Prayer of the Day: O Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Truth who speaks words that pierce our hearts and expose our sin. Grant us humble faith to receive Your Word, even when it wounds our pride, that we may repent and cling to the promise of life You give. Keep us steadfast in Your truth, that holding fast to Your Word we may never see death, but live with You forever; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. Indeed, I have not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my message? It is because you are not able to listen to my word. You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not remain standing in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks from what is his, because he is a liar and the father of lying. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Who of you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you do not listen is that you do not belong to God.” The Jews responded, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. Amen, Amen, I tell you: If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never see death.” So the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. Yet you say, ‘If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never taste death.’ You are not greater than our father, Abraham, are you? He died. And the prophets died. Who do you think you are?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, about whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ Yet you do not really know him, but I do know him. If I said, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I hold on to his word. Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day. He saw it and rejoiced.” The Jews replied, “You aren’t even fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Before Abraham was born, I am.” Then they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and left the temple area. (EHV)

You have probably heard the phrase, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I’m pretty sure that is one of the most factually inaccurate statements of all time. Perhaps the phrase is supposed to be more of a mindset, one that should be strived for. But the fact of the matter is that often the most hurtful things for people are just that: words.

Why is that the case? One reason is that the truth hurts. And what do we say about the Word? “Your Word is truth.” The words that Jesus speaks in this chapter were considered by some as fighting words. But did He say anything untrue? Or unloving? Jesus was fighting a different battle than they were. His words reveal where their loyalty was, they reveal life and death, and they reveal God! We pray: MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATIONS OF OUR HEARTS BE ACCEPTABLE IN YOUR SIGHT, O LORD, OUR ROCK AND OUR REDEEMER, Amen.

John chapter 8 is a fascinating chapter of Scripture. The majority of it is spent with Jesus telling these people just exactly who He is. But they didn’t or wouldn’t understand. He would say one thing, and they would jump to some completely different conclusion. Jesus explains why they were not able to hear what He was saying. Why do they not understand His message? It was because they were not able to listen to His word. They were missing a crucial piece of being able to listen to Jesus—Faith.

Jesus said of them, “You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not remain standing in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks from what is his, because he is a liar and the father of lying. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” The reason they couldn’t hear Him was because they didn’t believe. Jesus summarizes the fact quite bluntly. They were of the Devil.

There were many preconceived ideas about Jesus at the time, as there are today. Many people think that He was simply a great teacher who was all about love. Well, maybe some of those people would be shocked at John 8. Jesus just called these people “sons of Satan.” That doesn’t seem very loving. But that is exactly what it is. What He says here is as accurate as it is loving. And it’s not like that only applies to those people there that day. This is how we all are. At least, how we all were. This used to apply to you as well. Ephesians says, “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:3 NKJ) Prior to our conversion, we were sons of Satan as well. But He made us alive once more. We were Satan’s allies, dead in trespasses and sins. But now no longer.

It is ironic what He is saying and how they respond. He is rightly pointing out that they were of the Devil (as were we all), and that they were not from God. And what do they come back with? “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Basically, their response is “I know you are, but what am I?!” It doesn’t take much maturity to see how immature that response is. That quip about being a Samaritan is also of note. Are they just trying to insult Him? Or are they calling into question His lineage? Are they insinuating that He was a half-breed? It doesn’t really matter. What is clear is that in their pride they were rejecting what Jesus was saying. They were proud of their heritage. They were from Abraham! They would not believe that their sin separated them from God.

The forerunner, John the Baptist, warned about this attitude. John told people much like those in front of Jesus here, “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (Mat 3:9 NKJ) The heir of Abraham was right in front of them! Jesus had previously told them that the truth would set them free. They balked at that, claiming they were never slaves. To which Jesus says, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (Joh 8:34 NKJ) They refused to believe they were slaves to sin.

Are we in danger of similar pitfalls? Sure! Of course we are! That same devilish heritage resides in all of us. Could we rest on the laurels of our heritage? Maybe that is a temptation for some of us more than others. But the common cause is a danger for all of us. The danger of not solely relying on Jesus for everything we need. We need Jesus. Desperately. That was why He was there that day, speaking truth to people who hated Him. That is why He went bound, hand and foot, to the cross. He was here to do His Father’s will. That will is to save you!

Whenever I preach on a text, I am constantly trying to find Law and Gospel. There is plenty of Law in this section, because Jesus is dealing with unbelief. But that’s the problem with unbelief. It rejects the Gospel! Look at the glorious nugget Jesus gives here and how it is responded to. Jesus said, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never see death.” How did the Jews respond? “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. Yet you say, ‘If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never taste death.’”

They are flabbergasted by what He says. All of their highly esteemed heroes had died. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Moses. All the prophets. They all died. How is it that Jesus can say if anyone holds on to His word, he will never taste death?

Well, they misquote Him. Jesus didn’t say, “never taste death”, but rather, “never see death”. We will taste death. Most likely. Most of us, I imagine, will experience what temporal death is like. But we will never see death. What is the difference? Those who die in faith die in the Lord! This is what Revelation 14 promises: “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’” (Rev 14:13 NKJ)

Jesus puts it a different way a few chapters later in this same Gospel: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (Joh 11:25-26 NKJ) Jesus’ words are life themselves. He does what He says. He defeated death. Now, so too do we. To believe in Jesus is to have life. To not believe is to have death.

The Jews in angry unbelief asked, “You are not greater than our father, Abraham, are you?” What is the answer to that question? It is a resounding and absolute YES. How is that the case? We all know how. It was in Jesus that Abraham trusted. Jesus testifies to them and to us, “Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day. He saw it and rejoiced.”

When was it that Abraham saw the day of Christ and rejoiced? By faith, Abraham saw it throughout his life. He lived in hope of the coming Savior who would die for Abraham’s sin. By faith, he knew that day was coming. As God provided a male sheep to die in place of Isaac, God would provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering on Calvary.

In unbelief, the Jews could not understand this. The Jews replied, “You aren’t even fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Before Abraham was born, I am.”

I find it interesting that they do not miss this! When Jesus says, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” they know exactly what He means. That is why they reach for stones. They understand that Jesus is claiming that He is God. To these people, what Jesus said was fighting words. What they failed to see was what He was really fighting. They were ready to kill Him, but His hour had not yet come so Jesus hid Himself from their sight.

What can we take away from this? Words do hurt. They especially hurt when they are true. The truth hurts. Sometimes, we don’t want to hear it, especially if it is true. But, in those circumstances, aren’t they exactly what we need to hear?

So, what is the truth that you need to hear? The same thing that I need to hear. That I am an utterly depraved sinner. I am not special. I am not good. On the contrary, I am a spawn of Satan. There is nothing good dwelling inside of me. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I deserve death and hell eternally.

All that is true. But that is not the whole truth. It’s a half truth. That is half of it. But the rest makes up for it. Yes, all that is true. But here is the answer. Jesus is the answer! As it says in Genesis 22, as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” (Gen 22:14 NKJ) That is what Good Friday is all about. It has been provided. He has been provided. God sacrifices His own Son to save you and to save me. He gives us His glorious fighting words, and they save us. They defeat our own sin, the devil, and the offended world. That is who Jesus fights—sin itself! He is our Lord and our God. “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Before Abraham was born, I am.”

The truth hurts. But it is also what we need to hear. And the truth saves. We all deserve death. But what are we given instead? The Word! And what does Jesus say about the Word which He gives us? “If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never see death.” All praise be to Jesus Christ, our truth and our life. Amen.

—Pastor Ben Libby

Redeemer Ev. Lutheran Church
Cheyenne, WY

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