The Gospel According to John: 8:48-59

Series Introduction:

The theme verse for our series is John 20:31

John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

The “these” John is referring to are the seven recorded SIGNS/miracles and the seven recoded “I Am” STATEMENTS of Jesus. John focused on those 14 key SIGNS and STATEMENTS in order to show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World because He’s God’s only begotten Son. God had John write these things so that we would believe and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ so that by the grace of God we would be FREED from the penalty of our sin and given life to the FULL here on earth and life FOREVER in heaven.

Recap: John 1 - 8:11

John 1 - We are introduced to Jesus as the Word made flesh and told His purpose for coming to earth. We are also given John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and Jesus calls His first disciples.

John 2 - Here we have the first recorded sign (the water turned into wine) and Jesus demonstrating His authority in the turning over the tables at the temple during Passover.

John 3 - The amazing discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus and John the Baptist’s second testimony about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 4 - Jesus and the woman at the well, living water, Samaritans come to Jesus and then the chapter ends with the second sign/miracle, Jesus healing the nobleman’s son.

John 5 - The third sign/miracle, Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day

John 6 - We have the fourth recorded sign/miracle, the feeding of the five thousand. Then we have the first “I Am” statement, “I am the Bread that came down from Heaven” and the chapter ends with people starting to divide over Jesus.

John 7 - We see specifically how people are dividing over Jesus, some were divided because of unbelief, others because of uneasiness about the danger of following Jesus and others because of uncertainty about the claims of Jesus.

John 8:1-42 - The woman caught in adultery and Jesus making the famous statement, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” and the 2nd “I AM” statement, “I am the Light of the world.” and the truth will set you free!

Read our main test for today, and we are actually going to connect to a few verses Pastor Paul preaching on last week. So let’s start at verse 43...

Read Text:

John 8:43–59 (NASB)

43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” 48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 “But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” 52 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.’ 53 “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 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’; 55 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. 56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Truth and Lies!

Knowing & Keeping the word of God (Jesus did these perfectly) Why?

(v. 55) 55 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.

Jesus was attentive to the Truth

Illus.: When I was in was a freshman in I wasn’t always attentive. More than once I fell asleep in class and ended up waking up in an entirely different class. (reminds me of the disciples falling asleep when Jesus wanted them to stay awake with him and pray)

Jesus was attentive though, because He was “of God”...

(v. 47) “He who is of God hears the words of God...”

This is true of Jesus but also true for us and God’s expectation and will for us.

Hearing here is about actively listening, being attentive. We should be always be attentive, especially when it is God that is speaking.

We see that modeled in the life of Christ.

First, He showed up.

Luke 2:41–42 (NASB)

41 Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

Luke 4:16 (ESV)

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Second, He studied well.

Luke 2:46–47 (NASB)

46 Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

Luke 4:32 (ESV)

32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.

Third, He stayed late.

Luke 2:43 (NASB)

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem....

Luke 6:12 (ESV)

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

In contrast, many times, if we do show up, we show up late.

And when we are where we can hear from God, we don’t really study well.

And often times we don’t stick around and stay for a while.

Jesus was accepting of the Truth

(v. 55) ...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...”

Jesus was accepting of the truth because He is the truth and He can do nothing but accept the truth.

To accept means to agree with, to affirm, to take on the required responsibilities...

Jesus did that regarding the will of the Father. That’s why He prayed, “not my will be yours be done.

How else do we see Jesus accepting the truth?

He spoke the truth and left the results up to the Father!

(v. 54) 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’;

(v. 55) “...if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you...”

[major contrast: (v. 44) You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

(v. 51) Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

(v. 58-59) Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus was applying the Truth

(v. 55) ...I do know Him and keep His word.

To apply the truth is to keep it or another way to say it is obedience.

Jesus applied the truth perfectly because He is the only person to ever keep the Word of God to perfection. And by the way, that is the expectation and requirement God has for us too.

(v. 51) Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

We cannot meet the expectation nor can we meet the requirement, but Jesus can and did and He did so for us. That’s why we need grace in order to be saved.

(v. 49) ...I honor My Father… How?

Jesus was attentive to the truth, accepted the truth and applied the truth.

Jesus was telling them the truth about who He was but they weren’t attentive...

(v. 43 & 45) Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word… 45 “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

Jesus desired for them to accept the truth but they rejected it...

(v. 48) The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

(v. 52-53) 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.’ 53 “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

(v. 59) Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus desired for them to apply the truth but they we living in untruth...

(v. 47) He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

How will you respond today?

Memory Verse of the Week:

John 15:12 (NASB)

12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

Discussion Questions: (John 8:48-59)

Why did they accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan of having a demon? (v. 48)

How was this accusation about honor and dishonor? (v. 49)

In what ways does the Father seek glory for Jesus? (v. 50)

In what ways does God judge? (v. 50)

What “word” was Jesus referring to and how do we “keep” it? (v. 51)

Why were they comparing Jesus to Abraham? (v. 52-53)

How does (v. 54) make it clear that Jesus claimed to be God?

What were the Jews lying about? (v. 55)

In what ways did Abraham rejoice to see the day of Jesus and how did he see it even though he was dead? (v. 56)

What is the significance of this answer by Jesus? (v. 57-58)

Why did they want to kill Jesus? (v. 59)

What else does this passage tell us about God?

What else does the text teach us about ourselves?

Did anything else in these verses stick out to you?

How do you believe God is leading you to respond to His word?