John 8:46–59 (CSB)
46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you
believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t
listen, because you are not from God.”
48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan
and have a demon?”
49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father
and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges.
51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did
the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you
greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to
be?” 54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about
whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him,
but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know
him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and
was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden, and went out of
the temple.,
Dear fellow redeemed: In Psalm 43 the king and prophet, David, foretold the situation in
which Jesus finds Himself. “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly
people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (Psalm 43:1, ESV) In our text today
Jesus is teaching the people who He really is. As a result he is accused of being demonic, pagan,
blasphemous. This is the way of evil people – to accuse the good of the most terrible things that
those very same people are doing. This is the way of …
THE WORLD AND THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS
I. The World Hates What Is Good
II. Believers Listen to the Good
III. The Good – About Jesus
I. The World Hates What Is Good
By “The World,” we mean all that is opposed to the Lordship of Christ in this world. The
Devil is the “Prince of this World,’ and the ruler of hearts and minds. Anything that is good will
be opposed in such a world. To such a world, Jesus says, 46 Who among you can convict me
of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God
listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”
This is the answer to Christians in age after age who wonder, “If I am doing the right thing,
why am I in trouble?” If I accept all people as purchased by the blood of God’s own son, why am
I a racist? If I uphold the virtues of love and faithfulness between men and women and children
as foundational to a family, how can I be in trouble? If I cling to the universal virtues and cherish
them in the righteousness Christ gives, how does that make me a bigot?
Death is the enemy of us all, and yet the world embraces it as the solution to our problems.
But notice, won’t you, that it is always somebody else’s death that is so good. The death of an
unwanted child, or a useless, care-needy old person. The Jews weren’t quite on that wavelength.
Oh wait! It was Caiaphas who said, …“You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that
it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should
perish.”” (John 11:49–50, ESV) He was right in one sense, but his intent was murder.
The world, for whom death and spiritual darkness is the norm has no use for Christ, for
He is light and life, as He says, 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see
death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did
the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you
greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to
be?”
“Who do you claim to be?” they asked. Even now there are people we deny that Jesus
claimed to be the eternal Son of God. They must not be paying attention. Jesus answered
clearly, My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me.
55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar
like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
That is the way that God declared Himself to Moses. Not “I was back when Abraham
lived,” but “I am.” Time is His creation, so he lives without beginning and without end. As the
eternal Son of the Father, He always >IS<.
II. Believers Listen to the Good
But having, for our sake, humbled himself to be born of a woman, He was “Despised and
rejected by men,” (Isaiah 53) and accused of blasphemy for speaking the truth and they tried to
kill him. 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden, and went out
of the temple.,
But there are those who listen to Him: 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s
words. … 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
We are much affected by world, by the unbelieving world in which we life. May God forgive
our doubts, our confusion, or gullibility, our cowardice, and our self-centeredness. Let us be
honest, none of us has been so diligent in God’s word, so thoughtful, so courageous or so good
a witness as we should be. Yet, by God’s grace we do keep His word, that is we cling to it, we
believe it, and just as food and water give us life, so the Spirit gives us life through the word.
The one who is from God listens to God’s words. We are “from God” because He has
called us to faith through the gospel and nourishes our life through His word. Our spiritual life is
from God.
Because our life comes from the word of God this is one clear and significant difference
between the unbelieving world and the believers to whom comes eternal life. The believer listens
to the word of God and it is determinative for us who have the life of faith. We listen, and we take
the time to hear it, so that it may give rest to our souls.
The world hates the Good. Believers cling to the good, listen to the good, for the Good is
the word of God.
III. The Good – About Jesus
And the good word, the word of God, is about Jesus, “who, though he was in the form
of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by
taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human
form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above
every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6–11, ESV)
He was right to think “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly
people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (Psalm 43:1, ESV) And He has been
vindicated and delivered, for the word of God, as Paull says was and is “concerning his Son,
who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of
God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus
Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:3–4, ESV)
He is our salvation.
AMEN