Everybody Should Worship the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Gospel of John
John 8:53-59; 31-36
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 1, 2017
(Revised September 20, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Here in John 8, Jesus was preaching to a crowd of people at the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of them believed in the Lord. But Jesus was also preaching to Jewish religious rulers who viciously hated Him and had been trying to kill Him.
*In vs. 21 and 24, Jesus warned them that that they would die in their sins, if they didn't believe in Him. So the hard-hearted Jews began to argue with Jesus, and part of their argument went back to the Old Testament patriarch Abraham. He lived 2,000 years before Christ was born, and the Bible calls Abraham "the Friend of God." That's because, by faith, Abraham left his home and followed the Lord to the land that would eventually become Israel.
*Genesis 12:1-3 says:
1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.''
*Those last words were a prophecy and a promise from God that one of Abraham's descendants would be the Savior of all who believe in Him. And Jesus Christ is that promised Savior.
*But the scribes and Pharisees used "Father Abraham" to argue with Jesus, and they started in vs. 31-33. Jesus had been talking about the spiritual freedom only He can give:
31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''
33. They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?''
*Then starting in vs. 37, Jesus said:
37. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''
39. They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father.'' Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41. You do the deeds of your father.'' Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father God.''
42. Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me."
*In vs. 51, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.''
*And in vs. 52-53, those hate-filled unbelievers replied:
52. . . "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. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?''
*With this background in let's read vs. 53-59, and as we read we will see some crucial reasons why everybody should worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE:
*How far would you go to worship Jesus? Matthew 2 tells the story of the Wise Men who worshiped the baby Jesus. Verses 1-2 say:
1. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2. saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.''
*Those men had probably been traveling for two years. They had ridden camels and walked four to five hundred miles to see Jesus. All of that effort: Why did they do it?
*From a human point of view, the Wise Men already had everything they could have wanted: Education, wealth, power, and prestige. They certainly had prestige, because they were ushered in to see King Herod, and the King didn't see just anybody you know. The Wise Men also must have had great wealth, because they were able to give great treasures to Jesus.
*These men had everything the world could offer, but there was something missing in their lives. They had a spiritual hunger that drove them to the highest goal. They were seeking the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, seeking to find Him, seeking to know Him, seeking to get close to Him, seeking to worship Him. And everybody should worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight's Scripture shows us why.
1. FIRST: WE SHOULD WORSHIP JESUS FOR HIS ETERNITY.
*In vs. 53-58, the Lord was responding to the unbelieving Jews, and as He did, Jesus spoke of His eternal existence:
53. (They asked): "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?''
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.''
57. Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?''
58. Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.''
*In these verses, 33-year-old Jesus Christ claimed to be older than Abraham, and the Lord said that because He is the eternal Son of God. The Apostle John confirmed this truth for us in the opening words of His Gospel. In John 1:1-3, he said this about Jesus:
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
*Jesus Christ has existed and will exist for all eternity. Trapped in time as we are, it's impossible for us to grasp the concept of eternity. But one thing we know for sure is this: God is bigger than time. God created time. He was there before the beginning of time.
*God created time. And the only way, I can understand it is to see time as sort of like a ruler a with a definite beginning, and maybe no ending, but God is standing over and above the whole thing. And however long time lasts, God goes farther! That's why in Isaiah 46:9-10, the Lord could say:
9. "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'"
*In Revelation 21:6, Jesus could also say, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is both the beginning and the end, so He is surely bigger than time. And He is in control of time in amazing, miraculous ways.
*The Lord can make time stand still! In Joshua 10:12-14, God's word says:
12. On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, "Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Ajalon."
13. So the sun and moon stood still until the Israelites had defeated their enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jasher? The sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.
14. The Lord fought for Israel that day. Never before or since has there been a day like that one, when the Lord answered such a request from a human being.
*The Lord Jesus Christ can make time stand still. He isn't bound by time, He's bigger than time. John 6 tells the story of Jesus walking on the water, but there the Scripture records another miracle not found in the other Gospels. John 6:21 says, "Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and IMMEDIATELY the boat was at the land where they were going."
