Drawn into Life (4)

Before Abraham was, I am

Square pegs do not fit in round holes. It may be entertaining to watch a preschooler work on making the attempt, but adults should know better.

Yet for many of us, particularly Christians we often find ourselves wondering…if Jesus is all He claims to be, and if millions of believers live full, abundant lives…why does my life feel like trying to put a square peg in a round hole?

If those kind of questions have surfaced in your life, then I have some good news for you. Are you ready?

You aren’t alone!

Listen to this conversation between Jesus and Jewish leaders who had already decided that Jesus needed to die (John 5:18

John 5:18 HCSB

This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill Him: Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

READ John 8:48-59.

JEWISH IDENTITY

Listen to this passage from

Deuteronomy 6:20–25 HCSB

“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

For those Jewish leaders and for most Jews of Jesus’ day the single most important fact in their lives was their connection with Abraham

It was Abraham’s descendants that went to Egypt. It was Abraham’s descendants that God rescued from Egypt. It was the land God promised Abraham those whom God rescued were led.

Earlier in this section Jesus had made a radical declaration:

John 8:31–32 HCSB

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The truth - as these Jewish leaders recognized was summarized in the passage we just read from Deuteronomy.

Now, this young man (around 30 years of age) proclaims that His word is truth, and that continuing/abiding in His word is the way of freedom.

Anyone want to try again and put square pegs in round holes?

In vs 33 these Jewish leaders clearly declared:

John 8:33 HCSB

“We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered Him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Again in

John 8:39 (HCSB)

“Our father is Abraham!” they replied.

Assigning Jesus’ Identity

Often when we find ourselves in an argument with others it’s tempting to do what these leaders did:

resort to name calling:

You are a Samaritan

One writer explains:

John 1–11 (4) The Light of Tabernacles and the Great Confrontation (8:12–59)

Samaritans were regarded by Jews as half-breed heretics who also (at least later) were associated with demonic/cultic magic.

That charge didn’t seem to get Jesus excited.

So, they throw another name:

John 8:52 (HCSB)

Then the Jews said, “Now we know You have a demon.

Jesus Claims His True Identity

John 8:56–58 HCSB

Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.” The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”

“Before Abraham, I am.” Not ‘Before Abraham I was.’

It may not appear to be an important distinction. However it is vitally important we hear what Jesus claims.

Every Jewish leader listening to Jesus probably inhaled sharply and took a step back when Jesus spoke those words.

Those two words mirror the same words God spoke to Moses from bush in fire but not being consumed by the fire.

Exodus 3:14 HCSB

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

Isaiah 45:5–7 HCSB

I am Yahweh, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will strengthen you, though you do not know Me, so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is no one but Me. I am Yahweh, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, Yahweh, do all these things.

And here is Jesus - not yet 50 years old - identifying Himself with words that God uses to define and describe His identity.

The life Jesus invites us into is nothing less than the life of God Himself - an unlimited, eternal kind of life.

These Jewish leaders, much like trying to put a square peg in a round hole, completely missed Jesus’ invitation.

REFLECT & RESPOND:

Square Pegs and Round Holes

The Jewish leaders as they listened to Jesus struggled to fit His claims - to be the light of the world, eternally existing with God and as God, as the bread from heaven, as the vine and so one - into their understanding of life as descendants of Abraham. Like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, Jesus’ sayings won’t fit.

For many of us a similar struggle occurs. The way Jesus identifies Himself doesn’t fit the stereotypical images we have grown up with.

There are several dominant strands of this cultural definition of Christianity that are incompatible with the claims Jesus makes. As long as we hold to these strands following Jesus - as HE explains His identity and as He invites us to follow Him - is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

We don’t have time to unravel every thing our cultural Christianity gets wrong, but we can start with the statements and invitations Jesus has already given:

A. I am the vine, you are the branches

As the Jews understood life, being descendants of Abraham and adhering to the Torah WAS life.

Jesus claims that HE is life.

B. I am the light of the world

For those Jewish leaders listening to Jesus the claim that He is the light contradicts their practice of relying on centuries of interpreters to determine God’s plan and purpose.

We are easily led by ‘prophetic’ voices of our age claiming to know that which Jesus Himself acknowledged that only the Father knows.

C. I am the bread of life, the bread of heaven

Feeding on God’s Word is certainly necessary. Jesus reminded those hearers and us:

John 5:39–40 HCSB

You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.

D. I and the Father share an eternal life

This not just about what happens when our bodies can no longer function.

Jesus is not speaking about a kind of life only available to those who are physically dead.

The eternal life which God has, which Jesus ha, which the Holy Spirit has is much more than simply ‘existing.’

Rather, this life is about entering into a radically new kind of relationship with God as He makes Himself known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This ‘eternal’ life is about a new perspective, a new way of experiencing God’s presence AND a new and more meaningful way of experiencing life with other believers.

On one side of the Connect Card you received in your worship folder we ask for your name and contact information so we can keep in touch with you.

On the other side is a series of statements I’d like to to look at with me:

TODAY I AM…

Far from God and would like to talk with someone about it…

Willing to publicly proclaim my faith in Jesus…

Willing to follow in believers baptism…

Would like information on how to join Community Baptist Church

As this video plays, take a moment and evaluate where you are - you can come here to the front of the auditorium or just place the card in one of the blue boxes on the wall as you leave and we will follow up…