John 8.39-47

John 8:39-47

39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.” 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 have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

The identity and activity of Jesus are vital for every person to understand.  People must know who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do in order to be saved from sin.  However, before we are ready to truly understand who Jesus is it is important for us to understand who we are.  Those who are lost are desperate to be found.  Those who are enslaved have a burning desire for freedom.  The problem with the people in this passage is that they do not understand who they are, are blind to their condition and therefore have no real hope of understanding and seeing their need of the Gospel.  Jesus is determined to teach them about who they are and confront them with what they are doing as a means of helping them see their need of the Gospel.  As long as people do not know who they are, they will never be able or even be motivated to seek and find salvation from sin.  Jesus wants to help the people understand their identity by showing them who their true father is as well as what He has come to do.

WHO IS YOUR FATHER? There are three different answers to this question in the text.  The Jews with whom He is speaking claim that Abraham is their father, when Jesus begins to question this answer they then claim that God is their Father.  However, Jesus is determined to demonstrate the them that Satan is their true father.  When the people claim Abraham as their father; Jesus confronts this idea by showing them how their works are not consistent with those that we would expect to see from the children of Abraham.  Jesus points out to them that they are seeking to kill Him for speaking the truth.  Abraham would certainly not have done this.  Jesus says that their deeds demonstrate that their true father is Satan, though He does not clearly state this, it is obvious that this was what Jesus was implying by this statement.  This is a truth that is offensive to the majority of people and that most people simply do not understand.  People like to consider themselves to be basically good.  They do not consider themselves to be children of Satan.  However, the reality of man’s condition is that all men are born with Satan as a father because of our sinful nature.  By God’s grace and power some of us have been able to find true forgiveness of our sin and become children of God.  The Jews respond to this accusation by claiming that God is their Father.  Now Jesus responds by refuting this claim based on their rejection of Him.  Thinking that we are a child of God does not make us a child of God.  Jesus makes it clear that all who have God as their Father automatically have a love for Jesus because the Father loves Jesus.  If God is truly our Father we will be deeply in love with Jesus.

WHAT DOES YOUR FATHER DO? Now that Jesus has established the basic truth that legitimate children do the things that their Father does, He proceeds to describe the deeds of Satan so that they can see how their actions align themselves with their true father, the devil.  First of all Jesus describes Satan as a murderer.  Man was created in the image and likeness of God, so he was great potential to be saved from sin and reflect the glory of God.  This is why Satan wants to kill as many people as possible so he can try to erase the image of God from the face of the earth.  The man who best reflected the true image the Father was Jesus Christ.  This is why Satan and all of his children were so anxious to kill Him.  Jesus has repeatedly said in this passage that they were trying to kill Him.  At first they tried to deny this but now they do not seem to be arguing with Him about their desire to kill Him.  Satan’s second attribute is that of a liar.  He distorts and twists the truth so that people cannot know the truth because the truth sets men free.  Satan wants nothing more than for men to believe his lies.  Instead of speaking directly about Satan’s lies, He contrasts His own truthful words with the words of Satan.  Jesus knows that He is speaking the truth and yet the people are rejecting His Word so it is clear that they are believing lies.  That is, they are believing their father which He has just demonstrated to be their true father because their deeds are consistent with his.

APPLICATION: Help other people who are lost in their sin to understand that they are living as the children of Satan.  Ethnicity or exposure to the Word of God does not save a person from sin.  We cannot trust in our family name to save us.  We cannot imagine that our spiritual condition is as filthy and desperate as it truly is apart from Christ.  Believe and practice the Word of God as the ultimate source of truth.