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 You do the deeds of your father."
Jesus does not deny that these men are Jews and children of Abraham, according to the flesh. But what Jesus tells them is that if they were the true children of Abraham they would believe God, as did Abraham.
They refuse to see the contradiction of their murderous plots to kill Him as belying their claim to be the descendents of Abraham. The reason they do not believe that Jesus is I AM is because the word of God has no place in them.
Jesus also tells these men that His Father and their father are not the same.
It is a popular myth to talk about the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Where do men come up with ideas like that?
It is true that God is the Creator of all men but God is not the spiritual Father of all men.
Jesus says that He is from God the Father and they have the devil for their father. There is no greater separation than to belong to God or to the devil.
The same separation exists today between the children of God and the children of the devil.
What did Abraham do? Abraham received God’s messengers [Genesis 18] who came to Abraham to inform him of the destruction of Sodom. Abraham did not attempt to kill them but he welcomed them.
But these Jewish leaders are confronting the very Son of God who is telling them the truth and the way to know the truth and they want to kill Him.
41 Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father — God."
The men are indignant and very angry. They say we have a legitimate Father, even God, but You, Jesus, were born of fornication.
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
Their actions show that their boast of being children of God is ridiculous and Jesus tells them that they cannot bear to listen to Him. They are hardened in their rejection of the truth.
There are those to day who have heard the truth of the Gospel and have become “gospel hardened” and reject the truth.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
Jesus tells these men that their father is the devil. Their passions and desires show their spiritual descent. If they are constantly trying to carry out the desires of the devil then the devil must be their father. The devil desires to kill and to lie and so do they.
The history of the human race begins with the devil calling God a liar and seducing Eve who in turn gives Adam the forbidden fruit, which he willingly accepted and ate. At that moment Adam and the entire human race that he represented died spiritually! The devil is a murderer and the father of lies!
It should not be necessary to point out that the devil is a real person. The devil is not omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent. The devil is not an evil being who is equal to God but the devil is a real person and he is extremely powerful and dangerous.
I believe it was Martin Luther who said that the devil could control you if he can get you to believe one of two things. If he can get you to deny that he exists at all then you would not be on guard. And if he can get you to be obsessed with him then your mind would not be on God.
46 Which of you convicts Me of sin?
Here is yet another claim by Jesus that no mere man could make. How far would you have to look to correctly charge me with sin? Jesus here is saying that He is without sin!
It was Charles Spurgeon, I believe, who once preached and pleaded for anyone who could find fault with Jesus to please tell him because his very soul depended on a sinless Substitute for sin.
48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
This is about as mean and ugly a thing that one Jew could say to another Jew. The Jews hated the Samaritans. So it is an ugly racial slur, “You are a Samaritan!” So they insult Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan and besides that, they say, “You have a demon!” “You are crazy!”
49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
50 And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
51 Most assuredly [Amen, amen], I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
Jesus responds to their insults and says that it will not be necessary for Him to vindicate Himself. God the Father will do that.
These Jewish leaders can never say that He did not give them many opportunities to accept Him as Messiah. They are responsible for their hardness of heart and unbelief.
Jesus uses the double amen [most assuredly, verily, verily] at verse 51. We have explained this before but a quick reminder is in order.
When we say “amen” we are affirming what someone has said. Let it be so!
When Jesus uses the double amen [exclusive of John] it is to put an emphasis on what He is about to say and to say, “This is God speaking!”
51 Most assuredly [Amen, amen], I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?"
They repeat the insult and prove verse 43: Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
They also miss the import of verse 49: Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
The very One who they say is their God, honors Jesus of Nazareth.
54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
Once again Jesus tells them that they do not know God and that He cannot deny God or He would be a liar like they are.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
This is an extremely important verse. What was it that Abraham saw?
The first thing that we can establish for certain is that Abraham believed the gospel. Galatians 3:6-9
6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed."
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Abraham did not have, nor did he need to have, all of the information that the NT gives us about Jesus of Nazareth. But it is very likely that Abraham knew a great deal more than is recorded that he knew.
The faithful of the OT understood a lot more than we are told.
Psalm 25:14
The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
When Abraham was told by God to offer Isaac, the son of the promise, as a sacrifice, he obeyed God. At the last instant before Abraham plunged the knife into Isaac he was stopped by God and was shown a ram with its horns caught in a thicket. Abraham saw substitution.
The Jews took virtually everything literally. “How ridiculous you are.”
57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
There is an interesting thought in what they say. Jesus is only 33 years old and yet they compare His appearance to a much older man.
We are not told what Jesus looked like physically, but Isaiah says this about Messiah’s physical appearance.
Isaiah 53:1-3
1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
The last thing that Jesus says to these religious hypocrites is that He is very God. Jesus proclaims His preexistence: Jesus is I AM!
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly [Amen, amen], I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
And these religious frauds are still determined to murder the Son of God.
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Amen
Sola Scriptura 
