In the last part of this study of John 8, we left on a hopeful note: John 8:30 As he spoke these things many believed on him. Now, this is not anything new. All the way back in chapter 2, John told us: John 2:23 And when he was in Jerusalem, at the Passover, at the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he wrought. How firm was their belief back then?

Maybe John’s subsequent comment is there to make us consider that very question.

John 2:24-25 But Jesus himself did not trust himself to them, because he knew all [men], and that he had not need that any should testify of man, for himself knew what was in man.

The Greek word used for the people’s belief in His name is the same word used for his not entrusting himself to them. The “trust” here is not reciprocal. They say (they think) they trust in His name, but that trust is not enough for Jesus to rely on them.

Given that Jesus knows what is in the heart of men (these verses make that point), we must conclude that their trust, their belief, was not the kind of trust that Jesus knew His disciples would need to have. Indeed, we human beings are fallible even in this: in knowing what we believe.

We use that word, belief, trust, too loosely, to readily, too cavalierly… We don’t realize that it is describing a whole spectrum that stretches from whim and opinion to life-or-death certainty. But the time is short. The end of Jesus’ ministry is approaching. And, so, Jesus does something He did  not do back in John chapter 2: He turns to those people and decides it is time (they are ready, they need to be ready) to work on their faith.

John 8:31-32 Jesus therefore said to the Jews who believed him, If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

The path from opinion to certainty is called obedience

Jesus sees people in the crowd who have been moved by the Spirit – through His Word – to recognize the Voice of the Father… recognize it clearly enough to decide that Jesus is worthy of being believed in. In this evident conflict between the religious leaders and this itinerant Preacher, they realize both cannot be right; and they choose.

But do they understand all that that choice entails?

By now Jesus has said this many times openly: “Come follow me.” That is His standard response to any that claim they want to believe in Him. And it is what he tells them:

If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples

“If you believe in Me, if you truly want to follow Me and be my disciples, then abide in My Word.”

To one that had made the same declaration He said, “I don’t have a place to lay my head down”. To another, He said, “Let the dead bury their own dead.” To another, “Sell everything you have, give to the poor, and come follow me.”

In each case, Jesus addressed the key obstacle in each one’s heart:

If you choose to follow Jesus, don’t expect any comfort or reward in this life; quite the opposite.

If you choose to follow Jesus, you cannot let anyone drag you back into the world, even if they are your own family,

If you choose to follow Jesus, you can have no other gods holding a higher place in your life… certainly not Mammon (money).

If you choose to follow Jesus, then follow Him.

You would think this last one, His response to the people here in chapter 8, is a tautology, that it goes without saying. But remember, just as we don’t really know what we mean when we say we “believe”, many times we make a commitment without knowing what that commitment really means.

Jesus has just declared that there is no such thing as believing in Him without that declaration also meaning a commitment to obey Him. To follow Him doesn’t mean we join a club, doesn’t mean we can now call ourselves Christians and go on living like we were living before. If we are to believe in Him, He demands that we know what we believe in. It presupposes that we have listened to His Word, His teachings, and we do more than just agree with them, we abide – live, every day – in them.

The liberating power of obedience.

And if we do that, abide in His word, our ears will continue to open to the Voice of the Father. His Voice will become stronger and stronger in our lives, stronger than the voice of the world, so strong that we will begin to see ever more clearly the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. And that revelation of the Truth – often – will sting… Because we will see how much of our life has been subjugated to the ways and lies of this world.

and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

The point of that revelation is not to condemn us but to give us the power to say “No” to the grip of the world. That revelation will have the power to set us free. And the freer we are, the easier it becomes to again hear the Voice of the Father. (As Jesus said, “to him that has, more will be given.”)

The Way of Jesus is the Way of obedience, where Truth is always there for us to find because our path is illuminated by the Light of the world. That is what Jesus is offering them… the free gift of eternal life starting right now. All that it takes to accept it is to acknowledge that I need it… to accept that the way I have been living, I have been living in darkness, bound to the lie, blind to the truth.

Yes, it takes humility…

John 8:33 They answered him, We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been under bondage to any one; how sayest thou, Ye shall become free?

Ouch! Are they really this dense that they don’t realize He is talking to them about spiritual bondage and freedom? He already told them in Chapter 6, He is speaking words of Spirit to them. Or, do they catch the implication, that Jesus is telling them they are living bound to this world, and not like it? I used to assume the former. But, considering that these speaking may be the very people who decided they believe in Him, I wonder… 

In choosing to believe in Him, they have shown that the Voice of the Father has gotten through to them already. Shouldn’t that mean that they understood what Jesus meant? But that’s OK, Jesus will make it plain:

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Every one that practises sin is the bondman of sin.

Ok, now what? Now that Jesus has explained what He meant, that He indeed is speaking of slavery to sin, what are they going to say? What would you say?

If I had been one of those that said, “Wait, wait, wait: I’ve never been a slave to anyone.” And then Jesus said to my face: “Every time you sin you enslave yourself. And, believe me, you do not just stumble into sin, you practice it”. (I mean it: the Greek word used here, poion, is a prolonged form of a word that means to make or to do. It is also used to mean to manufacture or construct.) How would I react?

It appears that they were dumbfounded… that no one bowed their head and accepted the rebuke. All we get is silence. And Jesus goes on, appealing to them:

John 8:35-36 Now the bondman abides not in the house for ever: the son abides for ever. If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free.

