JOHN 8: 48-59
JESUS THE ETERNAL ONE
[Mark 3:22 – 27]
This section of John’s gospel closes with the resounding climax of Jesus’ claim to be eternal deity. Jesus already has made numerous absolute claims. For example: He is the Word of God, the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Light of Life, and the True Light. He comes from the Father and not only speaks His truth, He is the truth. His fellow country men’s inability to see God’s truth betrays their separation from the Father and His purposes. Jesus had been given glory by the Father, but He would receive none from those who did not know or listen to the Father.
I. SEEK GOD’S GLORY, 48-50.
II. KEEP GOD’S WORD, 51-55.
III. THE I AM, 56-59.
The opponents of Jesus remain totally unconvinced by the Word of God He has spoken so they return accusations to Him in verse 48. The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Jesus has just announced to His opponents that they are children of the devil (8:44). Not to be out done they say that He must be a Samaritan and demon-possessed. This is a radical and religious belittling or dishonoring. It was about the meanest comment that was readily available to them. "Samaritan" (John 4) refers to those people living north of Jerusalem near Shechem, who had compromised the purity of their faith and race. By Jesus’ day, the enmity between Jews and Samaritans was intense (Luke 10:29 – 37). This slur likely had become a curse, much like "heretic" or "pagan idolater." Jesus does not even take the time to refute it.
The accusation that Jesus has a demon suggested more that He was mad, unclean, and evil. It also suggests that He was controlled by Satan. How ironic that after He said their father was the devil (8:44), they said He is demon-possessed! It was a common accusation against Jesus (7:20; 8:52:10:20; Mt. 9:34; 11:18; 12:24ff; Mk. 3:22ff).
In verse 49 Jesus defends the power of God working through Him. Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
Jesus’ words were not those of a demon-possessed person. He was not seeking self-exaltation, but the honor of His Father. His continual practice was to honor His Father with the power God had given Him. Their attempt to dishonor Him was an attack on His Father. [King Hanun’s attack on David’s authorized messengers was an insult against the king in 2 Sam. 10:1-6. Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 306]
The charge of demon-possession is serious (also John 7:20; 8:52; 10:20). Rather than seeing God’s work in Jesus, His opponents point to Satan as being behind Jesus. This charge appears in the Synoptic Gospels as well, where Jesus considers the glib confusing of God and Satan to be serious and unforgivable. READ Mark 3:22–27. The inability to see God’s hand is one thing, to call God’s work the work of the devil is unpardonable (Mt. 9:34; 11:18; 12:24ff; Mk. 3:22ff).
In verse 50 Jesus repudiates their accusation that He is self-promoting and self-seeking. "But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
Far from being the product of demon-possession, the words Jesus proclaims are the very words God has given Him The words that He has just spoken are the perfect revelation of the Word of the Father. And the mission He is undertaking that they think prideful is at God bidding. It was God’s glory that Jesus seeks to promote by obediently delivering His message. They might think He is seeking to gain glory for Himself. He was not seeking glory for Himself, but God was seeking glory for Him.
They were judging Him and acting as though their judgment is superior to His and higher that His. Jesus though entrusted His actions and words that they think are selfish and arrogant to God. It is before God that all actions and motives are to be judged. Jesus sought not His glory but the Father’s and it was God’s judgment that is true, not theirs, and in that Jesus found contentment.
II. KEEP GOD’S WORD, 51-55.
In verse 51 Jesus makes a definitive claim about life and death. "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."
With the formula of truly, truly Jesus empathically emphasizes the life giving potency of His words. His words give life, but it is not magical. Jesus says that a man must keep His word if he is to enter into life. Keep means to observe, pay attention to, or to fulfill.
John Calvin states concerning this verse, "Christ promises eternal life to His disciples but demands disciples who will not merely nod their assent like donkeys, or profess with the tongue that they approve His teaching, but who keep [His word] as a precious treasure." [Morris, NIC John, 468]
The precious promises is that a person who obeys Jesus will never see death, that is, he will not be eternally separated from God (3:16; 5:24). Jesus’ promise of life eternal to those who obey His word sets Him apart from every spiritual luminary in Judaism, Abraham included.
In verse 52 the Jews report that Jesus’ statement confirms that He is demon possessed. The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’
Rather than considering the possibility that Jesus may be pointing to eternal life, the crowd misrepresents Him through a literalistic rendering of His words. Even Abraham and the prophets have died and are still buried. Is Jesus promising that mortality will be reversed? That He and His followers will not see death?
Though they didn’t understand His reasoning verse 53 indicates they did grasp the greatness that He claimed. "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
The force of verse 53 is literally, "What are you making of Yourself here?" It is an antagonistic and aggressive challenge. Only because God had chosen & established His covenant with Abraham did he became the father of a multitude. God established a far greater covenant with Jesus.
