48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Just a few verses before this (verse 30), we were told that many believed in him. After some more discussion, it devolves into more name calling as they accuse Jesus of having an illegitimate birth. Jesus responds by saying they have the devil as their father. Wow, what’s the difference between what they said versus what Jesus said? Name calling is derogatory and in this case a lie. Jesus tells the truth in order to show them the source of their unbelief problem. Now, they up the ante by claiming Jesus is a half breed with a demon. They probably remembered that the crowd had previously accused Jesus of having a demon in John 7:20. Again, this is nothing but name calling used to try to discredit someone when you are losing a debate.
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."
Now Jesus calls them out for the name calling. He does it by denying their accusations and by pointing out that their name calling dishonors him. Here Jesus is, trying to bring honor and glory to his Father and the people are calling him names. Anyone who dishonors Jesus also dishonors the Father (John 5:23). For doing this, they will be judged.
God seeks glory for himself. The Son and the Holy Spirit do not seek it in the sense that is it is for themselves though they receive it as members of the Trinity. In Isaiah 42:8, the Lord (Yahweh) clearly states that he will not give his glory to another as he condemns idols. Then in Isaiah 48:11, he again says he will not give his glory to another. This time it is in the context of his name being profaned by Israel for refining them. When the Jews heard Jesus saying that they dishonor his Father, they should have remembered the judgment that came upon Israel for dishonoring the Lord.
The application should be clear for us also. If we are not careful, we can also dishonor Jesus by the way we live. Paul warned about this in Romans 2:23-24 saying that when we who know better, break the law (sin), God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (unbelievers).
Jesus then holds out to these disciples-turned-scoffers the promise of eternal life if they will keep his word. If they had been listening to him from the beginning, they would have understood he was talking about this and not physical 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?"
These guys are in a downward spiral of unbelief. Each time they come back at Jesus they dig their grave deeper. From a human unbeliever’s viewpoint, they are making absolutely good sense. They see Jesus making claims that to them are nonsense. The more they embrace their own reasoning the farther they get from being able to understand the spiritual content of Jesus’ message. It’s the same kind of reasoning that denies any miracles in the Bible or even in today’s world because it isn’t scientific. People today reason that it must be myths because other ancient books were loaded with myths. They scoff at modern miracles because they “know” they don’t happen and there is always a naturalistic explanation.
Abraham was promised to become the father of many nations and it came true, so they believe that Abraham was greater than he was, almost as if he had some special power. They idolized the prophets as well. What they missed in their condemning Jesus is that it wasn’t Abraham or the prophets who were great but God who worked through them. We don’t want to miss that either. Pastors and teachers are only great because God is working through them.
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."
Check this out carefully. Jesus answers their direct question about who he is. He states in no uncertain terms that God is his Father and that God honors him. This is so clear that no one can miss it. No one should say that Jesus never claimed to be God incarnate. There is no way to interpret this other than what he said. If Jesus were to say otherwise, he would be a liar and that would prove that he is not who he says. If he were a liar, then his death would not be able to atone for our sins.
Jesus is not a liar, so his next statement about Abraham seeing his day must be the absolute truth. The Son of God is eternal, and Jesus wants to make the point. He could not have said it more clearly, but I get the feeling Jesus said it this way not just to prove a point about himself, but to yank on their chain.
57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
And did it ever yank their chain! It jerked them so hard that they didn’t even respond to his comments about clearly calling God his Father and that they are liars, and they don’t know God at all.
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
Jesus again explains to them who he is. He is God and uses the same expression for his eternal existence as did the Lord when he spoke to Moses and revealed his name. God said to Moses, "I am who I am” (Ex 3:14 ESV). The word “am” is the Hebrew hayah, which is “to exist.”[1] I imagine Moses talking to God and asking him his name. God replies, “Duh! I exist.” Moses answers, that it isn’t a name but an attribute. God replies that is exactly why I chose my name because it most completely explains what it is to be God. One who exists without any prior cause.
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.
If they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying before, now they do. You can often understand what a person is saying by the reaction of those who hate him. These former believers knew enough about theology to know that Jesus was identifying himself as God. They didn’t mistake what he was saying, and they didn’t like it. Jesus’ claim to be God flies in the face of everything they had believed about God, that he is one (Deut 6:4). Unfortunately for them, the Lord had not revealed to them the nature of three beings in one being. Though there are many hints to it in the Old Testament, it didn’t become clear until Jesus came.
It is interesting that the twelve’s reaction to Jesus’ teaching and comments are not recorded. Had they understood or been taught about the Trinity? Apparently, Peter’s confession, “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69 NIV), was sufficient for them to accept what Jesus said without hesitation.
Many people say that Jesus didn’t claim to be deity. This episode and the response of his distractors is a strong argument that Jesus did make the claims.
Jesus couldn’t possibly be stoned to death or the whole plan of the Father would be defeated. This isn’t the only time that Jesus miraculously walks away from the crowd that wants to kill him. See Luke 4:28-30 where Jesus walks away from the crowd that tried to throw him off the cliff at Nazareth.
No comments:
Post a Comment