Intro: I grew up in
A)The guys I
went to school with had a very unusual past time. Mama Jokes
B) Sit around
for an hour or more – 10 guys capping on each others mothers.
C) Jokes like:
Yo
mama so tall she tripped over a rock and hit her head on the moon.
Your momma is so tall she made godzilla look like a action figure
Yo mama so old she has a
picture of Moses in her yearbook
Yo mama so old her birth certificate says expired on
it.
Yo mama so old she knew Burger King while he was
still a prince.
Yo mama so old she was a waitress at the Last Supper.
They would just go on and on – Until usually it would get
kind of heated –
A)Then someone
would say: Well who is your Daddy!
B) See a lot
of the guys I went to school with in HS
they didn’t know who their daddy was.
Well here in John Chapter 8 the religious leaders resort to
the same type of ridicule with Jesus
A)The
religious leaders boast – Our Father is Abe but you don’t even know who your
father is.
Pick up in
V.37 -40
"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. V.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."
B) Now I want you to notice that Jesus uses the phrase the
Abraham’s descendants
1) Not
Children { Blood line but not the same heart
C) He says if
you were really the Children of Abe you would do the works of Abe.
What was Abe’s work? Faith – He was the father of Faith –
A)James in his
epistle declared that Abe’s faith was manifested by his actions James Ch.2
B) That true faith is a faith that works – In other words { Abes faith was not
just words
C) His faith
shaped his life – his decisions were based around his faith in God.
1)He left
2) Separated
from
3) He trusted
God for a son in his old age
4) He was
willing to sacrifice that son – believing God would resurrect him
D) For that
reason Abe has been called the Father of faith – those who exercise like
faith in God are Abes Children.
The Physical mark of the Children of Abe was circumcision
A)Paul would
say in his Letter to the Romans –
B)
Circumcision of the heart happens thru faith
1) God marks
you as His – Sealed with his spirit
C)
God gives you a special identification mark of belonging to Him { His Prize {
apple of his eye.
1) Artist
marks his paintings
So Jesus says to these men – You are not children of Abe –
if you were you wouldn’t be trying to kill me
A)Now this is
the 2nd time in two days that Jesus makes mention of the fact they
wanted to kill Him!
B)Their reaction:
C) They get nasty – At least we were not illegitimate
1) Our mama
didn’t get pregnant before she was married -
{ Knock on Mary
D) You don’t even
know who your daddy is
Forget Abe – Our father is GOD!
A)With those
words they had no idea of how wrong they were.
B) The true
Son of God was right before them and they were nothing like him.
C) It is
interesting to me how that term the children of God gets thrown around today.
Fact- Reality – God is the Creator of all – but He is only
a Father to those who believe.
A)These guys
thought they were Children of God because they were Hebrews
B) God had
chosen Abe – to form a new race of people – Called
1) A people
governed by God.
C) But even
more so – God was calling Abe to start a new race of people – called believers
1) Those who
live by faith in God
D) From Abe
physical descendants would come the Messiah – who would chart the way for Abe’s
Spiritual descendants – Children of Faith
E) So those
who are believers in Jesus today – can claim a stronger linkage to Abe – then
anyone born a Hebrew
Being a Hebrew really doesn’t make a person a Child of Abe –
not in the truest sense of the term
A)So who was
their father? Well who were they acting more like ?
B) Jesus
answers that in the following verses V.42-47
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.
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."
In V.44 Jesus says to these guys – You are not Children of
God In reality Your father is the DEVIL
A)This is the
stark truth and reality even today
B) Jesus
declared in
C) When it
comes to Jesus there is no neutral ground
1) Either for
or against
D) A lot of
people today – would say – I am not against Jesus – Good guy / teacher /
prophet
1) Spiritual man -
But they are not For Him
E) You can find that out real quick –Just tell them Jesus is
all those things and more.
1) He is God –
Claimed to be the only way
F) Watch how
upset they get!