*These Scriptures and more remind us that Jesus Christ is bigger than time! That's why here in John 8:58, Jesus could tell those unbelieving Jews, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'' In other words, "I am bigger than time."
2. WE SHOULD WORSHIP JESUS FOR HIS ETERNITY, AND FOR HIS DIVINITY.
*The Word of God clearly establishes the divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in tonight's Scripture, we can see the Lord's divinity in the things Jesus said.
*For example, in vs. 56-58, the Lord said:
56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.''
57. Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?''
58. Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.''
*"Before Abraham was, I AM.'' This is the third of eight "I AM" statements in John's Gospel. Here Jesus claimed the most famous Old Testament name of God as His own name. And He did this to help people understand that before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem, He was and is the Lord God Jehovah of the Old Testament.
*Remember that this "I AM" name of God goes all the way back to Exodus 3, where the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Moses asked God:
13. . . "When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"
14. And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
*In Hebrew this name I AM was "Jehovah" or "Yahweh." And this personal name for God is found almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament. In our Bibles, it is most often shown as "LORD" in all capital letters. (1)
*John Phillips explained that "it is worth remembering that 'I AM' was the greatest name for God known to the Jews, and it was treated with the utmost reverence by them. This name for God was considered to be so holy that the Jews would not speak it. When a scribe copying the Scriptures came to this name for God, he would use a new pen just to write that name. It is also said that when a reader in the synagogue came to this name in the sacred text, he would not read it. Instead, he would bow his head in worship, and the congregation, knowing he was thinking the inexpressible name, would bow in worship too.
*We can imagine, then, the disgust the unbelieving Jews had when they heard Jesus make this statement. He looked them calmly in the face and said, 'Before Abraham was, I am.' Not 'Before Abraham was, I was' -- although that would have been true. He was stating that He, Jesus, was the eternal Jehovah of the Old Testament. There never had been a time when He had not existed.
*The unbelieving Jews thought these were the words of the most daring and deluded blasphemer, but in truth they were the words of God manifest in flesh." (2)
*And Jesus surely was God manifest in the flesh. As 1 Timothy 3:16 says: "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."
*We can see the Lord's divinity in the things Jesus said. We can also see His divinity in the miraculous things Jesus did. Verse 59 gives us a small sample of the Lord's miraculous power. Here God's Word says, "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."
*There was a crowd of people there. There were also armed guards on the scene. "But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." The Lord did that, because it wasn't the appointed time for Him to die, and it wasn't the appointed way.
*Those Christ-haters could have never laid a hand on Jesus, unless the Lord allowed them. And Jesus did allow them to kill Him about six months later. But here the Lord hid Himself and went through the midst of them.
*It reminds me of the first Easter Sunday, when the Risen Lord was walking along the road with two of His still grieving followers. Luke 24:14-16 says:
14. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
16. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
*That was another tiny miracle for the Lord. But all of His miracles are tiny to Him! Jesus Christ walked on water, opened blind eyes, healed the sick, raised the dead, fed thousands with a little boy's lunch, calmed storms with a word, and worked countless more miracles.
*Who can do that? -- God can!
3. WE SHOULD WORSHIP JESUS FOR HIS DIVINITY, AND FOR HIS HUMANITY.
*The one who is bigger than time stepped into time when He became a man and was born on the first Christmas Day. That's why the unbelieving Jews were partially right in vs. 57 when they pointed out that Jesus was "not yet fifty years old."
*Why did Jesus become a man? Why was it necessary for God the Son to humble Himself and become a mortal man?
[1] ONE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE WE NEEDED HIS REVELATION.
*There is no way that we could have truly started to understand God, unless He became a man. And Jesus is God's fullest revelation of Himself to us. That's why John 1:18 says: "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."
