Of Truths and Lies

I just read last Friday that the guitarist for the Zack Brown band, John Hopkins, has been diagnosed with ALS and he has only a few years to live. I am at the age where the people that I have loved all my life are starting to die off. As a pastor, I have spoken at dozens of funerals for folks that were in my churches. Death is a reality of the world we live in, isn’t it? As Christians, we understand that death is the final enemy, and when Jesus returns, he will defeat it totally. But we are also told not to fear death.

Most Christians know that we are going to live forever, but know nothing about the dying process and how it works for us. Jesus is going to reveal the answer for us this morning, and if you believe it, it may settle some things in your minds that will help you for the rest of your life.

Let me take a few minutes and give you the context of this passage. Jesus had been working in the area of Galilee and his brothers had come to him and pointed out that the Feast of the Tabernacles was approaching and this would be a good time for him to go and make a name for himself. He had refused to take the bait, however in his own time, he went to the feast.

The Feast of the Tabernacles follows Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is about the time of the fall equinox, when the day and night periods are about equal. Yom Kippur this year will be September 24. Four days later the Feast of the Tabernacles occurs and is meant to celebrate the saving of the people from Egyptian bondage. People stayed in tents during the festival just like the ancient Israelites stayed in tents during the years in the wilderness.

So, freedom is a major theme of the feast.

Finally, because this festival occurs in the fall, and in an semi-arid land, the need for water for the crops and for drinking is front and center. During the first seven days of the festival, the priests would get water from the Pool of Siloam and take it to the temple. Ram’s horn trumpets, called shofars, would be blown as the priests approached the water gate. On the seventh day, the priests did this seven times.

So, water was a major theme of the feast.

Also, giant oil lamps would be lit in the temple yard and would burn for the first seven days of the festival. This was to symbolize that God was their light, as He was in the wilderness, so they did not walk in the dark.

So, light was a major theme of the feast.

Into this context stepped Jesus. He went to the temple and began to teach. You can read about it in chapter 7. Jesus’ teaching divides the people into those who believed in him and those who did not. The final part of chapter 7 deals with those who did not, lead by the Pharisees and chief priests, who sent the temple guards to arrest him. This results in two things, Jesus tells them he is going away and they cannot go where he is going. They get confused and ask if he is going to the Gentiles. Jesus also stands up and declares himself living water.

This is the place where the story of the woman caught in adultery is usually located. Biblical scholars know that it does not belong here because it was not here in the earliest manuscrpts. But it is a biblical story, it was found in various places in early manuscripts. In other words, it really happened. Why it was put here is a matter of conjecture, but we will skip that for now.

The next account we have of Jesus teaching during the Feast of the Tabernacles is in verse 12, where he is declaring himself to be the light of the world. He is probably standing right below those giant lamps I was talking about. When he said this. So, he meant that he was the light that Israel should follow in their wilderness. If you want to find your way to God, follow me!

Understandably, this gets Jesus in trouble with the Pharisees. He contends that they do not accept his testimony because they don’t know his Father. They question who his Father is and he tells them plain enough that they want to kill him, but cannot because his time is not yet up.

Again he tells them he is going away, but this time they think that he is saying he is going to kill himself. In the Jewish way of thinking, if someone kills them self, they would go to hell for eternity, but Jesus says, no, I am from above (with the implication, that is where I am going) and you are from below, and that is where you are going if you don’t believe me.

Now the rest of the story is about Jesus talking to people who did believe in him. Don’t miss that, it says it right there in 8:31, “To the Jews who had believe him, Jesus said...

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Now, these folks believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They believed that. But what they thought a Messiah was was a conqueror who would free them from Roman oppression. And Jesus tries to correct their thinking. Their biggest problem wasn’t the Romans, it was sin. So, he tells them that they are in bondage to sin, that they are slaves to sin. And that hurts their sensibilities, right?

We are not slaves! Irony is that this is a festival dedicated to remembering when God brought them out of bondage, out of slavery. He led them by light during the night and cloud by day. He supplied them water from the rock. Freedom, light, water.

