Jesus
has been revealing to the Jewish Pharisees that He is the One God sent to show
them the Father and to save them from the bondage of sin. Still they question
Him because they are looking with “natural” eyes while Jesus is speaking in the
“spiritual.” Jesus came from the spiritual realm and that is where He is
returning. Believers in Christ must also
be “born” from above – spiritual birth through Christ -- and continue to mature
spiritually from being a babe in Christ to a mature Christian. As children of
God, our goal is higher. God has high standards. It is the pure truth anointed
by the Holy Spirit that helps us reach God’s higher goal.
Who
Are You? – John 8:25
The Pharisees ask Jesus this
question. Jesus responds, “Just what I
have been claiming all along.” In other words, “I am what I am telling
you.” He is not lying to them. He only speaks Truth. Jesus is the truth
personified. However, in His flesh body, He relied upon the Father to instruct
Him, just as we are to rely upon the Godhead to instruct us. Jesus taught:
·
The pure Truth
·
About Himself
·
About His Heavenly Father
·
About the Holy Spirit
·
Plainly
·
In Parables
You may recall that God told
Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I am who I am.” Then
God told Moses to tell the Israelites that “I
am has sent me to you.” God did send Moses to lead and deliver the
Israelites from earthly bondage in Egypt and to lead them to the earthly Promised Land
of God. This foreshadowed the ultimate and perfect One whom God would send to
the Israelites and the whole world to deliver all from spiritual bondage to sin
and lead all to the Heavenly Promised Land. Jesus is that Great “I am.” These
religious Jewish leaders refused to believe Jesus. God wants it to be known
that He is eternal, present and active. His faithful love and care and his
desire to redeem His people will be with them. “I am” will be His name forever. So God sent Jesus who is also eternal
to deliver His people from spiritual, eternal bondage to sin and to teach us
the ways of the Father. Moses couldn’t do this.
Judgment
Jesus also tells these Jewish
Pharisees, “I have much to say in
judgment of you. But He who sent Me is reliable, and what I have heard from
Him, I tell the world.” 8:26 Jesus could have judged these leaders, but He
didn’t come the first time to judge. He came to seek and find, save, teach, heal
and multiply. At the end of the age, He will judge in righteous judgment.
Son
of Man lifted up – John 8:27-29
The Pharisees didn’t
understand that Jesus was speaking of His Heavenly Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will
know that I am the One I claim to be, and that I do nothing on My own but speak
just what the Father has shown Me. The One who sent Me is with Me; He has not
left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” John 8:28-29 Jesus is
speaking of a time soon when He will be lifted up on the cross as a criminal to
die for all sin by these very men He is speaking with. The prophet Isaiah
prophesied of the suffering and glory of the Servant in 52:13. Keep in mind that the Pharisees knew and taught the Older
Testament scriptures. They should have recognized that Jesus is showing them
that He is the Servant who would suffer and then be lifted up in glory. Through
Jesus’ suffering many would be forgiven, justified, redeemed and set free from
sin. His suffering also led to His exaltation and glory. Jesus did God’s will
perfectly and was highly exalted as a result. Either these Pharisees will see
the truth of Jesus in the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension as their
Savior and Redeemer or they will see Him in the judgment when they see Him as
Judge.
Those who believe in Jesus
and His finished work of the cross are to be citizens of heaven above. We are
to live “in” the Lord. This means we are to live like Him. The worldly cannot
receive the Spirit of Truth because they are spiritually blinded to the Truth
through their rejection of Jesus. The opening of our eyes to the truth is the
work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we are blinded.
Jesus said that God is always
with Him because He always does what pleases Him. In other words, Jesus was
obedient to the Father continuously, perfectly and completely. No one else can
make this claim! Sin separates a person from Holy God. Jesus has the very mind of God because He is sinless (holy). Jesus who is sinless has been the nature of God
throughout all eternity from beginning to end. He is full of grace and truth.
(see John 1:14)
“Even as He spoke,
many put their faith in Him.” V30 Jesus’ words and wisdom are powerful. There
is no wisdom greater or more powerful than the Word of God. His words brought
many to salvation through their faith in Him.
True
Discipleship – John 8:31-32
Then Jesus spoke to “the Jews who believed in Him” and His
words, “If you hold to My teaching, you
are really My disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set
you free.” John 8:31-32 Jesus is telling these new converts that true
discipleship requires not just knowing the Truth, but believing and walking in
it. When we gain knowledge of His Word and obey it, we grow and mature spiritually. Then the Word will "abide" (live) in us. The truth will liberate us from false truth, ignorance, sin and Satan’s
dominion. When Jesus spoke on earth, He was speaking pure truth. Real liberty
comes from pure truth. Our “natural” man is in bondage to sin and the devil.
Jesus gave the characteristics of one who is a genuine disciple of His – he who
continues in His word. These will know the truth and the truth will set them
free.This implies that those who don’t know the Truth are in bondage.
Unfortunately, the “natural man” without Christ is destitute of righteousness and
God’s spiritual life. (see Isaiah
64:6-7) Our “natural man” is also
without spiritual wisdom and spiritual power and therefore, unable to do any spiritual good
for God and man. And, our “natural man” is destitute of freedom because of our bondage to sin and the devil. Man is a fallen creature who is totally
depraved because he is under the dominion of sin and cannot cease from sin. (see 2 Peter 2:14) Jesus said in John 8:34, “Everyone who sins is a slave to
sin.” Jesus gives His audience the remedy. Nothing but the Truth of Jesus Christ can
deliver them.
At the endtime, for those who
refuse “to love the truth and so be
saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10), God will send “a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” (2
Thessalonians 2:11) Truth is redemptive; a lie is destructive. We are told
to love the truth that sets us free. The father of Truth is God; the father of
lies is Satan. Jesus is telling these Pharisees who have it in their hearts to
kill Him that there is no exception to this truth. In His grace and truth,
Jesus is warning even those who want to kill him that He is the only way out of
spiritual bondage and into eternal life. Their lineage to Abraham can’t save them.
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