No Neutral Ground
Good Morning. Most people are comfortable with Jesus, as long as He stays in a certain place. A teacher. A helper. A moral guide. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus destroys that comfort. Believe it or not, even from the very beginning, Jesus Mission and purpose has confused and offended people, even the people Jesus came to first, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
His mission is wonderfully laid out in our lesson from Hebrews 9, which explains how Christ has redeemed us by His blood, presenting Himself before the Father in Heaven as our redeemer. And next Sunday, we read through how He did that on the Cross for us.
In this passage, Jesus doesn’t allow casual belief. He forces a decision. Either He is who He says He is, or He is not worth following at all. Jesus challenges those in Jerusalem, and those reading John’s Gospel, to decide what they think about Him. The TRUE Jesus. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus has this surprising practice of driving people away from him when He believes that they are following Him for the wrong reason.
For instance, last week, in John 6, we read the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. As the chapter continued, though, it describes how they believed in Jesus, and actually wanted to physically make him King in Jerusalem, overthrowing Herod. Jesus offends them so greatly after that, explaining how they don’t know Him or His mission, that only his 12 disciples remained.
The crowd wanted bread, but Jesus gave them hard teaching. The crowd wanted a King, and comfort, but Jesus gave them truth and chose rather to drive them away rather than let them follow him wrongly.
In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus takes this group of people who want to follow Him on their own terms and shows them who He really is.
Before our lesson begins, v. 30/31 we’re told Jesus was preaching to a group of people who had become followers of Jesus. They said they were believers. But our lesson began with those same people insulting Jesus, in frustration.
Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan…?” This was the big political insult of the day. More than that, they also say that he has “a demon,” often another way of saying Jesus was insane. In verse 53 they ask him, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets who also died! Who do you think You are?”
Three accusations are made against Jesus; that he was a liar, a crazy person, or an egomaniac. What I am about to say might sound strange, but in a way these men are closer to the kingdom of God in v. 48 than they were earlier when they were following him Blindly and wrongly, because they actually are understanding who Jesus says that He is. Yes, they’re responding with hostility, but they are hostile because they understand what Jesus is saying. What they need is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
The claims of Jesus should sound offensive, if they are not true. We often try to treat Jesus as a good teacher. But He doesn’t give us that option. If what He says isn’t true, He’s not good. And if it is true, then He’s not just a teacher, He’s Lord. That’s why it is so important to understand that either He is who He says he is, or we shouldn’t follow anything He has to say.
Look at the claims Jesus makes.
In arguing with the people in verse 51, Jesus tells them that if they keep His word, they will NEVER SEE DEATH! Maybe we’ve heard this a lot, but this truly is an incredible statement! I am pretty sure none of us has ever tried that when debating with someone. Just agree with me and you will never see death. His opponents saw it as an incredible claim, which is why they asked him if He thought He was greater than Abraham. “Hey Jesus, Abraham died!” and he was the Father of the Jews, the greatest man (along with Moses) who ever lived.
So Jesus doubles down. Jesus says in v. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; HE saw it and was Glad. So, the Jews counter by saying you are not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham! In response, Jesus comes up with one of the most amazing statements in the Bible. He proclaims, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM! And with this they were ready to kill Jesus, because it was more than just an incredible claim, but Jesus was claiming to be God with that statement.
And His listeners knew that’s what He was saying, which is why they planned to try to kill him on the spot for blasphemy. So, how does this work out?
Jesus didn’t say I was, or I existed before Abraham, even though both claims were true since he created all. That might make you think Jesus was a little off, or maybe thought he was some kind of angel
But….he used the words I AM! And this is where the claim to be God comes in. This phrase “I AM” is an intentional call back to the Old Testament and the Name of God. In Exodus 3, Moses asked God What shall I tell the people your name is. God responds to Moses, I AM who I AM. Tell the people I AM has sent you. I AM, in Hebrew, is Yahweh.
Jesus is not just saying He existed before Abraham. He is saying He is the God who spoke to Moses, which is why the Jews picked up stones to murder him on the spot. You don’t usually murder people just because you think they are insane.
Jesus draws a line in the sand, and no one listening to Him missed it. Jesus forces us to decide as to where we stand regarding Him. He was not calling His hearers to join a NEW religion; He was saying he was the God they were worshiping all along.
Christianity is either sheer illusion or else it is the truth. If it is the truth, the question is not whether the God of Christianity suits us, whether we like what he has to say, but whether we suit Him, and how we can be remade in his image.
It’s worth asking ourselves, where do we fall in this? Do we follow Jesus only when He gives us what we want? Do we listen to His words, or do we quietly edit the parts that make us uncomfortable? Do we come to Him as Lord, or do we really just want help and then for Him to go away? Because that hasn’t changed.
That’s still how many people want Jesus. Bless me, help me, fix what’s wrong in my life… but don’t tell me who You are, and don’t tell me how to live. And in this passage, Jesus refuses that kind of following. He won’t be reduced to a helper. He is either Lord, or He is nothing at all.
The One who said ‘I AM’ is the One who will stand silent before His accusers next week. The One they tried to stone is the One who will be nailed to a cross. And the question is not whether He is who He says He is. The question is, will we trust Him?