*We all desperately needed the Lord's revelation of God. That's also why Jesus is called "the Word." John 1:14-15 puts it this way:
14. . . the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15. John (the Baptist) bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'''
*"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Or as Eugene Peterson said in "The Message," "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood." For 33 years God the Son moved into our neighborhood. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The word picture for that word "dwelt" is "pitching a tent." When Jesus came at Christmas, God pitched a tent right here among us.
*Mary and I don't do a lot of camping. In fact, we don't do any camping. But way back in 1976, Mary and I went all the way from south Florida to Toronto Canada. And most nights we stayed in a pup tent. Let me tell you, there is not a lot of privacy in a pup tent!
*To say that God "pitched a tent among us" tells us that He wanted us to get to know Him very well. And He did this in a way that should have been impossible. Jesus had to be, and He was born through a miraculous virgin birth.
*And when Jesus was born there was a miraculous connection between divinity and humanity. Jesus Christ was not half God and half man. He was fully God and fully man. The Lord Jesus is 100 percent God. All that God is, Jesus is.
*But at the very same time, Jesus is all that we are, except for the sin. God Almighty humbled Himself to become a human being. Just like us, Jesus learned how to walk and talk. Just like us, He got hungry and He got tired. Just like us, He laughed, and He cried.
*Jesus threw up on His mother. He dirtied His diapers. Imagine: You are in school and sitting next to you is God! You go to the store to buy a chair, and the nice young man waiting on you is God!
*Here is the wonder: The God who holds the universe in His hand humbled Himself to become a mortal man.
[2] WHY DID JESUS DO IT? -- BECAUSE WE NEEDED HIS REVELATION. AND WE NEEDED HIS REDEMPTION.
*This takes us back to the Lord's conversation in vs. 31-36:
31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''
33. They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?''
34. Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
*Jesus wants to make everyone free forever, but it took the greatest sacrifice the world will ever see: His death on the cross for our sins. There Jesus paid the highest price to "redeem" us or set us free from slavery to sin and death.
*That's why in Colossians 1:13-14, Paul tells Christians that God the Father:
13. has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son,
14. in whom we have redemption through His blood.
*Salvation can only come by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for us. In Him "we have redemption through His blood. . ." The original word for "redemption" there is talking about buying a slave out of slavery in order to set him free. It's the idea of buying someone's freedom by paying a ransom.
*You see, from a spiritual point of view, every single one of us was born into the spiritual slavery of sin and death. But Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our freedom. That's why in John 8:36 Jesus could say, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
*By His death on the cross, Jesus paid the ransom to redeem everyone who would trust in Him. As the Lord said in Matthew 20:28 Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
*1 Peter 1:18-19 also tells Christians:
18. . . "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19. but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
*Only the blood of Jesus Christ has the power to redeem us from spiritual slavery.
*J. Vernon McGee told a story from the long-ago days of slavery in America. It was about a beautiful young woman who was put on the auction block to be sold as a slave. A very cruel slave owner began to bid for her. He was notorious for being cruel and vicious to his slaves. Every time he placed a bid, the girl would cringe and look terrified. But there was also a very kind, rich man there, and he too began to bid for the girl. No matter how high the cruel slave master bid, the kind man bid more.
*Finally, the cruel slave owner gave up, and the kind man paid the very high price. Then he began to walk away. The girl followed him, but he turned to her and said, "You misunderstand. I did not buy you because I needed a slave. I bought you to set you free."
*She stood there, stunned for just a moment. Then she suddenly fell to her knees, and said, "I will serve you forever!" (3)
*That is a small picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us. He paid the highest price for us, but not to enslave us. No. Jesus paid the highest price to set us free forever! His blood and death on the cross for our sins was the price He paid to deliver us. Nothing less would have worked.
CONCLUSION:
*That's why Jesus became a man. And everybody in the world should worship our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Put your trust in Jesus, and worship the Lord with us now.
(1) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Jehovah/Yahweh - I AM" by Marc Kelley - Exodus 3:1-15
(2) Adapted from EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "His Exposure of the Wickedness of Men" - "Contradicting Them" - John 8:12-59
(3) Adapted from THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - Ephesians 1:7
