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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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GOSPEL OF JOHN Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert 9. Abraham
Discourse 8:31–59 [12 - (Jn 8:31-59) 2/17/10] a) The Truth
Shall Set you Free (30-36) (1) In spite
of the fact that the Jews had sought to trap and kill Jesus, “many came to
believe in Him” (30). To those who believed in Him, He said that those who
continue (ménō – remain, abide)
in His Word were genuinely (alęthṓs
– adverb fr. alęthę́s
– “true state of affairs”) His disciples (31). Having a desire for the
Word and being obedient to it is an evidence of salvation (Jn 8:37; 15:7; 1Jn
1:10; 2:14; 2Jn 1:9) and true discipleship. (2) Furthermore, those who are true disciples
will know the truth (alę́theia fr. alęthę́s) and
God’s truth (alę́theia fr. alęthę́s) will set
them free (32). (3) The Jews insisted that they were Abraham’s
descendants and therefore, never slaves. They did not comprehend how Jesus
could say that He made them free (33). Jesus explained that the freedom He
was speaking of was in regard to sin. He said that, “everyone who commits sin
(i.e. sinners, Ro 3:23) is a slave to sin. Jesus came to free the believing
sinner from sin (34). The slave is in a different position than a son or
child of God. The son remains in house of the Father (eternal life) forever, the slave does not (35). (4) Therefore (36), when the Son of God makes a
believing sinner free, he is genuinely and completely free (eleutheróō). Freedom from the penalty
of sin (Jn 8:32; Ro 8:1). Freedom from the power of sin (Ro 6:18; 8:2).
Freedom from self-righteous legalism (Ga 5:1). Freedom from decay and
corruption (Ro 8:21). Freedom from the position of slavery to sonship (Jn 8:36 cp. Col 1:13). b) Abraham’s
Descendants (37-59) (1) Spiritual
Descendants of Abraham (37) (a) Jesus
picks up where the Jews claimed they were “Abraham’s descendants” (33).
Abraham, of course, became the father of the Jews when God made His covenant
with Abraham (Gen 17:4-5). (b) However, Jesus made a distinction between
being a physical descendant and being a spiritual descendant of Abraham (Ro 9:6;
Ga 6:15-16). They have proved they were not spiritual descendants of Abraham
because they sought to kill Jesus. Therefore, His word was not in them (37). (2) True
Fatherhood of God and Abraham (37-50) (a) Jesus
spoke the things of His Father. In the same way the Jews spoke what they
heard from their father, a reference to the Devil (38 cp. 44). If these
religious leaders were Abraham’s children, then they would do the deeds of
Abraham, namely believe (39 cp. Ro 4:3). If they were Abraham’s children they
would not be seeking to kill Jesus, the Son of God, who was telling the
truth, which He heard from God (40). (b) In their rebuttal to Jesus, they make what
may have been a searing and sarcastic remark concerning Jesus’ birth. Not
knowing of Christ’s prophesied virgin birth, they believed the erroneous
rumor that Jesus was born out of wedlock (porneía
– moral impurity, fornication, any sexual impurity). They concluded that
God was their Father (41). However, if God was truly their Father, they would
love His Son. The Son proceeded from the Father and was sent by Him and not
on His own initiative (42). Therefore, these Jews were rejecting the Father. (c) Once again we see that these Jews could not
understand what Jesus’ words. This was further proof that God was not their
Father (43). Who was their father? Jesus pointedly said that it was the Devil
(diábolos – slanderer, accuser;
Eng. diabolical). The Jews had the evil desires of the Devil to reject
Jesus. They had the evil motives of the Devil, who was a murderer from the
beginning, to seek to kill Jesus. They also had the evil deception of the
Devil to speak lies concerning Jesus (which would eventually lead to His
crucifixion). Jesus said that there was no truth in the Devil, that his
nature was that of a liar, and that he was the “father of lies” (44). The
Devil’s original lie was to question God’s Word (Ge 3:4). (d) The proof that they were of their father
the Devil was that they did not believe God’s truth, but Satan’s lies (45).
They were not arguing with Jesus because He had sinned, for none of them had
one sin with which to convict Him (46). Only those who were born of God could
hear understand the words of God. The Jews could not understand them because
they rejected Christ and were not born of God (47). (e) The Jews further displayed their sinful
natures by accusing Jesus of being a Samaritan and demon-possessed. By
calling Him a Samaritan they were saying that He had compromised the truth of
God and become an enemy of the Jews. By calling Him demon-possessed they were
saying that the Son of God was truly a son of the Devil. It was a reference
to the fact that they believed that the Devil was guiding Jesus’ lunacy and
words (48 cp. 7:20; 8:48-49; 10:20). However, it was the Jews who were
dishonoring God by calling His Son “demon-possessed” (49). (3) The
Existence of Christ and Abraham (51-59) (a) As the
Son of God, Jesus could make the claim that anyone who keeps His Word will
never see death (condemnation). At this statement, the Jews concluded that
had a demon. Their lack of understanding led them to believe that Jesus was
speaking of physical death that Abraham and the prophets experienced. Though
asking in a derogatory and rhetorical manner, they had actually set
themselves up to hear the bold truth of who Jesus
actually was (52-53). (b) Jesus answered that His identity was
revealed by the Father who glorifies the Son (54). The Jews did not know God
the Father, nor His Son. Jesus is the One who knows the Father and keeps the
Father’s word (55). (c) Jesus then revealed that Abraham, their
father (physically speaking), rejoiced to see Jesus’ day, saw it, and was
glad. The reference made to Abraham rejoicing at Jesus’ day was most likely
the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that he would be “the father
of many nations.” Even though Abraham was beyond the age of reproduction (Ro
4:19), God miraculously fulfilled his promise through the son of Abraham and
Sarah named, Isaac (Yitschaq – means
laughter, Ge 17:19, 21:13). (d) Again the Jews had no spiritual
understanding and did not understand how Jesus could have seen Abraham (57). (e) In the most dramatic, climactic, and
revealing manner, Jesus made the statement, “before Abraham was born, I AM.”
This was an emphatic statement that He was not only the eternal Son of God,
but that He claimed to be the Great “I AM” (present tense, egō eimí – “I AM”)
of Ex 3:14. The Jews understood exactly what He was saying and picked up
stone to stone Him because He was claiming to be God (49). |
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