Skip to main content

199. Jesus' Testimony


Key verse: "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
John 8:58

For the Jewish leadership, Jesus was finally speaking clearly. They remembered, in their history, when Moses met Got at the burning bush, before he led the people out of Egypt. Moses had asked: "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The Lord God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they ask me, "What is His name?" Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I Am." (Exodus 3:13-14A) "I Am," "JYWH," is the most revered name of God because it is the name He gave Himself. The Jews treated it so reverently that they wouldn't even speak it. When they were copying it as they copied and recorded their history, prophesies and law, His name was represented by four letters, "JYWH." To hear Jesus so plainly call Himself, "I Am," was blasphemy of a most serious kind, punishable by death if it weren't true.

We know that Jesus was speaking the truth, but to them, these were the words of an irreverent man. He had claimed to be bread, and compared Himself to the Manna from heaven. He had claimed to be magical water that could quench thirst forever. He had claimed to be light that could give life forever. Now, He was claiming to be God Himself. Only a madman, a demon possessed man, would make such claims in the hearing of others. How could he be speaking truth?

Throughout this passage, the issue of paternity has been discussed. Who is your father? Is Abraham your father, the devil, God? At one point, the comment was made, "We are not illegitimate children," (John 8:41) This may have had a double meaning in reference to Jesus. There had to be rumors about Jesus’ legitimacy and paternity. It wouldn't have taken much digging for the leadership to learn that Mary had been pregnant when she and Joseph were married and that Joseph wasn't the Father of her baby. This made Jesus even more loathsome in their eyes and may explain why they called Him a "Samaritan." (John 8:48) To have this man, who, as far as they knew, was unschooled, a simple blue collar carpenter of questionable heritage call Himself "God," was, to them, like dragging God's name through the mud, the dregs of society. Only a demon possessed man could be capable of such disrespectful speech and behavior, unless He was speaking the truth, which they were certain He was not!

John's gospel seems most concerned that Jesus’ testimony about Himself be made known. We will actually explore the, "I Ams," of Jesus in the future. For now, it is enough to know that Jesus did not live a hidden life. He stayed out in the open, showing us how to live an obedient life for the Father whom He loved so much. Jesus is God, not just the Son, or a Son, not a created being. He is God, the second person of the Trinity of the Godhead. When He spoke to the leadership, He was not blasphemous or demon possessed or deranged. He was speaking the truth, but their sin, and love of this world and the power that they thought they had, blinded them to the truth. 

Remember, Jesus had told them that their father was the father of lies. Now those lies were blinding them to the truth of who Jesus is, that could set them free, (John 8:32) if they would only believe and trust in Him.

Hymn: "How I Love You,"  by Keith Green 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more