The irony is that most definitely Jesus is as far greater than Abraham and the prophets as the light of the Sun is to that of the moon. Though He had not come to proclaim His greatness, it is through Him, and Him alone, that eternal life is found.
Jesus gives His defense in verse 54. Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;
Jesus’ defense is that He is not glorifying Himself for self-glorifying amounts to nothing. Instead, He is faithfully witnessing to His relationship with the Father.
When accused, Jesus did not seek to justify Himself. He committed His case to the heavenly Judge, knowing that even if people judge the Son falsely, the Father will reverse their verdict and vindicate Him. [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 306].
Jesus again attempts to wake them up to their true condition in verse 55. and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
Though they claim to know God, He is not really their God. This is what the prophets had been telling them down through history. They had proven by their rejection of the knowledge of God or the Word of God, that they did not relationally know God. But Jesus does know God because keeping, living in faithfulness to God’s word. Jesus’ claim to know God is grounded in His obeying God’s Word. [Because God is the author and sustainer of life, all who know Him will share in that life. ]
In the deepest intimacy Jesus has a relationship and union with God but His enemies did not. Jesus knows (oida, "to know inherently or intuitively") the Father, but they did not know (ginsko, "to come to know by experience or observation") Him. For Him to deny this would be to lie just as they were lying. Jesus did know the Father and obeyed Him (keep His Word, v. 52).
III. THE I AM, 56-59.
Since Judaism made an appeal to their ancestry in Abraham, Jesus in verse 56 makes a parallel appeal. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
Even Abraham’s "rejoicing" at the birth of his son Isaac (Gen. 17:17; 21:6) was a foreshadowing of the blessing that would come to the world through his lineage. Jesus calls the messianic era Abraham saw My day. The messianic era is fulfilled in Christ.
The Jews continued to interpret Jesus so that they could justify their disbelief in Him. Verse 57, So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
How can Jesus and Abraham know each other since Jesus is not even fifty years old? Note that the Jews misquote Jesus. Jesus said Abraham saw His day or the Messiah’s day. They said He saw Abraham. They were going to make Jesus seem wrong no matter what He said because they were dead set against Him.
The climax of the entire chapter arrives in verse 58. Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM."
The seriousness of this statement is confirmed by Jesus’ preface: "Truly, truly [(lit. Gk. amen, amen)] I say to you," a phrase Jesus uses some twenty times in the Gospel (1:51). Jesus then affirmed His superiority over the prophets and Abraham. Abraham came into being; but when he was born, Jesus was already existing. I AM is a title of Deity (Ex. 3:14; Isa. 41:4; 43:11-13; John 8:28). This is an absolute claim to preexistence anchored in the absolute "I AM" (Gk. ego eimi) language we have already seen in this Gospel (4:26). "I AM" [possesses no predicate (as in "I am the bread of life," 6:35) and so] stands alone, no doubt echoing the Greek translation of God’s divine name given in Exodus 3:14. To exist before the birth of Abraham — and yet to stand here today — is the boldest claim Jesus has yet made. It recalls the affirmation of the prologue that the Word existed even at the beginning of time. His existence has been continuous since His life is completely drawn from God’s eternal life. [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy; The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 306] Jesus, because of His equality with God (5:18; 20:28; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9), existed from all eternity (John 1:1).
That Jesus’ audience interpreted His words as a divine claim is seen in their reaction in verse 59. Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
Jesus’ clear affirmation of His deity evoked a crisis. They had to decide whether He was what He claimed or was a blasphemer (5:18). They became furious because they believe they had heard blasphemy. Stoning was the legal punishment for the sin of blasphemy. The words, but Jesus was hidden, probably refer to a supernatural means of escape. ["He went out" (5:13; 10:39; 12:36) implies ordinary means.] Once again His time had not yet come (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20).
CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE
Have you seen a movie of warfare among medieval soldiers dressed in metal armor? As they engage in hand-to-hand combat, they flail at one another with swords of steel. The noise is deafening and the blows are deadly.
The combat between Jesus and the Pharisees in the passage of John7-8 was not with swords, but the battle was vicious. The words grew harsher with each exchange. Our Lord was bold and threatening in His an empathic and sever call to repentance. Matching their venom with straightforward, fearless truth that infuriated His foes. To call the encounter life-and-death is accurate, for He knew they were soon to engineer His execution. .
Throughout the heated arguments Jesus was laying out the truths, of who He was and what He came to do, and what His relation was to the Father. He set forth the central idea of His ministry: "If a man keeps My word, he shall never see death." He was, showing them what, they needed to do now in order to live eternally. But they would not hear. Thank God that you do hear and obey!
Marvel at His bravery and brilliance. Then rejoice in His offer of eternal life to all who will accept the gift.
