John 8:48-59

[0:00] Transform and challenge us. Let us not only be hearers of your word, but doers of it. So God, as we accept the challenge from your word today,! May we also just be put in a place where we treasure you more than anything in our hearts.

[0:16] We would be captivated by your beauty, your love, your care, how good you are, and that we might do nothing else but respond in obedience and love and trust.

[0:26] God, we pray for Mike, the preaching of your word. May your spirit and your word just point directly to you. Pray this in your name. Amen. Amen.

[0:41] Well, good morning, church. As Rob said, my name is Mike. I guess the last time I preached was August 13th. Thanks for that random stat, Rob. I'm one of the elders here at Shoreline.

[0:54] I'm so glad that you've joined us this morning. We've got people from different states that are here visiting, so that's great. Yeah. This morning, we are going to conclude chapter 8 of the book of John in our third and a half week, I'm saying, in this chapter.

[1:09] And I say third and a half because three weeks ago, Andrew Beal preached an unusual but excellent and faith-building sermon, helping us to understand, you know, what constitutes the word of God, the scriptures, and how can we trust that the scriptures truly are God's word.

[1:28] This unusual sermon was prompted by the story of the woman caught in adultery, which is John 7, 53 to 8, 11, which most evangelical scholars do not consider to be part of the original canon of scripture.

[1:40] So I just want to, I highly recommend listening to that sermon. It is different, but it is so good and, like I said, faith-building and just helpful. So the last two weeks, Matt and Jim led us through verses 12 through 47, in which we find ourselves here in the middle of a dialogue between Jesus and some of the Jewish leaders that are gathered in the temple of Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths.

[2:05] And our text for today, verses 48 through 59, is a continuation of that dialogue. Now, as I've read and reread this chapter throughout the past week, it's reminded me of a good rally of, say, volleyball or racquetball or tennis or the current American craze, pickleball, right?

[2:28] You know, Jesus speaks, and then the Jews respond, and then Jesus speaks, and then the Jews respond, and just back and forth and back and forth, all chapter long. And as I've read through this here, I picture Jesus as, like, the master pickleball player.

[2:41] And he's just standing there in the middle of the court, effortlessly hitting the ball into the corner of his opponent's court. Meanwhile, they're scrambling back and forth, like, diving to get the ball up and pop it back up.

[2:52] And so finally, at the end, Jesus just smashes the game-winning, you know, match-winning point. And it leaves the spectators, you know, awestruck and breathless, and it leaves his opponents furious.

[3:04] So, let us then read this passage for today. It will be on the screen. And if you're able and willing, why don't we stand for the word of God this morning, for the reading of God's word.

[3:18] The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?

[3:30] Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.

[3:42] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets.

[3:53] Yet you say, If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?

[4:06] 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.

[4:17] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.

[4:28] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?

[4:41] Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

[4:55] Heavenly Father, this is your word. This is your holy word. And Lord, we want nothing else but for you to speak to us.

[5:06] This morning. So as Rob already prayed, and I just want to pray again, That your spirit would take this word, your very words, And would transform our hearts, Illuminate our minds, and transform our hearts To understand these crazy and hard sayings that Jesus made.

[5:24] This is a real story that happened at a real place in time, in history. And you have something to say to us today, Two thousand years later, From this text, which is your word.

[5:35] We pray this in Christ's name, And for his glory. Amen. Okay, you may be seated. Now, before we dissect this text, So I want to clarify something quickly, That Tyler Wilkins helpfully clarified back in July, When he preached from John 5.

[5:50] So the text over and over refers to the Jews. Right? It says, The Jews answered this, And the Jews said that. And Jesus has some pretty strong words to say to the Jews.

[6:01] Some scholars over the years have even argued that the apostle John, Who's the writer of this gospel, Demonstrates anti-Semitism in this gospel. But that is not what's going on at all.

[6:14] So when John says the Jews here, He's specifically referring to the Jewish leaders, Because they are the ones who are charged with shepherding the flock of God. And God loves the people of Israel.

[6:27] He loves them. And the Jewish leaders are not fulfilling their duties. And we see throughout Scripture, Ezekiel being one of the places, We see in Scripture that Jesus reserves, And the Lord reserves, Some of his strongest words for unfaithful shepherds of Israel.

