John 8:21-47 Whose your Daddy?
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Intro
Intro
I don’t know if you have noticed but we are kind of stalled in chapter 8 of the book of John.
It’s a long chapter with a lot of dialogue…And I don’t want to miss any of it because its all really good and it sets up chapter 9 so well.
Last week we saw that one more time. Jesus lives into the festival and the traditions that they were having…
The festival and the traditions were that they would light the lanterns and remember that God is the light and Jesus would announce that he is the light of the world!
But today is special, It’s father’s day…And I love the way that God lines up the text with special days because Jesus here will actually talk about the importance of your father in the text! …
So lets get into it…Dad’s I think there is something special in here for you and for all of us...Let’s dive in
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
So immediately, one of the things that we have been seeing is that the tension is rising. In the beginning Jesus was celebrated and the world was excited to have him…
Now because so many people are going after Jesus the power structure is going wild…
This homeless, itinerant ordinary preacher from Galilee is getting famous and it is upsetting the power structure
And the reality is that he has been saying things since the beginning of his ministry that equate himself with God!
The clarity of Jesus
The clarity of Jesus
So what we have to understand is that Jesus has been preaching a unified message up until this point. And this is what is making them mad
Let’s just walk though a few verses here
that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
The message is that Jesus comes from the father and gives life.
Literally in the gospel of John there are like 55 references to Jesus giving life and 133 references to the father giving the son
So if this is your first week in the book of John, I could see how you might miss it. But if you have been reading carefully.
Jesus has been saying at Nassim…
The father sent me! Yahweh! Sent me…And he is using me to bring life to all that need it.
So the message we are hearing from Jesus here is not new! And Jesus will even mention this
The message of Jesus in this text
The message of Jesus in this text
So let’s go back to this text…We just need in the back of our minds…that Jesus has been teling them from the beginning who he is and what he will do
So the first thing he tells the pharisees is rather harsh.
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
Jesus will go on to talk about his own death and resurrection. He is going to die for a people...The pharisees are going to kill for their people and so Jesus says…You will die in your sin!
Harsh!
What is he talking about?
He is talking about their unbelief in himself
There is no room for universalism in the gospel of John.
There is no room for universalism in the gospel of John.
Jesus is clear. That the only way to eternal life is faith in the Son.
Our world is inherently pluralistic, what I mean by this is that our world wants to say…look just be a good person…Just be a nice to everyone….And don’t get me wrong..>it’s impotrant to be nice to everyone…
But Jesus is very particular…Eternal Life is in me
But look who Jesus is talking to
These are the people who have the doctorates of ministry, these are the people who have the Masters of Divinity…
These are religious people
These religious people would NEVER say follow another god and you could get to heaven or just anyone could go…
But ultimately they religion is what we are all in danger of…
They had faith in their own goodness
They follow the law. They tithe…They had read the bible…memorized it in fact
But ultimately their faith was skewed in one area…Over time and subtly their confidence was in their own goodness
And Jesus basically says…You are going to Hell! You are going to die in your sin!
Its a harsh message!
But Jesus doesn’t write them off completely I want you to see this Jesus gives them the keys to believe
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
Here he is talking about his own resurrection. That he will die and then raise again…He is saying look! -That is coming
Believe in me..>if not now then when I raise again!
Jesus doesn’t want to lose anyone…Even these arrogant Pharisees! He wants them
Church history tells us that Nicodamous comes to believe in Jesus and many others
In this next part I want to read…Vs 23-24 Jesus tells them something that will be very impotrant later:
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
You are of this world, I am not of this world
Jesus will elaborate on this more in the next section but what Jesus is pointing out here is that they are from two entirely different realms
Their thoughts and actions were those of humans who were enmeshed in the matters of status, worldly concern…Ultimatley that is rebellion against God. ‘
Jesus point is that these are all things that “The price of this world” Satan cares about…
Actually in the next set of verses, Jesus will call them Children of the Devil
There is no universalism in John…You are either with him or with the world!
An encounter with Jesus demands a choice
maybe you have been here for a while…Checking it out…And that’s great…I honestly thing that God wired you to seek him…But at one point you have to make a choice…Who are you with? Who is Jesus?
Is he just some remarkable guy
or is he truly the son of God who takes away the sins of the world
See the pharisees at this point couldn’t let go of their public prominence to embrace jesus as the son of God
let’s get into this next text because it sheds so much light on what jesus is sayin
To the Jews who had believed 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.”
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Lets look back at that first verse
To the Jews who had believed 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.”
Imitate Jesus so you can have a life worth imitating
Imitate Jesus so you can have a life worth imitating
Imitating Jesus is holding on to his teachings…
Go back and read the sermon on the mount and do it!
I actually want to offer anyone here who doesn’t believe in Jesus an experiment…
Go read the sermon on the mount in the book of Matthew, the most compiled content of all of Jesus’ teachings in one place and I want to challenge you to live that way. do it for 30 days…I guarantee you that your life will never be the same
Go imitate Jesus and your life will be changed forever!
All of it…For 30 days…Just go live the way that Jesus calls people to live
This is what Jesus is saying…Hold on to my teachings! and you will be free!
