A Case of Mistaken Identity

Most of us have heard of the term "doppelgänger." We use this in reference to someone who looks nearly identical to someone else. When I was in college there were a couple of individuals that were not quite my doppelgänger, but very close. One was an individual who was a friend and later went into pastoral ministry, before going back into farming, named Harold Loewen.

Another was a classmate of mine who is now a professor of art at the University of Buffalo. His name is Stan Friesen. Stan was part of a missionary family from Afghanistan. He was lovingly referred to by many of us as, Stan the Man from Afghanistan. Interestingly, all three of us had a very similar and bizarre sense of humor. Yet for those who truly knew us, they would say that we were all unique and individual.

You might remember seeing someone that you felt you knew.  However, you discovered they simply looked like someone you knew. There is usually a brief time of embarrassment, if we actually went to say hello to them, followed by trying to understand how we could have mistaken them for someone else.

In the spiritual realm, there is a very similar problem of mistaken identity. On this planet, there are many who mistake a good person as a follower of Jesus Christ. There are others who might mistake a person who is struggling with sin as someone who could not possibly be a Christian. Within the church, there can also be cases of mistaken identity, as we see those who are extremely active, busy doing ministry; and because of that, we might assume that they are true followers of Jesus. Each of these situations may or may not be accurate.

Just because someone is religious does not make them righteous.  

Just because someone does good does not make them godly.  

Just because someone is disciplined in their spiritual walk does not make them a disciple of Jesus Christ.  

Just because someone knows the Scriptures does not mean they know the Savior.  

Today, we are going to look at the absolute worst case of mistaken identity. We will see that the most religious people during John’s time, willingly chose to wrongly identify Jesus Christ; resulting in eternal damnation and separation from God.

I was reminded of a musical which our Tabor College Chamber Singers performed as we toured a couple of states in the mid-70s. The theme song for the entire production was built around making sure that we, as Christians, would make the gospel message clear and easy to understand. You and I need to make certain that we do not cause others to see a wrong presentation of Jesus, causing them to have a mistaken identity about who he is. So what do we do?

We must make sure that we present Jesus as he truly is.

Jesus is Savior. - 8.48-51

The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”  Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

You will recall from the last message, that Jesus had openly stated that these religious leaders were children of the devil. Now we read their hostile response as they attempted to justify what they had stated earlier about Jesus being a Samaritan. However, now they add that he also has a demon.

Once again, they avoid their own heart issues and are looking to minimize the legitimacy of Jesus. If they can cause everyone to believe that he is not a full-blooded Jew, then he would have no legitimacy in talking about what a true child of Abraham actually was. Then to really put the stamp of disapproval on him, they would suggest that he was a mad man who was possessed by a demon. How familiar this is; rather than dealing with the facts, the enemy will resort to name calling and finger-pointing; even making up stories. By choosing to call Jesus a Samaritan, they were also suggesting that he had no right to be looked upon as a teacher of any sort. Because there was such animosity between the Jews and Samaritans, when the Jewish religious leaders called Jesus a Samaritan, it was the same as calling him an enemy of the Jews. And if he were an enemy of the Jews, then he must be an enemy of God. By the Jewish religious leaders stating that he had a demon would be the same as accusing him of being insane and out-of-control.

It is interesting to see Jesus' response. He merely states the fact that he does not have a demon. In fact, he presents the counterpoints. He honors the heavenly father. No demon would ever honor God. In fact, a demon would do all that he could to dishonor God. Thus, Jesus goes further by stating that these religious leaders, who supposedly were to honor God, chose to dishonor Jesus who had been sent by God. In reality, they were dishonoring God by their treatment of Jesus.

Jesus also points out another interesting contrast. Everyone knew that the religious leaders thought they were something special. Jesus states that he does not seek his own glory. However, his heavenly Father seeks and judges. And we know that he has judged Jesus worthy of honor and glory. The Father glorifies the Son.

For the individual who will not only listen to and believe the facts of God's Word, but will also obey God's Word, that individual is promised eternal life. Again, this is not suggesting that works will save anyone. Jesus is repeating the fact that for the one who will believe in Jesus Christ, they will experience eternal life. And for the person who believes in Jesus Christ, obviously, they will be obedient to his word.

Isn't this incredible? Jesus is once again presenting the opportunity for these religious leaders to repent of their sin and to experience eternal life by placing their faith and trust in him.