[6:42] Jesus was Jewish, The perfect Jew, in fact. And he would go on to give up his very life for the sake of the Jews. The apostle Paul would later write in Romans 9, verse 3, For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ For the sake of my brothers, My kinsmen according to the flesh.

[7:02] So there's no anti-Semitism here. We love the Jews. Christ loved the Jews. And we long for their salvation in Jesus' name. Okay, so on to the text. Today, I'm going to draw out five key points from this passage.

[7:17] Each of them are about who the person of Jesus is. And each of them has implications for the Jews then, And they have implications for us today. So like I mentioned, our passage picks up here in verse 48, And it's in the middle of this ongoing dialogue.

[7:34] And if you've been with us, And you've come along with us in this dialogue. Now Jesus, in the prior section, He has declared himself to be the light of the world. Right?

[7:44] He has declared himself to be from heaven, Sent by God the Father. He has declared himself to be free from sin, Always doing what the Father pleases.

[7:54] Pretty massive statements. And Jesus has been saying all these things in this dialogue. And he has declared the Jews to be earthly-minded, And to be slaves to sin. Corrupt.

[8:06] He says that they are children of the devil, Rather than children of God and of Abraham. Now this is a bit infuriating to the Jews. But they have consistently been, Surprise, surprise, Outlogicked by the all-wise Lord of the universe, By Jesus' wise and shrewd responses.

[8:26] So abandoning reason for just a minute, They attempt a personal attack instead. So that's what we see here in verse 48. The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are Samaritan, And have a demon?

[8:40] Now we talked in chapter 4, About the Samaritans. The Samaritans were Jews who centuries earlier Had intermarried with foreigners, Making them half-breeds.

[8:51] And they went on to deviate from the laws and customs Of the Jews of Israel, Developing their own practices That combined Jewish with pagan practices. And so the Jews utterly despised the Samaritans.

[9:05] And so right here, The Jews are basically saying, Look, Jesus, You're actually the one Who is a foreigner to the covenant with God. And you're the one who's demonic, Not us.

[9:16] And then further in the passage, After Jesus responds, They repeat their accusation more boldly. They say, Now we know that you have a demon. I want to consider what's going on here. Jesus, The light of the world, The one sent from the Father To be their Savior, Jesus, The Logos, Right?

[9:36] The word, The Logos, The word made flesh, The one who's come to bring ultimate freedom, Is there in the temple in Jerusalem, Where the presence of God was to dwell, Right?

[9:46] Speaking forth the very word of God. And throughout this whole dialogue, The Jews are interjecting, And debating, And arguing, And even launching a personal attack against Christ.

[9:59] If they would just shut their mouths and listen, Right? How greatly would they be helped? And that's really, That's our first main point here. Jesus, The word worth listening to.

[10:12] And I have a silly little story, But I still remember when I was around, Like, Ten years old, Somewhere around there. My dad and my sister were talking, And my dad was sharing some joke, And they both, Like, Erupted in laughter.

[10:26] The joke itself does not even matter. But they both erupted in laughter, And I was just sitting there like, That was pretty dumb. And I was telling them, Like, That's not a funny joke. Like, Why are you guys laughing?

[10:36] And they're like, No, Like, You don't understand what it means. I'm like, No, No, No, Like, It's not a funny joke. And I was adamant. And my ten-year-old self, I was adamant, Like, This is a really lame joke. And the funny thing is, I mean, The joke hinged on the meaning of one word.

[10:49] That word I did not understand. I didn't know what it meant. And yet, Still, In my ignorance, I was like, No, That's a dumb joke. I'm just, And then, You know, I walked away. And this is silly, But like, It showed my ignorant self.

[11:01] I didn't understand the truth of what was being spoken. Right? And so, You know, Paul actually talks about this kind of ignorance and hardness of heart in Ephesians 4. He says, Now listen to this.

[11:21] They're alienated from the life of God. Why? Because of the ignorance that is in them, Due to their hardness of heart. Now, Paul goes on to say, There in Ephesians 4, That the truth is in Jesus.

[11:36] Right? And that we need to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. So I want to ask us this morning, How often do we, Like, You know, Ignorant ten-year-old Mike with his family, Or like the Jews here, In John chapter 8, How often do we go on, You know, Interjecting and airing our doubts to the Lord, Rather than letting the divine logos speak into our hearts and lives.

[12:02] See, We need to be regularly just turning off the flood of inputs. Whether that's, You know, The megaphone of media, Which is constant, Or it's just the incessant thoughts that go through the mind.

[12:13] We just need to turn them off. And then with softness, With tenderness of heart, With humility, We need to just listen to what God has to say. And when we listen to God's voice, What does he do?

[12:26] He dispels our ignorance with the light of his truth, right? And then he renews the spirit of our minds. And that's a practice that we need to be doing. That's actually, I mean, That's a great prayer.

[12:38] Every time you sit down to read the word of God, That is a great prayer to pray, Like, Lord, Dispel my ignorance. Let me hear from you. I want to hear from you. Every single time. Holy Spirit, Teach me. And we pray that whenever we get up here to preach.

[12:50] Like, We need the spirit to teach us. That would be a great practice for you to, To put into your rhythms with the Lord. So how much time do you spend, You know, Reading and listening to God's word?

[13:02] How much space do you give in your day for God to speak to you? Do you guys remember Job? Back in March, Carl Crabtree preached two really powerful sermons from the book of Job.

[13:15] You know, For 35 chapters, I think it's like, The book is like 40 chapters long, Or 42 or three. For 35 chapters, Job and his, You know, Council of friends are going back and forth, And back and forth, Arguing, Debating, One-upping each other.

[13:30] And then in chapter 38, What happens? The thundering voice of the Lord breaks through. And he says, God says, Who is this that darkens counsel, By words without knowledge?

[13:42] And then for four chapters, God proceeds to describe his infinite power and might, His eternal existence, His supreme reign over the universe.

[13:53] And you know, Job replies in the middle of those chapters, Because God addresses him, And Job says, Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

[14:05] I have spoken once, And I will not answer twice, But I will proceed no further. See, God spoke, And he shone the blazing light of his truth Upon their ignorance, And no doubt, They were forever changed.

[14:21] So this is the first point here, Is Jesus is the word worth listening to. So, We see next, Jesus responds to their personal attack on him, Right?

[14:32] Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, But I honor my father, And you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, And he is the judge.

[14:45] Now, We obviously don't know What tone of voice Jesus, You know, Uses in his response, But he sure doesn't seem to respond In the defensive, Emotional way That the Jews respond, Does he?

[14:57] And why is that? So that's because Jesus entrusted himself Completely to the father, Who alone, He says here, That he's the judge.

[15:07] The father alone is the judge. And we actually, We learned about this, Kent preached from this, In John chapter 2, When it says, But Jesus on his part Did not entrust himself to them, To the Jews, Because he knew All people, And needed no one To bear witness about man, For he himself knew What was in man.

[15:26] And I want you to listen To how the apostle Paul Applies this truth to himself, And the other apostles. This is 1 Corinthians 4, But with me, It is a very small thing, That I should be judged by you, Or by any human court.

[15:40] In fact, I do not even judge myself. It is, Who? It is the Lord Who judges me. Therefore, Do not pronounce judgment Before the time, Before the Lord comes, Who will bring to light The things now hidden In darkness, And will disclose The purposes of the heart.

[15:58] Then each one Will receive his commendation From God. Now this certainly Has implications For, You know, For us, In terms of how We ought to view The opinion of men As compared to The opinion of God, Right?

[16:13] God alone is the judge, And before him alone, We will have to give An accounting of our lives, Right? And in the end, The only pronouncement Over us that matters Is God's.

[16:25] Because it is a pronouncement Of eternal And final consequence. Okay, But that's kind of an aside. This is focused on Christ, Right? And the Father's pronouncement Over Christ.

[16:36] And what was that pronouncement? So we saw it there In verse 50, Oh yeah, I skipped right past that, Didn't I? Whoops. The point that I'm making here Is Jesus.

[16:47] It's glorified by the Father, Right? And so we saw this pronouncement In verse 50. There is one, I do not seek my own glory, But there is one Who seeks it And he is the judge.

[16:58] And then in verse 54, Further down in the text, We see this, If I glorify myself, My glory is nothing. It is my Father Who glorifies me.

[17:08] So what is the pronouncement The Father makes over Jesus? The pronouncement is Glorious One, Right? Exalted One. That is the Father's Pronouncement over his Son, Jesus Christ.

[17:21] And we see in the synopsic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, How the Father audibly glorifies The Son at his baptism, And then again, At his transfiguration. And what does he declare?