Now the pharisees hear Jesus say that they can be free and they are like wait a minute! I am not a slave to anyone…We are not slaves to Egypt! We are already free people and here is what Jesus
Look We have Abraham as our father! We are his children…
We are circimcized, we are living in the covenant…We are a free people
Actually today I think we all freely confess that we “are sinners”…But in Jesus’ day. To be called a sinner was to mean that you were not a child of Abraham…
That you were living outside of the covenant relationship with God
There is not a single pharisee who would ever consider himself a sinner…That is unthinkable…But here Jesus is calling him a sinner
Jesus is like…Look if you have sin in your life then you are a slave
And I know that you have sin in your life…you are trying to kill me!
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Here is what I want to hit on for all of you dad’s today
There is this tension in the text…
The ultimate question is where do you derive your value from? What is your identity as a person
And these Jews are like look…Our father is Abraham…Our identity is that we are children of the covenant …and so we are obedient to God’s covenant!
This is the way it always works
even in our own lives Fill in these blanks with me
Father—> Identity—> Obedience
Father—> Identity—> Obedience
INSERT TRAINGLE
We derive our identity from our father
We can’t help it we just do
This is why fatherlessness is one of the biggest epidemics in the world
If you are here and you grew up with a an absent father, an abusive father, a neglecting father…Then you have suffered for that! and why have you suffered from that? because your primary identity comes from who your father is
Children need a present father that loves them
Young ladies…If you had a terrible relationship with your dad…It took a toll on you didn’t it?
who our father is shapes our identity and we are ultimately obedient to an identity….
See in place of a father who loves us…
our world will tell you to make your identity out of what your into…Your hobbies…your money…your work…your family…your sexuality…Your religion…Your good works…
And then we become obedient to this…
Look this is exactly what Jesus is saying
He is saying…You are trying to kill me!
That is your obedience! You are faking your identity as a religious person therefore your father is the devil
Why? John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Jesus is literally walking these people though this progression.
You are liars and murders just like your father…The devil
Actually I want to point something out to you
Did you know all the way in the earliest parts of scripture this moment was predicted
In the curse to the serpent God says this
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Between your offspring and hers
Did you catch that?
There are two offspring…
The offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent, Satan…
And Jesus is pointing out here in John 8…Look if you were ever wondering who God the father was talking about in Genesis 3…Who are the offspring of the serpent…look it is you!
You are acting just like the serpent
So here is where we obviously get to father’s day
Look at your actions and ask yourself, who is my father?
Look at the way of life you have dads…Are you leaving a legacy of hurt, of lyng…Of deception
Or are you leaving a legacy of integrity & Following Jesus
Look live a life worth imitating!
1 maybe you need to reconcile
Whose son are you
when we peruse righteousness though our own means with the worng motive we become a pharisee
But what was true then is still true now.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Maybe your father wasn’t good
Forgive him
Ask the son to set you free
Ask the son to re-parent you
TRIANGLE AGAIN
In the gospel of John Jesus shows this progression of Father—> Identity—> Obedience
Father:
In John 5 he says I only do what I see my father doing. He shares identity with his father in heaven, he does the will of his father in heaven…And therefore everything that Jesus does reveals the father
Identity:
Identity flows from the one who gives us life. We are called to be kids of the father…The bible will use terms like we are adopted into sonship…In other words if you have said yes to Jesus then you are an adopted child of the king.
Your identity comes from your covenant partner…It comes from jesus
The commitment of the father to us is actually to give us a new identity
One of the boring things that I have to do is review annual reports of students who are studying to become pastors. And I had one person this last week say in the report…They were always working on their relationship with God and that this person knows that he will always be a sinner.
That fired me up…See because I recognized that this student was stuck in a worldly identity. So I emailed this student back and I said, I want to challenge you to stop calling yourself a sinner, sure at times you might sin, but if you are redeemed by Jesus then 2 Corinthians 5:21 calls you the righteousness of God, OWN that IDENTITY!
Obedience
Obedience is an act of love, it is never compelled or forced…
See because God is sharing his identity with you …Because he has forgiven you and covered your life with the blood of his son
John 14:15 says…”If you love me, keep my commands”
Look to understand this better the Pharisees approached God exactly backwards
They found their identity in obedience:
LOOK at how good I am at keeping the law
Their Identity became about how good they were outwardly…About being people of the covenant…
And then they just declared they were children of God because of their obedience
Legalism creeps into our life with God when we walk through the triangle backwards…We are like the pharisees…Look I have done all of these things…I am worthy of God’s love
NO! Nothing you can ever do will make you worthy…You are worthy becuase God already loved you and Jesus died for your sins…
As we are God’s children, he is already pleased with us….because we are covered in the blood of the son
Challenge:
Church, the question in John 8 is ultimately not, "How good are you?" The question is, "Whose child are you?"
The Pharisees thought their obedience made them children of God.
Jesus says it works the other way around. Your Father shapes your identity, and your identity shapes your obedience.
That's why the gospel is such good news. We don't obey so that God will love us. We are loved by God through Christ, adopted into His family, given a new identity, and then we learn to walk in obedience.
So on this Father's Day, whether you had a great father, a terrible father, or no father at all, there is an invitation from Jesus:
Let your Heavenly Father define who you are.
Because when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Free from sin. Free from shame. Free from proving yourself. Free to live a life worth imitating.
And as children of God, we can leave a different legacy—one of truth, grace, integrity, and faithfulness—because our identity is no longer found in what we've done, but in whose we are.
let’s pray