Jesus is Supreme. - 8.52-58

The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’  “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”  Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”  So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

We have seen so many times how these religious leaders confuse the spiritual because they are so grounded in the physical and the earthly. You can almost hear their cockiness as they are patting themselves on the back is if they have Jesus in a corner. They repeat with confidence that Jesus has a demon. Why is that? It was believed that only someone who was out of their mind could make any claim to be greater then Abraham or any of the prophets. 

As we continue on, it is as if they are asking Jesus who he thought he was. They are laying the gauntlet down asking a question that seems completely ridiculous. They remind Jesus that there is no way that he could have been greater then Abraham or any of the prophets because they all died. And with that response, we see that their minds are still earthbound. They were thinking of death as simply the termination of the body. They do not realize the double meaning of death. Jesus is referring to a spiritual death which is eternal separation from the Father.

Jesus responds to them by stating that this is not about him trying to exalt himself. He already knows that his Father will glorify him. He reminds them that even though they claim to know his Father as their God, yet by their actions and their words it is obvious that they do not know God. It is as I have stated from God's Word many times, one cannot claim to know and love God without knowing and loving his son, Jesus Christ.  For Jesus to suggest that he does not know the heavenly Father, he would be no better than they; he would also be a liar. Do not let the irony escape you. Jesus is being accused of being in league with Satan. The Jewish religious leaders are claiming to be speaking and living for God. The reality is that the Jewish religious leaders were in league with Satan; and Jesus was speaking and living for God. In addition, he is God.

Then we come to the section which gives me goosebumps every time I read it. Jesus tells those religious leaders that their genetic father, Abraham, had rejoiced when he saw Jesus' day. How absurd this was to the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus had stated that Abraham saw him and was glad. You and I have an advantage in knowing this to be completely true because of Hebrews chapter 11.

The Jewish leaders, with their feet still buried in this earthly way of thinking, try to point out in a mocking way that it was impossible for Jesus to have seen Abraham. Abraham had lived over two centuries before this time. In addition, the Jews reversed what Jesus actually stated. He did not state that he had seen Abraham. It was Abraham who had seen him.  Then Jesus tells them point blank that He is the great I Am. Before Abraham was born, I am. In Fausset and Brown’s commentary, they state: The words rendered “was” and “am” are quite different. The one clause means, “Abraham was brought into being”; the other, “I exist.” The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did, but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally,

Homer Kent explains, “By using the timeless ‘I am’ rather than ‘I was,’ Jesus conveyed not only the idea of existence prior to Abraham, but timelessness—the very nature of God himself.”

This is impossible for anyone other than God to make this sort of claim. My friends, Jesus has always existed and will always exist as the Son of God. He is the one who formed Abraham. He is the one Abraham saw. 

Jesus is Sovereign. - 8.59

Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

If they would have understood Who Jesus was, they would have known it was impossible to kill Him when they chose to do so.  So far, every time the Jewish religious leaders confronted Jesus, they have avoided dealing with the facts and they have avoided dealing with their own sinful nature. They have resorted to name calling and foolish attacks. Now, we see their absolute defiance as they pick up stones to throw at him in an attempt to kill him publicly.

Why would they want to do such a thing? I believe it is because they understood completely that Jesus was once again claiming to be God. Jesus did not say I was; he stated that I am. To the Jewish religious leaders, this was the same as blasphemy. Do you see how bizarre this was? The religious leaders were so focused on appearing to honor God, yet here, they were completely dishonoring God. They were accusing God of blaspheming himself.

Nowhere, in any of the Gospels, does Jesus ever withdraw his claim that he is God. Sadly, these religious leaders were sealing their own doomed state.

The author, John, seems to continue to be fairly low-key whenever a miracle occurs. By the use of the words, Jesus hid Himself, this seems to have been a supernatural miracle. He removed himself from further discussion and was no longer in the temple. Again, we are reminded that God is sovereign and has his timetable set up perfectly and nobody is able to remove or change his plans and purposes. It was not yet time for Jesus to be crucified.

Reflections

There are only two possible responses when a person is faced with the truth about Jesus Christ. One can either accept what he says as truth and believe upon him for salvation and experience eternal life; or one can reject him, carrying bitterness, self-righteousness, smugness, pseudo-intellectualism, or whatever else is promoting humanity above God, straight to the depths of hell.

Warren Wiersbe summarizes it very well:  Satan’s lie is that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God (see 1 John 2:22; 4:1–3). It is impossible to honor God and at the same time dishonor His Son.

Satan is always working to create confusion as to the identity of Jesus.  You and I must be careful we don't add to the confusion by sending mixed signals by what we say or how we live. Our desire should be to live and speak in such a way, under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we present Jesus as He truly is.