Go into any college campus across the
A)Jesus the
spiritual leader / J- the prophet
B) But the
minute you say that He is God and the only way- don’t believe you are going to
Hell
1) Watch the fire
works fly – weapons come out
2) People get extremely hostile
And as harsh as this will sound/ it is true according to the Bible that makes them a
Child of Satan.
A)Paul
declared in
B) Who were
being directly influenced and led around by Satan the prince of the air
1) The God of
this world – He charted a course and we were all on it
C) His course
was leading to destruction / damnation
He is a
murderer – He is a seductress { cut out heart
D)He is behind all that is anti God / all that is evil in
this world – sometimes it is easy to forget that.
1) We were on
his course
E)Until Jesus
came and rescued us!
Now make note of the Characteristics of those who are Children
of Satan – that John pinpoints here
1)V.37 They
will not give place to God’s word.
Jesus said – My word has no place in you.
They don’t
give place to the word of God – no residence in their hearts
2) V. 39 They trust in the flesh – human birth – We are the
sons of Abraham
A)Today people
do the same thing – We are born in
B) God / Guns,
the flag, Apple pie and Chevy!
C) Being an
American doesn’t make anyone a Christian –
1) Born in a
barn wouldn’t make you a Chicken
3) V.40 They
hate Christ: again go into a public place proclaim Jesus is the only way –
watch what happens
4) V.44,45 They love lies and reject truth
A)People today
will believe the craziest things –
B) Mary in a
piece of bread – but reject what the Bible says about Jesus!
C) Here is
what is interesting – whether you are talking about Kabbalah
/ Buddhism / Mormonism
1) Islam – You
name it.
D)There is a
certain Characteristic that appeals to the flesh
1) For some it
is a form of pleasure
Partake of every hedonistic thing you want to free sex etc –
But just be a good person – good Karma
A)Or there are
the ones that appeal to the flesh in this way.
B) If you work
hard enough – and deny your flesh – you will earn favor with God –
1) You will
ascend to some spiritual plateau
C) Either way
there is an appeal to the flesh
1) Mormonism –
You will be a god – rule your own planet
Christianity is so different – In Christianity the focus is
Christ
A)The focus is
on who He is – what He did
B) Nothing we
do to earn some kind of standing with God – or reach some type of spiritual
plateau
1)But on the
contrary – it is all about what Christ did
C) We come
into blessing – by believing in Him
1) Our faith is a response to His love.
D) All that we
experience in this Christian life here and in eternity – are all connected to
the benefits of being in Christ –
E) Being
placed in Jesus and enjoying those blessing and benefits
F) One day He is
going to return and set up His kingdom – and we get to be a part of that
1) All Him though – { Makes Christianity so different
G) In true
Christianity there is really no appeal to our flesh – {Only when we get off
track
1)Put the
focus on us – Prideful
Well notice how these guys react to being called Children of
Satan – V. 48
V.48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him,
"Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
A)You are
unclean – a Samaritan and demon possessed
B) I love how
Jesus responds – matter of fact John v.49 "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.
C) And then in
v.51 Jesus makes the first of 3 incredible claims here in John Ch.8
51
Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see
death."
Claim #1 if anyone keeps My word he shall
never see death."
A)Note: He does not say,
"He who keeps my word will never die," because Christians do die.
B)What he says is that when
they die they will not "see death."
1)
He even makes use of a double negative to emphasize his claim, "He will
never, ever see death."
C) When a Christian breathes
his last – not death
Really a PASSING one realm
to the next
1) Close our eyes on earth and
open in Glory!
On his death bed,
D. L. Moody, the great evangelist, exclaimed, "Earth is receding; heaven is approaching. This is my crowning
day."
That
is why Paul would ask the question in
A)Now for us who are left
behind there might be a sting – we miss our loved one.
B) No sting for them – to be
absent from this body is to be present with Jesus.
C) Funerals for believers –
I actually enjoy –
1) Great hope in the midst of
sorrow
D) Especially when they have
suffered – body was broken down –
1) Now new bodies - / No
pain / sickness / weakness ‘
E) Absolute glory ! WOW !