And now, God is back in town and he is offering them freedom, light, water of a greater kind. Freedom from sin, the light of salvation, the water of life. And they are insulted. Because they are Abraham’s children. Now Abraham had many children, but only one was the child of promise. Isaac had children, but only one, Jacob was the child of promise. You get this? Just because they could call Abraham their biological father didn’t mean much. Jesus says if you are Abraham’s true children, you would not be trying to kill me. Abraham did not try to kill God.

Of course they claim to be children of God, but children of God love God and they certainly didn’t love Jesus, who came from God. Jesus said their true father was Satan because he was the father of murder and lies.

All of that to get here. Verse 48.

They are so insulted that they insult back. Sounds almost like twitter. They don’t have a counter argument so they call him names. He’s a demon possessed Samaritan.

Now the Samaritans were considered to be half-breeds and worthless to the Jews. Not to Jesus. The first person he clearly told he was the Messiah to was a Samaritan woman. One of his greatest and most poignant parables was the Good Samaritan. So, Jesus does not even respond to that part of the insult. But he has to respond to the demonic part. The reason he has to respond is revealed a few verses later and I will point that out to you. But first let’s look at his response. Direct denial, I am not possessed by a demon. Then he lays the hammer down. I am honoring the Father, but you are dishonoring me. I am not seeking my own glory, but God the Father is seeking my glory. In other words, you are on very shaky ground. God is seeking to honor me and you are seeking the opposite. This is not going to end well for you!

Now here is our money verse, verse 51: “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

Let’s take this verse apart. Very truly I tell you. When Jesus had something important to say, something he didn’t want the listener to miss, this is what he said. Amen, amen. It means, this is profound, this is important so pay attention.

Whoever obeys my word.

You see, they already believed, right? Just intellectual belief is not enough. You have to obey. Now, don’t misunderstand. The standard is not perfection, the standard is obedience. Broken, yes, often failing, yes, but obedience. As James would say, a faith that works. The common church word we use is repentance. Constantly turning from our sin toward God. It isn’t that we have to earn salvation, you could never do that. But you need a faith, a belief, that moves you toward God. If your faith doesn’t move you to change, then it is no faith at all. But if you have that...

“You will never see death.” There it is. If you are a child of God, if you are a disciple of Jesus, if you obey him and abide in him, you will never see death. Never see it.

Now just in case you think this is a “one of” in the Bible, I have a few verses for you.

John 11:25–26

John 5:24

Ephesians 2:4–5

Now the folks Jesus is talking to, misunderstand and misquote him. Abraham died, so did the prophets. The best of the best died, but we aren’t if we obey you? We won’t taste death. Do you think you are greater than Abraham? Who do you think you are?

Again, Jesus tries to make them understand. It is not me glorifying myself. It is God who seeks to glorify me. I would be a liar if I said different. Now listen to this verse: 36. “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” What does that mean? It means that when Abraham was wandering the plains of Judea, he rejoiced at the thought of Jesus’ day, but after he was buried, long after, he saw Jesus’ day and was glad. Your father, Abraham, is not dead even now!

But they weren’t listening. I am sure Jesus was doing the best he could to get them to listen. But they refused because they were getting an idea of what Jesus was saying about himself and it was blowing their minds up. Verse 57.

Another important pronouncement by Jesus. Amen, amen, before Abraham was born, I am.

This is an I am statement. I am, Yahweh, the very name of God. Jesus makes the claim right to their face. I not only existed before Abraham, I have always existed and I always will. I am. God.

What about you? Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? Not some vague, yes I believe that, but a yes I believe that to the point of willing to put my whole future on that truth. To the point of abiding with him and following him all the days of my life.

If you do, I have some wonderful news about your future. You will never die. Yes, your body will die (if Jesus doesn’t return first) just as Abraham’s body died. But YOU will never die. You have already passed into eternity. Your eternal life began when you put your faith in Jesus and began this walk.

Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

We won’t go alone through death and meet Jesus on the other side. No, it will be only a shadow of death and Jesus has promised to walk through it with us. Death holds no claim on us anymore. There is no “dying process” for us. We may suffer as our bodies get weaker and sicker, and finally die. But we will not even taste death.