[17:31] He says this from heaven, This is my beloved Son, With whom I am well pleased. Right? Glorifies him. And then he adds At the transfiguration, The Father adds, You know, Kind of a therefore statement.

[17:44] Then he says, Listen to him. So if God the Father, The judge of all mankind, Glorifies his Son, Jesus Christ, Right? And then commands us To listen to him, Then we had better listen, Right?

[17:58] We had better listen. And we better ourselves Ascribe glory to him. That's why I love the, You know, The Bowen Hall, Your testimonies. We're all about like God And what he's done And then like ascribing worth to him, Which is so fantastic.

[18:10] And God the Father is saying, Yeah, that's my Son. I'm pleased with him. Listen to him. Glorify him as I glorify him. And this is going to become All the more apparent Later in the text.

[18:21] So yes, The second point is Jesus glorified by the Father. Now for this next point, I want to take us both backwards And forwards in the text.

[18:32] I'm kind of jumping around a bit today. Because there's, you know, There's some circular things going on And the same points are being made And fleshed out Kind of in new ways. So first, Back to verse 49.

[18:43] So Jesus had answered, right, I do not have a demon, But I honor, I honor my Father, And you dishonor me. And then there's some more Back and forth. And Jesus in his, you know, His next response says, It is my Father who glorifies me, Of whom you say, He is our God.

[18:58] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say That I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, And I keep his word.

[19:12] Yeah, that's definitely An mm kind of statement, An ouch kind of statement, right? So here's the next point. Jesus, the true disciple. Jesus, the true disciple.

[19:26] Now all throughout this chapter, There has been an increasingly Stark contrast Between Jesus, right, And his utter devotion To the Father.

[19:37] And then on the other hand, The Jews, right, And their counterfeit devotion To the Father. Now Matt talked quite a bit About this last week, right? The apparent belief Of the Jews.

[19:48] It was actually proven To be ingenuine, right? Genuine faith manifests itself In certain ways, right? In the life of a disciple. Fruit is evident. That's what we call it. We call it fruit.

[19:58] And it's the fruit of one's life That gives evidence To the quality of one's faith. And while the Jews Are shown to be Counterfeit disciples, Jesus is shown Here in this chapter To be the true disciple, right?

[20:12] The true son. The true Israelite. Jesus had said Earlier in the chapter, Verse 29, For I always do the things That are pleasing To the Father.

[20:25] Big statement. I always do the things That are pleasing To the Father. In verse 46, He questioned, Which one of you Convicts me of sin? Which one of you?

[20:38] If Mike Luso was to say, Which one of you Convicts me of sin? I hope all of your hands Go up, right? With Christ. Nobody's hand went up, right? They didn't dare say anything. But Jesus was implying.

[20:49] Now they thought He was a sinner. Jesus, though, Was implying, Look, I'm without sin. You can't find anything. And now here in verse 49, He says, But I honor the Father. And in 55, But I do know Him And I keep His word.

[21:05] Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Do not think that I have come To abolish the law Or the prophets. I have not come To abolish them, But to fulfill them. Now that verse means A whole bunch of things.

[21:18] But one of them That it surely means Is that Jesus Perfectly obeyed The Father's commands. And He perfectly embodied You know, The godly pattern of life That we see in the law And in the wisdom literature Of scripture.

[21:33] He perfectly embodied What God was calling The nation of Israel To be. And He's the only one That ever did. He's the only one That ever did.

[21:45] You know, James reminds us That whoever keeps The whole law Listen to this. Whoever keeps The whole law But fails in one point Has become guilty Of all of it.

[21:59] Jesus demonstrates Again, The Sermon on the Mount Jesus demonstrates That keeping the law Involves heart level Obedience, right? It's about the heart Not just as external Conformity.

[22:11] I look like a Christian. I look like a disciple. It's about what's going on In here. And this is something The rich young ruler In Matthew 19 He didn't understand. Right? He approached Jesus And he said, Hey Jesus, I've kept all of the law Since I was a boy.

[22:25] Right? And Jesus showed him And the onlooking disciples That the mere external Conformance Is not what God is after. God wants our hearts. Now which one of us In this room Could say that In attitude In thought In word In deed You know, I've remained Unstained by sin Unpolluted Uncorrupted Right?

[22:49] I don't know about you But I feel like I can barely even go Like one hour One hour of my day Without some, You know, Selfishness Just like Rearing its ugly head.

[23:00] You know, Whether that's in Complaining Which I do on occasion Or in anger Or maybe it's not Even external, right? Maybe it's just this Inward self-justification Like, Oh, I don't want to do that.

[23:11] That's inconvenient for me. And so you justify it In your mind. Nobody sees that, right? But it's the selfishness Of the heart. I feel like I can hardly Go a single hour Without pride Just like bubbling up.

[23:24] You know, Whether that's, Again, Whether that's an external thing That people see Defending myself And my reputation At work Or whether that's just Like an internal thing The inner lawyer Always working to defend And say why I'm, Why I'm good.

[23:37] You know, My sin is readily apparent. And some of you see stuff In me, Probably that I don't even see. And, you know, We need each other. We need to help each other See that. And Paul argues In Romans chapter 2 That even those Who don't believe God Are condemned Because, Because he says The law is written On their hearts.

[23:58] Meaning they, They have an intrinsic sense Of right and wrong. And they violate This law Written on their hearts, Right? So their own conscience Condemns themselves. And the conclusion That Paul makes In Romans 3 Is none is righteous.

[24:11] No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one.

[24:26] You know, No one except for Christ. Right? Except for Christ. Because, Because Jesus Christ Lived a perfect, Spotless, Stainless life. Right?

[24:37] And the fruit Of his righteous life, It gave evidence To the quality Of his faith in God. It gave evidence To the quality Of his communion with God Which was unbroken From before time Even began.

[24:48] But that's getting ahead. We're gonna get to that. Jesus is the true disciple. The true disciple. Alright, I wanna take us To verse 51.

[25:04] Which Rob mentioned In his prayer. So this is Jesus At the end of his first response. Right? He says, Truly, Truly, I say to you, If anyone Keeps my word, He will never See death.

[25:23] Jesus Is the source Of eternal life. In verse 51, Jesus brings The conversation Back To the mission.

[25:34] Right? His mission. This is why I've come. He brings it back To that. Jesus has come To earth So that mankind Does not have To experience death. Jesus has come To earth So that mankind Does not have To experience Death.

[25:53] Yes, We will experience Physical death. That's not what He's talking about. Jesus has come So that we would Never experience Spiritual death. Now, Remember, John chapter 6.

[26:08] Jesus said, He's the bread of life. I am The bread of life. Your fathers Ate the manna In the wilderness And they died. This is the bread, Talking about himself, That comes down From heaven So that one May eat of it And not die.

[26:23] I am The living bread That came down From heaven. If anyone eats Of this bread, He will live Forever. And the bread That I will give For the life Of the world Is my flesh.

[26:36] Right, We saw in John 6 That Jesus declared Himself to be, Right, The vital nourishment That satisfies, That brings eternal life To the soul Forevermore, Right, If we but believe In him.

[26:51] Now, Part of the crazy thing Is like, Who is Jesus talking to? Who does he say This very statement to? In the passage, Right, He's talking to the Jewish leaders Who fiercely oppose him, Right, So much so That in just a few verses They're actually going to Physically pick up stones To try and kill him.

[27:09] And Jesus Looks them in the eye And with love And compassion In his heart, He says, If anyone keeps my word, He will never see death.

[27:23] You Jewish leaders, You know, Blinded so much By ignorance And self-righteousness That you hate The very Messiah That's come to save you. That you reject His word, That you want him dead.

[27:36] Even you, Fierce enemies Of me that you are, If you but repent And believe in me, Receiving, Right, Embracing all that I am, All that I've said, All that I've done, All that I'm going to do, If you do that, Then even you Will never see death.

[27:56] Jesus is offering His enemies Salvation and eternal life And they just have to be Willing to receive it, Right? This is crazy. Now maybe there's someone Here in the room That needs to hear This very word this morning.

[28:11] Like, You think that you've done Too many wrong things. You think you've made Too many wrong choices, Hurt too many people, Committed sin that's just Too grievous. Let me tell you this, Jesus did not come For the righteous, But the unrighteous.

[28:27] Jesus did not come For the healthy, But for the sick. See, Paul says in Romans 5, I keep going to Paul, For while we were still, What? While we were still strong, At the right time, Christ died for the godly.

[28:41] That's not what he says, Right? Paul says, For while we were still weak, At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die For a righteous person.

[28:53] Though perhaps for a good person, One would dare even to die. But God Shows his love for us In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[29:08] Jesus was literally on his way To the cross, To lay down his life For the sin of the world, Even the sin Of these Jewish leaders.

[29:20] Even your sin. And my sin. And you see, In this double exchange, Jesus becomes sin for us. He takes our sin Upon himself on the cross, And we get his righteousness.

[29:35] Right? Jesus is the true disciple. He's perfectly righteous. We get that righteousness For ourselves. He clothes us In righteousness. And then, You know, Having been cleansed From our sin And then given his righteousness And reconciled to God, We are granted Eternal life.

[29:56] For the wages of sin Is death. Right? But, The free gift of God Is eternal life In Christ Jesus, Our Lord. But, If you're a close observer To the text here, You're asking me, But Mike, You know, Jesus says here, Eternal life is given Only to those who keep his word.

[30:17] Right? To those who keep his word. Doesn't that mean We have to work To earn this eternal life? Right? That's a great question.

[30:28] It's on the face of it, It does look that way. But, If you've been here For a little bit In the book of John, You already know The answer to this question. Right? Because, Again, I'm going back To John chapter 6.

[30:39] Jesus already showed us In that bread of life discourse That the working Required for salvation Is actually not a working At all. It's a believing. That's the work Required for salvation.

[30:51] It's a believing In Jesus. A receiving. We talked about The free gift. It's something you receive. And in the same way, Salvation is something That we receive. We receive of Christ And all that he is And it's said And it's done And, You know, Salvation, Eternal life, They're free gifts Offered to sinners.

[31:09] And they're received By faith In Jesus. Now, There is Work to be done. Right? Being a true disciple Of Christ, It takes work.

[31:21] It takes an Abiding in Jesus' word. Right? And Matt talked about that Last week. You know, True disciples, They will carry out The work, But they also do it In the power That God supplies, Not their own power.

[31:35] And that gives evidence To the genuine faith That they already possess. Faith precedes works. Right? Faith precedes works.

[31:46] And faith is proven By the works, The righteous works Of a believer. You know, Dead people Can't do work. Right?

[31:57] Dead people can't work. God alone Raises the dead. And then, And then only then, Their resurrected lives Bear witness To the rebirth That he accomplished In them.

[32:10] So Jesus, He's saying that True disciples, The ones who demonstrate Their genuine faith In him By abiding in his word, By keeping his word, They are the ones Who will never Taste death, Who will never see death.

[32:24] And I hope, I hope that's you This morning. I hope that's every one Of you here this morning. I hope that you have Put your faith in Jesus And you have received All that he is And believed in him And received eternal life.

[32:38] I hope that's you. And if it's not, Today could be the day. Today could be the day Of salvation. If you believe in him, If you receive From him, So how could Jesus Possibly make this claim?

[32:54] If anyone keeps my word, He will never see death. How could the man, Jesus, Say, I am the bread of life. In just a few chapters, Jesus is going to say Another, You know, Make another mind-bending Declaration.

[33:10] He's going to say, I am the resurrection And the life. Whoever believes in me, Though he die, Yet shall he live. How could the man, Jesus, Utter such colossal promises?

[33:29] If you wonder that, You're in company With the Jews. Because they were wondering The same thing, right? The Jews said to him, Now we know that you Have a demon. Abraham died, As did the prophets.

[33:41] Yet you say, If anyone keeps my word, He will never taste death. Are you greater than Our father Abraham, Who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself Out to be?

[33:54] See, Before they simply Suspected that Jesus Had a demon, But now they know, Right? They know that he has one. For who could make Such a bold, Irrational claim, Except for someone Controlled by a demon, Right?

[34:05] That's their logic. Jesus, Are you claiming That you're greater Even than Abraham, The patriarch of our faith, The founder of the faith? Are you greater Even than the prophets, Who receive words From the Lord?

[34:21] We read Jesus' answer before, His initial answer, If I glorify myself, Jesus answers, My glory is nothing, It is my father Who glorifies me, Of whom you say He is our God.

[34:31] But you have not Known him, I know him. If I were to say That I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, But I do know him, And I keep his word. And we're saying things That we've seen before, We know what he's really saying, But I want to move us On to verse 56, Because this is pretty crazy.

[34:50] Your father Abraham Rejoiced that he would See my day. He saw it And was glad. What? What? Now there's a lot Of speculation About, you know, What event In Abraham's life Jesus is talking about.

[35:07] But in the end It really doesn't matter. You see, Abraham had been given Some glorious promises, Right? Some awesome promises, A promise of An everlasting kingdom That would be established Through his seed, Through his offspring.

[35:22] He had been promised That his descendants Would be as numerous As the stars In the heaven And that all the nations Of the earth Would be blessed Through him. And Jesus here Is linking Those promises Given to Abraham Thousands of years earlier With his very person And work.

[35:42] Like he's linking Abraham's hopes And joys To himself. That's wild. The Jews are already Like at the edge Of their seats Like ready to do something And then he says that.

[35:54] Right? So the incredulous Jews They say to him, You are not yet 50 years old And have you seen Abraham? And then, And then this.

[36:09] Truly, Truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. So this, Here, This is like The ball smashing Match winning point That I was talking about.

[36:26] Right? Leaving the crowd Just awestruck. Like what just happened? And then the opponents, The Jewish leaders That are talking to him, They're furious. And we see that Because they pick up Stones to stone him.

[36:41] Now I think, And we heard Tyler And Dave one hand And we were talking About this yesterday. I think the effect Of this is lost On us a little bit Because we're a little Removed from this Culture here. Now what does Jesus Mean before Abraham Was, I am?

[36:54] I am what? Like what? Or did he mean to say I was? That would make more sense. Still kind of crazy But like, I say to you Before Abraham was, I was. Let me start By answering, By saying this.

[37:10] Jesus Always intends To say what he says. Just so you know. Like he never Needs to take back His words. Like I'm sorry, I misspoke. I meant to say.

[37:20] Like no, I do that all the time. Jesus doesn't do that. Jim Gankar Is briefly mentioned A couple weeks ago That this, This I am here Is, Is the Greek.

[37:31] It's, A go, I me. And, And Jesus uses These words Earlier in the same text. In verse 24 It says, If you see it In your Bibles It says, For unless you believe That I am he Same Greek word Ego, I me You will die In your sins.

[37:49] In verse 28 He says, When you have lifted up The son of man Then you will know That I am he It's translated But it's just Ego, I me I am It says I am he And that I do nothing Of my own authority But speak just as The father taught me.

[38:02] So in those two verses It's not as clear, Right? Jesus continues talking. It's left a bit of a mystery Whether he, You know, If he intends to simply say I am Or if there's like Something else That comes after that.

[38:14] Here in verse 58 There's no ambiguity. It ends. Like there's a period. It says I am. Before Abraham was I am. Now what's going on here?

[38:27] In Exodus chapter 3 God meets with Moses. Right? This is after Abraham Still a long time ago. People of Israel Are in slavery to Egypt.

[38:41] God meets with Moses In the form of a burning bush. Right? Now he assures Moses That he has seen The suffering of his people Israel. And he's sending Moses Back to Egypt To lead the people of Israel In deliverance from Egypt.

[38:55] The text is this. Then Moses said to God If I come to the people of Israel And say to them The God of your fathers Has sent me to you. And they ask me What is his name?

[39:06] What shall I say to them? It's like They're going to want to know What authority I'm coming To do this. Like what am I going to tell them? Who sent me? God said to Moses I am who I am.

[39:19] And he said Say this to the people of Israel I am Has sent me Has sent me to you. God is saying Tell the people of Israel Look, the uncreated Pre-existent Eternal Lord of Lords The God of Abraham The God of Isaac The God of Jacob That God The one who was And who is And who is to come That God has sent you To them.

[39:48] Right? That's what God's telling Moses. Now that God That God Would later command The fledgling nation of Israel You shall have no other gods Before me.

[40:01] That's commandment number one. And You shall not take the name Of the Lord your God In vain For the Lord will not hold him Guiltless Who takes his name In vain.

[40:12] It's the third commandment. So that was considered Blasphemy. Right? The I am Was not to be blasphemed By his people. And those that committed The sin of blasphemy Were to be put to death.

[40:27] That's in Leviticus 24. So let's fast forward In the narrative of scripture here To Isaiah. Isaiah foretells Of the coming exile of Israel To Babylon And God Powerfully speaks Into that situation Telling of his power And his might Telling of the redemption That was to come And he's speaking comfort Over his exiled people.

[40:49] Now God says In Isaiah 41 verse 4 Who has performed And done this Calling the generations From the beginning I the Lord The first And with the last I am he That I am he Is The Hebrew Translated into Greek Is ego I me And in chapter 43 Of Isaiah You are my witnesses Declares the Lord And my servant Whom I have chosen That you may know And believe And understand that Ego I me I am he Before me No God was formed Nor shall there be Any after me I I am the Lord Besides me There is no savior And henceforth Or from ancient days I am he There is none Who can deliver From my hand I work And who can turn it back Yes this Is the mighty Supreme God of Israel Yahweh The Lord of hosts

[41:49] The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob The God to whom Nations are accounted As dust on the scales By whose word and power The very heavens Came into existence The first And the last Besides whom There is no other I am Truly truly I say to you Jesus says Before Abraham was I am It's no wonder That the Jewish leaders Respond The way they do Oh I did not put that one On the screen Verse 59 Right What did they do So they picked up stones To throw at him But Jesus Jesus hid himself And went out Of the temple The Jewish leaders Are simply carrying out Their law That demands the death Of blasphemers Right However As one commentator writes This punishment Was supposed to be The result of Righteous judgment Not mob violence The Jewish leaders

[42:51] Judgment Could not be more Unrighteous Right They get it Dead wrong And so what we see In this text here The temple Right The very place Where the presence Of God was to dwell It's left devoid Of God's presence As Jesus The I am In the flesh Departs Jesus had come To the temple Secretly Back in chapter 7 Now secretly He's departing Leaving the temple Because of their Hardness of heart So I want to ask What about you This morning What does your heart Look like Before Jesus The I am You see It's because Jesus is I am That he is the word Worth listening to Right And that was our first point Only the voice Of almighty God Is a voice To which all mankind Must yield And pay undivided attention

[43:51] Jesus is I am He's the word Worth listening to It's only because He is I am That he's glorified By the father For God always does He always does What glorifies himself He is the only one Worthy of all glory And all honor And all praise And he is rightly Jealous for it He deserves our worship The father glorified Jesus Because he is Himself I am He is God It's because Jesus is I am That he's the true disciple There is only One Who is holy Right Before me there is no other That's what God said in Isaiah There's only one Who is holy Only one Who is perfectly righteous Only one Who is unstained And uncorrupted By sin I am That's the one And you see It's because Jesus himself

[44:52] Is I am That he's the source Of life So we ask the question How could the man Jesus Make such a colossal Claim How could he say that How could he say That you will never See death Well Only the creator God Who spoke Life into existence By his Word Out of nothing Right Ex nihilo Out of nothing Only the God Who has the power And authority To grant Physical and spiritual Life Could say that Because Jesus Is that God That creator God I am So he is The source of life So what does your heart Look like this morning Before The great I am This passage It calls us It beckons us To cease Our own speaking And listen To his words It calls us To cease Our own striving And to receive

[45:53] All that Jesus Is and says And has done For us In faith And then If we do You know This passage It promises us That As true disciples True children Of Abraham And of God Then we will Never taste death So may we Wholly surrender Our lives To Jesus The I am This morning And forevermore I want to close With The words Of John Chapter 1 In the beginning Was the word And the word Was with God And the word Was God All things Were made Through him And without him Was not anything Made that was made In him was life And the life Was the light Of men The true light Which gives light To everyone Was coming Into the world He was in the world And the world Was made through him Yet the world Did not know him He came to his own And his own people

[46:54] Did not receive him But To all who did Receive him Who believed In his name He gave the right To become children Of God Who were born Not of blood Nor of the will Of the flesh Nor of the will Of man But of God Let's pray Heavenly Father This Is profound And the implications Are vast We've only scratched The surface This morning The implications Of all that Jesus is We Worship you Jesus As the I am The God Of Abraham Isaac and Jacob The eternal Covenant God Of Israel The creator God You are yourself The Lord of hosts Besides you There is no other God May we Submit Christ May we Submit

[47:54] Our lives To you And surrender May we Follow you Our great Example The true Disciple The true Son The true Israelite And Lord If there are Anyone If there's Anyone In the room This morning That has Not Put their Faith And trust In you And received From you All that You are God I Pray that Faith would Arise In this Place And for Those that Have Lord let Faith arise In this Place For you Are The I Am The great I am And you're With us And you're For us You're our Firm Foundation Oh Lord We thank You For your Word We pray All this In Christ's Name Amen Please stand With us To