Joh 8:51 - 59 I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. NIV
This passage of Scripture recounts a day when Jesus was speaking at the Temple in Jerusalem. Although some Jews were amazed by His miracles and fascinated by His teachings, there were others who were angered that Jesus didn't say or do things the way they thought He should. They wanted Him say and do things their way. If Jesus failed to speak and perform according to their standards they were ready to destroy His reputation by declaring He was demon possessed.
An ordinary man might have sought to smooth things over and be less radical in what he taught. But Jesus was no ordinary man. He didn't merely defend his words as reasonable and worth considering as possibly true. Jesus simply said "if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."
Now that is an incredible statement. How could any teacher say something that outlandish?
Those who were present were confident they were well educated in spiritual matters. They felt fully qualified to determine that Jesus was out of his mind. He had to be demon possessed to say such a thing.. After all, the great men of God, Abraham and the prophets had all died. Did he think he was greater than Abraham? Whoever did this Jesus think he was?
If they thought they'd impress Jesus with their knowledge about Abraham, Jesus had an answer for them that they couldn't have expected.
He told them, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
That made them more sure than ever that Jesus was a lunatic. Abraham had been dead for hundreds of years. How could Jesus claim to have seen Abraham!
Jesus' reply was simple and covered two points. The first was "I tell you the truth." Because Jesus is who He is, He knows what is true, and so when He speaks He is not making guesses about what might or might not be true. Whenever Jesus says anything He is telling the truth whether or not those who hear it understand it.
The second point that Jesus made in his response regarding His knowledge about Abraham was this: "before Abraham was born, I am."
Jesus was not only declaring to know more than all the others who had gathered at the Temple, He was declaring that He'd been around for far more than 50 years. Far more than just hundreds or even thousands of years.
When Jesus said "before Abraham was born, I am" the Jews who were there became enraged because "I AM" is the phrase God used to identify Himself to Moses. For Jesus to say what He'd just told them was the same as declare Himself to be God.
Indeed to say such a thing is blasphemy. Unless, of course, the person saying it is, in truth, God.
The people took up stones to put him to death for such blasphemy. But they were unable to do what they were determined to do to him. Why? Because He was both God in the flesh and the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for our sins. Therefore no one could kill Him until it was the right day and method of execution that would be acceptable for the Lamb of God.
This passage from the 8th chapter of John is just one of the places where we can read Who Jesus claimed to be. If He was speaking the truth in saying what He said, we'd better give Him and everything He said the utmost of our attention. Our eternity may depend on it.
Ignoring Jesus and His words may be just as offensive to God as calling Him demon possessed or raising stones to kill Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment