Lent 5
Jn
8:46-59
3/17/24
Prior to our text,
Jesus has been engaged in a discussion with the Pharisees. Has had told them, “I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.” As the Pharisees continue in a debate with our Lord he
says, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this
world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your
sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Jesus has
set himself apart as the means by which there is forgiveness. And he announces that this is so, because he
is carrying out the work of the Father. Our Lord says, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know
that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority,
but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with
me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are
pleasing to him.”
Many
believed in Jesus because of what he said.
So Jesus said to them, “If you abide in my word,
you are truly my disciples, and you
will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus
spoke of how he would give them freedom.
However, they objected to this. They replied, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How
is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Claiming their status as the descendants of Abraham, these Jews asserted
that they were free already.
However,
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin
is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain
in the house forever; the son remains forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed.” Jesus announced that he
was the true source of freedom.
Our
Lord observed that they now wanted to kill him.
In this wish they were doing the work of their father. The Jews objected, “We were not born of
sexual immorality. We have one Father--even God.” However, Jesus contradicted their claim. He said, “If God were your Father, you would
love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own
accord, but he sent me.” Jesus
announced that he was here to carry out the Father’s will.
The
Jews listening to Jesus did not understand him. They could not bear his
word. And Jesus explained why this was
so. It was because their father was not God.
He said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your
father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has
nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of
lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.”
Our
Lord sets before us the spiritual truth this morning that there are only two
fathers. Either God is your father, or
the devil is your father. Created in the
image of God, God is our true Father.
However, the entrance of sin into the world in the Fall changed all
that. The devil became the spiritual Lord
of all who descend from Adam. Jesus told
Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Sinful fallen nature gives birth to sinful
fallen nature.
Those
who have the devil as their father do not even recognize it. They believe that they are free. They think they are free to make their own
choices about what they believe. They
think they are free to use their bodies in any way they choose. They think they
have freedom.
Yet
these are the beliefs, choices, and actions of slavery. It is the slavery of sin in which the devil
is pulling all the strings. It is
slavery that is death because true life can only be experienced in relation to
God who is the source of life. It is
slavery that is death because it results in the eternal death of God’s
judgment.
In our text
Jesus says, “If I tell the truth, why do you not believe
me?
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason
why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” The Jews were not of God. They thought they
knew him because they were descendants of Abraham. But instead, their father
was the devil.
And this stood in contrast to Jesus. He says in our text, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who
glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not
known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would
be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.”
Jesus, the Son, knew the Father. And he was
here to keep God’s word. John begins his
Gospel by describing the Son of God as the Word. He says, “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through
him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Then John tells us, “And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace
and truth.” The Son of God became flesh.
He did so in order to be the answer to sin. Jesus told Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son
of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may
have eternal life.”
Jesus came
to keep the Father’s word by being lifted up on the cross. He said during Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this
world be cast out.
And I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus overcame sin and the devil’s power by
dying on the cross.
Jesus died
and was buried. But on Easter he rose
from the dead. In our text Jesus says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will
never see death.” He said to
Martha, “I am the resurrection and the
life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and
everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Because
of Jesus’ death and resurrection we already have life with God now. This is a life that will never end. It is a life that is ours because we have
been born again of water and the Spirit.
The devil was our lord and we had no spiritual powers of our own. But God, our Father, has changed this. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the
Father draws him. And will raise him up on the last day.” God has called us to faith through the work
of the Spirit. We have life with God
through Jesus. This is a life that death cannot stop. And the risen Lord has promised that he will
raise up our bodies on the Last Day.
In
our text Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say
to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. The Jews are
offended by this and reply, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham
died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he
will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who
died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Yet
Jesus told them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my
day. He saw it and was glad.” Our
Lord describes how Abraham looked ahead in faith to the fulfillment of God’s
promise. When the Jews said to him, “You
are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus replied, ‘Truly,
truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Jesus
affirms that he is indeed God. He is
God, and yet he has served us. He has
given himself into death on the cross to give us salvation. Jesus illustrated this fact for his disciples
at the Last Supper when he washed their feet. Then he said, “You call
me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord
and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I
have done to you.”
We
who have received Christ’s love now share it with others. We who have been served by Christ now serve
those whom God has placed in our life.
We do this in the vocations where God has placed us. We especially do it
towards our fellow Christians as we assist, support, and care for one
another. Jesus said, “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I
have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all
people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In our text this
morning, Jesus says, “Whoever is of
God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you
are not of God.” Born again of water and
the Spirit, we belong to God and are able to hear the words of God. We listen to our crucified and risen Lord as
he says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will
never see death.”
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