Now
the religious leaders flip out over what Jesus says here:
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?"
Who do you think you are!
Abe/ Prophets/ Moses ..
This
leads to claim #2
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. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to
see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
Claim#2
Jesus has intimate knowledge of God.
A)Jesus used
two words for know in this verse.
B)In
describing their ignorance { you have not known Him,
Jesus used a Greek word that carries the idea of knowing by learning. Or
by effort
C) It is
knowing that comes from acquiring knowledge about someone or something.
1)But for all
of their knowledge about God – they didn’t really know God
D) They knew about God- like many in Church today Know about
God { See w/ Kids
1) Head
knowledge – information station
E) But the
information has never transferred into intimacy – Head to the heart – Missing
MY prayer is somehow – Lord show us how to help them move
from the Info to the intimacy
A)From knowing
about to really knowing – Knowing by experience
B) Life
lessons – get it out of the text books –
1) Bible study
is great – but if this doesn’t somehow translate into your daily walk – no real
value.
C) So in
speaking of them Jesus uses a grk word that speaks of
knowing by learning
1)The
acquiring of information
But when Jesus says but I know Him – He uses a word – for
know – that conveys the idea of knowing without effort
A)He didn’t have to expend effort to know God – because He was intimately
acquainted with Him
B)Been with
him from eternity.
C) Dating is
all about learning – really don’t know a person {
1) Purpose –
get to know someone.
D) My wife and
I married 20yrs – she knows me
1) She can
read me – me her! ONENESS
E)Jesus knew
the father- they were ONE!
Now Jesus said that Abe rejoiced to see his day! WHEN did
that happen.
A)I
believe this reference is to the story in
B)
“Melchizedek” means “King of Righteousness.” Melchizedek was from
C)Melchizedek had no mother or
father, no beginning or end (Hebrews 7:3).
1)He
offered bread and wine to Abraham and accepted a tithe from him—
D)
all of which point to the distinct possibility that Melchizedek was a Christophany, an earthly appearance of Jesus before He came
as the Babe of Bethlehem.
Once again notice the response of the religious leaders:
57
Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You
seen Abraham?"
A)Interesting to
me Jesus was only about 33 at this time – and yet they throw out the phrase 50
B) Does that
mean – he looked older – had he aged
1) I don’t
think so I think it was his wisdom –
C) He talked
like one of their older rabbis –
Well this led to Claim #3 Jesus
claims to be God!
V. 58 Jesus said to them, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
A)Now That is one of the
most remarkable statements in all of Scripture.
B)Do not let anybody ever
tell you that Jesus did not claim to be God, because that is clearly what he is
claiming here.
C) Literally it is, "Before Abraham came into being, I existed "Abraham
'became,' but I was already there,".
D)He does not even say,
"Before Abraham was, I was," for that would justify what the cults
say;
1)that
JESUS is only a higher created being.
E)Rather,
he uses the name that is used throughout the Old Testament to describe the
ultimate character of God.
The
ancient Grk phrase is ego emi,
which is the same term used in the Grk translation of
the OT in Jesus’ day to describe the Voice from the burning bush.
A)When Moses was sent down
to
B). God's reply was,
"Tell him I AM WHO I AM has sent you."
C)This
is the name that Jesus takes to himself here.
1)It
cannot be interpreted in any other way than as a unique claim to deity.
D) Actually this is the third time in this chapter Jesus uses the phrase I Am (John 8:24, 8:28), and here in
Now did those listening understand that
Jesus was claiming to be God – Look at the next verse?
V. 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.
Listen closing tonight: Do
you Know Him or about Him
And this is eternal life, that they may know
You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Know Him – has the truth
gone from Head to the heart
Is yours a true faith like
Abe that is carried out in actions
Is it seen in how you treat
others – Wife / Kids / Serve
Out of a response to Jesus –
your way of saying to Him Lord I Love you.