Written ~ 04-15-2024
Read John Chapter Eight
John 8
We have a lot to cover in today’s chapter… even if you already read through the chapter, look over verses 31-59, those are the verses we will study today. Let’s prepare our hearts and minds for what the Lord wants to teach us during this time of study.
Lord Jesus, thank you for Your presence during this time of reading your Word. Open our hearts, open our minds to what You want us to see and learn. Thank You Jesus for always speaking the truth and not backing down when opposition presses in on You from every direction. Amen.
Verses 8:31-36…
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, “You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. 32 And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”
33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
Let’s clarify who Jesus is speaking to in these verses, “The Message Version” explains verse 8:31a in this way…
31a “Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in Him…”
Let’s look back, for a moment, to John 2:23-25, “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in Him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because He knew all about people. No one needed to tell Him about human nature, for He knew what was in each person’s heart.”
So, the people Jesus was speaking to in John 8:3, were those who had been watching Jesus, listening to Him and they possibly had begun believing in Him, but I get the feeling Jesus is a little skeptical about their belief and acceptance of Him. Look further in verse 8:31 where He says, “…you are truly My disciples if…” Such a small word – “if” – but it packs a punch in this verse; “if” is a condition, a stipulation, in our passage for today this “if” is a condition of the heart, it is a stipulation that you remain faithful to the teachings found in the Word of God. Along with this “if,” verse 8:32 says… “…you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free…”
So… “if” you are faithful to the teachings found in the Word of God, you will know the Truth of the words written in your Bible and that Truth will set you free…
Verse 8:33…
33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
Once again these people got Jesus’ message all twisted and turned around, they took offense to the term “set free.” To them, Jesus was calling them slaves and that did not go over very well. Take a look at what the “Expositor’s Bible Commentary” says about this verse…
- The freedom Jesus spoke of was spiritual freedom from sin and its effects, as the following context shows. The Jews’ response indicates that they were thinking of political freedom, since they spoke of being enslaved to persons (John 8:33). Their protest was ill-founded, for they were forgetting the slavery of Egypt, the oppressions at the time of the Judges, the Exile in Babylon, and the current Roman domination of their land. Because they were descendants of Abraham, with whom God had established a permanent covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-14, 19; 22:15-18), they considered themselves exempt from any spiritual danger.
Because the people Jesus spoke to were not thinking about the spiritual implications of their freedom, they were completely missing the point of knowing the Truth and being set free.
The reply Jesus gives is perfect… not only for the people talking to Him then, but it’s also perfect for us right here, right now.
Verse 8:34-36…
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
Romans 3:23-25a and 26b says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood…God makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.”
No one is without sin, you may think you are a good person for the most part, but that does not make you right with God. Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” To be set free from sin is to believe the truth of Jesus Christ and become a child of God. Romans 8:14-15, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, Abba, Father.”
John 8:35…
35 “A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.”
Let’s think of it this way… let’s picture a man who has just married the love his life… when he says his vows to this woman and they become husband and wife, at that union, he becomes a part of her family. He has now joined her family as “son.” This goes for the new wife as well! She becomes a part of his family, she has now joined his family as “daughter.” So, when we give our lives to the Lord Jesus, we instantly become a part of His family, a child of the Living God, our Father in Heaven.
Awesome, right!?
When the people Jesus was talking to… had said in verse 8:33 that they “are descendants of Abraham” and again in verse 8:39, they declare, “Our father is Abraham!” It confirms that they have no idea what it means to know God as Father. Look how Jesus responds…
John 8:37-41a…
37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill Me because there’s no room in your hearts for My message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with My Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”
39 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.
“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. 40 Instead, you are trying to kill Me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41a No, you are imitating your real father.”
Let’s pause here… The Jews that were confronting Jesus would have been from a very long lineage that went all the back to Abraham, we are introduced to Abraham in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. So we are looking at a genealogy that went back 5000 years.
Here’s an excerpt from the “Expositor’s Bible Commentary”
- Jesus insisted that the Jews were not the true children of Abraham. Their hatred of Jesus, refusal to listen to truth, and lack of simple faith gave a false impression of their claims. The Jews’ insistence that they were children of Abraham implied that they regarded their relationship to God as secure because of their lineal descent from the man with whom God had confirmed His covenant. The Jews’ insistence that they were true descendants of Abraham brought Jesus’ flat denial of their spiritual claims, and He attributed their attitude to another source. (“No, you are imitating your real father.” Vs.8:41a)
Do you understand what Jesus is saying to these people? If Abraham isn’t their “father” and God is not their father, who is Jesus saying is their father? Look closely at the next set of verses…
John 8:41b-45…
41b They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”
42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on My own, but He sent Me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear Me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe Me!”
Whew! This statement from Jesus has a target that’s been hit straight in the heart. Jesus may be speaking to the Jews gathered around Him in these verses, but this message is just as true for us today. If we do not hear or try to understand what Jesus is saying to us through the Scriptures, we are listening instead, to the devil. The devil is filling our hearts and minds with lies and if we aren’t careful we can imitate his character and not allow the truth of Jesus to sink in. If the father of lies is who has control of your thoughts and actions, Jesus is telling you, “…when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe Me!”
Jesus continues His message…
John 8:46-47…
46 Which of you can truthfully accuse Me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe Me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
If you don’t belong to God, if you have not yet accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, your place in the family of God as son or daughter stands empty. If you won’t listen to the words of God and continue to ignore the prompting in your soul to believe and to accept the truth of who Jesus is, you don’t belong to God, therefore, you are not a child of God.
“Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God.”
The people’s retort was to call Jesus a devil and that He was demon possessed (vs.8:48). To me, that sounds ridiculous, seems like quite a stretch of the imagination to call Jesus, the Son of God a demon possessed devil. Jesus responded with, “No. I have no demon in Me. For I honor My Father – and you dishonor Me.”
Skip down to verse 8:53 where they ask Jesus, “Are You greater that our father Abraham?…Who do You think You are?”
Have you ever questioned Jesus in this way? Have you ever pointed a finger up towards heaven and yelled at the Lord, “Who do You think You are?” Jesus is truth, He came down from Heaven to glorify the Father, Jesus obeys the Word of the Father. If we know who Jesus is, then we know who the Father is, and if we have this knowledge and have taken it to heart, we will obey the word of the Lord.
The last response Jesus said to these people in verse 8:58 had the people in such a rage that “they picked up stones to throw at Him! But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.” (vs.8:59)
John 8:58…
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born…
I AM!”
What does it mean when Jesus says that He is the “I AM?”
Look back at John 1:1-2…
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
It means Christ has always existed…
Exodus 3:13-15…
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is His name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is My Eternal Name,
My Name to remember for all generations.
The Jews confronting Jesus that day, did not believe who He said He was…
Do you believe Jesus is the I AM?
~AMEN~