“If you really want eternal life, then let Me bring you in.”

But by now it is clear what accepting that offer means. It means admitting I am lost without Him… that I am a sinner. (And now we see why this chapter started with the story of the woman caught in adultery; a story that ended with that crowd’s admission that every single one of them was a sinner.)

Chained by our own choices.

I can just imagine how the faces in that crowd changed. We can tell from what Jesus said next:

John 8:37-38 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word has no entrance in you. I speak what I have seen with my Father, and ye then do what ye have seen with your father.

How many ways can He tell them that they have made a choice to live in the kingdom of the world? That kingdom is not ruled by the Father in Heaven but by the father of lies…

John 8:39-43 They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus says to them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham; but now ye seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the works of your father.

They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God. Jesus said to them, If God were your father ye would have loved me, for I came forth from God and am come [from him]; for neither am I come of myself, but *he* has sent me.

Why do ye not know my speech? Because ye cannot hear my word.

When we are stuck in our own stubbornness, sometimes the only thing left to try is to “slap us awake.” Jesus is not mincing words from here on…

John 8:44-45 Ye are of the devil, as [your] father, and ye desire to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsehood, he speaks of what is his own; for he is a liar and its father: and because I speak the truth, ye do not believe me.

There it is: the explanation for our blindness and deafness. When we live our lives immersed in the kingdom of the world, accepting its  values, listening day in and day out to the lies that its god spouts, we become accustomed to them, so much so, that when someone speaks the Truth, it sounds alien. The voice of the world has drowned out the Voice of the Father.

Is there any way to shake us awake?  

Actually, there is: Remember, the Father is the One that made us. He gave us minds to think with, and free will to choose with. And that mind works according to the laws of logic. That is how we reason. And therefore, we can be forced to see the contradictions we accept when we live in the world. This is what Jesus tries now.

The people invoked Abraham and His God. That means that even if they refuse to look inwards to see the sin in their lives, they still have to power to recognize what sin is:

John 8:46 Which of you convinces me of sin? If I speak truth, why do ye not believe me?

Eminently logical. “If I were a sinner, then you would be justified in rejecting what I say. But where is my sin? Speak up. How can you prove that I am lying and not telling you the truth?”

Again, probably, all we have is silence. But Jesus will not let them off the hook.

John 8:47 He that is of God hears the words of God: therefore ye hear [them] not, because ye are not of God.

And that provokes an answer. But the answer is what we call an “ad hominem” attack.

John 8:48 The Jews answered and said to him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon?

In other words: “We don’t need to answer your questions or hear any more of what you have to say because we can say that you are mad, demon-possessed. You say we are sinners… well we say you are demon-possessed. Now, you prove us wrong.”

John 8:49 Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honour my Father, and ye dishonour me.

It is important that we recognize why the conversation has devolved to this point. Remember that these people, barely half an hour ago, had decided to believe in Him. And now they are insulting him.

Is that really the way we are? Is that who we are?

Am I the kind of person that when Jesus, in His mercy, tells me I am stuck in a rut that is going to destroy my life, instead of saying, “I know, I know… I just can ‘t figure out how to get out of it; can you help me?”; instead of saying that, I get offended at His words, and angered by the truth, I lash out at Him?

Yes, I am.

But Jesus will never give up. So, He appeals to them again: There is a consequence to their rejection but there is still hope:

John 8:50-51 But I do not seek my own glory: there is he that seeks and judges.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, If any one shall keep my word, he shall never see death.

John 8:52 The Jews therefore said to him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham has died, and the prophets, and thou sayest, If any one keep my word, he shall never taste death.

They have latched on to what He just said and want to use it to prove He is the one in the wrong. But the problem is, He has said this many times before. He has never hidden the fact that what He has come to offer is eternal life. If such an offer was enough to declare him mad, why didn’t they say so before?

The reason is that Job, Isaiah, Daniel, even the Psalmist had all declared that there was a life after physical death for the faithful of Jehovah. But they want to force Jesus’ words to mean that He is offering freedom from physical death. In other words, they set up a “straw-man argument” because they are sure that they can tear it down. That’s how they plan to win this argument:

John 8:53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who has died? and the prophets have died: whom makest thou thyself?

They were certainly not expecting Jesus to have a retort:

John 8:54-56 Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father who glorifies me, [of] whom ye say, He is our God. And ye know him not; but I know him; and if I said, I know him not, I should be like you, a liar. But I know him, and I keep his word. Your father Abraham exulted in that he should see my day, and he saw and rejoiced.

Not only is He saying, “Yes, I am greater than Abraham (because that is My Father’s will) but more than that, He says Abraham agreed! Now what are they going to say? Now it is Jesus who is provoking them. Will they bite?

John 8:57 The Jews therefore said to him, Thou hast not yet fifty years, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Yep, they bit…

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.

They asked Him, so He answered, in Truth… “Have you seen Abraham?” And His answer is: “Well, yeah! I made him.”

John 8:59 They took up therefore stones that they might cast [them] at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, [going through the midst of them, and thus passed on.]

So much for the crowd that chose to believe in Him.

Are we any different from them?

If the only way to follow Jesus is for us to admit that we are lost, right now utterly lost, without Him… to admit that we have been living in chains in this world, how many of us would be willing to own up to it?  

(Remember, the rest of that crowd that we have been hanging around with all these years, is busy scrounging the ground, looking for stones to shut Him up.)