OUR FATHER WHOSE ETERNAL SON IS THE GREAT I AM

John chapter 8 verses 48 - 59 ends the chapter with the the Lord Jesus revealing His identity to them as the “I AM“ and in doing so, involed the wrath the wrath of the crowd. as the

48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

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, 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?”

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.”

57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

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.

In this passaage, the Lord Jesus spoke of and demonstrated some of the special characteristics and abilities He had as the Son of God who honored His Father.

• He knew God
• He kept Godˋs word
• Anyone who kept His word would never taste death
• The patriarch Abraham rejoiced to see His day
• He was the great ˋI AMˋ
• He could hide Himself in plain daylight
• He could pass through the midst of a crowd who were tring to capture Him

The people were angered by His words but could not capture Him before it was time.

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO HIS PEOPLE AND THEY RECEIVED HIM NOT

Conversing with the Jews who were listening to Him, Jesus, in John chapter 8 verses 37 - 47, said this;

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.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

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.”

Jesus informed the crowd that was listening to Him that even though they, as the peope of Israel, were descendants of Abraham, they were still citizens of the kingdom of darkness because they engaged in works of darkness.

He told that He was not of that kingdom and the proof of it was that He had no sin.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHOSE SON SET US FREE FROM SLAVERY TO SIN 

In John chapter 8 verses 31 - 36, the Lord Jesus focused on the Jews who believed in Him speaking these words to them;

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.”

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’?”

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.

The Lord explained to them that adhering to the words He was speaking would make them know the truth and the truth would set them free.

The people thought He was speaking of corporeal slavery and objected to being characterised as slaves but Jesus clarified for them that He was speaking in spiritual terms and that the slavery He was speaking of was the slavery to sin which is the coin of the kingdom of darkness. 

Jesus explained that their slavery to sin would have kept them in the status of aliens to the kingdom of God even though they were descendants of Abraham but by abiding in Jesus, they would be free from sin and be permanent sons in the household of God where they would have freedom and access to God forever.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHO IS PLEASED BY THOSE WHO FOLLOW WHAT HE SHOWS THEM

John chapter 8 verses 21 - 30 records the  Lord Jesus telling the people that He was about to depart and that if they did not believe in Him, they would die in their sins. When they tried to understand who He was, He told them that He was the Son of Man whom they would lift up and when they did that, they would know that He was of the Father in heaven and that everything He did was taught to Him by the Father.

21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”  27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

The words that Jesus spoke drew many people and they believed in Him because He testified that the Father stayed near Him because the things He did always pleased the Father.

The people themselves wished they could please the Father and Jesus was declaring that He pleased the Father because His words and deeds were always those that pleased the Father and this was a pattern that many people wanted to emulate in their own lives.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER ALSO BORE WITNESS TO HIS SON

John chapter 8 verses 12 -  20 records a confrontion in the treasury building in Jerusalem between Jesus and the Pharisees.

The pharisees were challenging Jesusˋ claims about Himself saying that they were invalid because they were they were not corroborated by the witness of others.

Jesus countered them by telling them that the law required two witness for a matter to be validated and Jesus declared to them that He and His Father were two and that was sufficient.

The Lord Jesus was telling the religious authorities that because they had no knowledge of the God they claimed to represent, they were unable to see that He was the One who was sent by the Father.

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

The Lord Jesusˋ statements perplexed and angered the Pharisees further but even though He was within their grasp in their own territory in Jerusalem, they could not touch Him because the time of His sacrifice had not arrived.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME NOT TO CONDEMN THE WORLD

After teaching at the temple, Jesus retreated to the Mount of Olives but returned early the next morning and all the people gravitated towards Him to hear Him speaking. The religious establishment, still trying to find a way to trap Him with something He said, brought a woman caught in adultery and asked Him to comment on her fate.

Jesus, let the tension in the air rise by remaining silent and stooping to the ground to write with His finger on the ground.

Even as Jesus ignored them, they pressed Him for an answer and when the tension peaked, He stood up and said that the ones among them who had no sin should throw the first stone. He then stopped down again and continued writing on the ground.

John chapter 8 verses 1 - 11 relates the event this way;

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The group that had assembled to stone the woman to death slowly dispersed starting with the oldest ones and when they were gone, Jesus stood up again and asked the woman where her accusers were.

When she said there were none left, Jesus told her that if there were none to accuse her, then He would not accuse her either and He told her to go and sin no more.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON WAS NOT RECEIVED BY THOSE TO WHOM HE WAS SENT

The Lord Jesusˋ presense in Jerusalem was causing a stir among the people and among the religious leaders. They debated among themselves what His words meant and tried to reason together whether He was the promised one or not. Some felt that He was the prophet and the Christ they were waiting for but others objected because He was from Galilee and not from Bethlehem where the Christ was to appear. 

John chapter 7 verses 32 -  53  captures the debate among the inhabitants of Jerusalem over the validity of Jesusˋ ministry and also records  attempts by the religious leaders to arrest Him.

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 

43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

53 And everyone went to his own house.

There were some among the religious leaders like Nicodemus who argued that Jesus should be given due process of the law rather than presumptive condemnation but the status quo felt justified in their quest to destroy Jesus.

The political heat was rising and the danger to Jesus was mounting.

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