John 8:31-59: I AM the Light of the World--Part II

John 8:31-59:

I AM the Light of the World--Part II

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

November 15, 2009

I. Introduction

A. Please turn to John 8:31.

While you are turning.... C. S. Lewis, in his fictional work The Screwtape Letters, has an elder demon writing to a younger associate with advice on ruining the life of a new Christian, the "patient":

I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence. That question, at least for the present phase of the struggle, has been answered for us by the High Command. Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves. Of course this has not always been so. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics. At least, not yet. I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalize and mythologize their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, a belief in us (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the Enemy.... But in the meantime we must obey our orders. I do not think that you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that 'devils' are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.[1]

As the debate triggered by Jesus' claim to be the Light of the World, the great I AM, rages, the subject of the devil will come up in today's passage. Yes, God's word informs us that there really is a personal devil. However, it is worse than that ... he has kids!

II. Exposition

A. Background

1. We are still in Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-12:36a).

2. We are in Judea and the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah is near.

3. We are studying Jesus' sixth public discourse in John's gospel.

4. Jesus has proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the World and some in the crowd in the temple have placed their faith in Him.

B. Exposition: The sixth discourse: I AM (John 8:12-59)--Part II: I AM the Light of the world (John 8:31-59).

1. Walking in the light: true disciples (John 8:31-36)

a. The truth will make you free (John 8:31-32).

³¹So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).

1) "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.'"

a) This part of the discourse is a series of contrasts: true and false, slaves and sons, God and the devil.

b) It began with Jesus addressing the Jewish leaders who had placed their faith in Him.

i) As we have seen, when John uses the phrase "the Jews," he generally means "the Jewish authorities."

ii) Apparently, some of the Jewish leaders had believed in Jesus.

c) Jesus told them that they must continue in His word in order to be true students of His.

i) This has been translated, "If you live by what I say" (GW).

ii) As I have noted before, the term "disciple" ("student") is not synonymous with "believer."

iii) The mark of a true disciple is continuing in God's word.

2) "And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

a) Jesus explained that continuing in His word would result in them knowing the truth and that would make them free.

b) Raggedy Andy poster, "The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable."

c) Wuest translated this, "know the truth in an experiential way" (NTET).

d) Barclay translated, "If you make my message the fixed center of your life, you really are my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will liberate you" (John 8:31-32 Barclay).

b. True freedom (John 8:33-36)

³³ They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" ³⁴Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. ³⁶ So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:33-36).

1) "They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, "You will become free"?'"

a) Jesus' saying prompted the retort that they were descendants of Abraham and had never been enslaved to anyone.

i) They based their claim to privilege on being descended from Abraham.

ii) John the Baptist said, "do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham" (Matt 3:9; cp. Luke 3:8).

iii) Ironically, they were arguing with Jesus, the true seed of Abraham.[2]

iv) Paul wrote, "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as referring to many, but rather to one, 'And to your seed,' that is, Christ" (Gal 3:16).

b) They were indignant that Jesus suggested that they needed to be freed.

i) The Talmud said, "ALL ISRAEL HAVE A PORTION IN THE WORLD TO COME, FOR IT IS WRITTEN, THY PEOPLE ARE ALL RIGHTEOUS."[3] Only the exceptionally wicked were to be excluded.[4]

ii) This response is certainly wrong since Israel, in fact, had been enslaved by Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Greece, and was currently under Roman control.[5]

c) The identity of the "they" in this passage is not those who had recently believed.

i) It is logical to connect the "they" in verse 33 with the "they" in verses 39, 41, and 59.

ii) That would equate them with the Jewish leaders mentioned in verses 48, 52, and 57.[6]

iii) In verses 45 and 46, that group is clearly said not to believe. Therefore, they cannot be the same as "those Jews who had believed Him" (John 8:31).

iv) In verse 47, Jesus said explicitly, "you are not of God" (John 8:47).

v) In verse 59, "they picked up stones to throw at Him" (John 8:59). This was surely not the response of a group of new believers.[7]

2) "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.'"

a) Jesus replied that He was speaking of spiritual bondage, the bondage of sin.

b) As we have seen in John's gospel the "truly, truly" (literally "amen, amen") marks Jesus' solemn pronouncements.

c) Harris comments, "Although the statement is true at the general level, in particular the sin of the Jewish religious authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the fourth Gospel, is their sin of constant unbelief."[8]

3) "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever."

a) Jesus explained that a slave does not have a secure position in a household; his master may free or sell him.

b) Jewish slaves had to be freed in the year of Jubilee (Lev 25:39-55).[9]

c) However, a son does remain always a member of the household (see Heb 3:5-6).

4) "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

a) The Son who is over the household has the authority to set the household slaves free.

b) In the same way, Jesus taught that He could spiritually free them.[10]

i) The Gk. word translated "indeed" means "being actually so, really, certainly, in truth."[11]

ii) This has been translated, "you will be absolutely free" (GW) and "free individuals in reality" (NTET).

c) Blum summarizes, "Jesus is the true Son and seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16). He remains in the house and is over it (Heb. 3:6). People can become truly free by becoming sons of God by faith in Christ, the Son (Gal. 3:26)."[12]

2. Walking in the darkness: true sonship (John 8:37-59)

a. False sons (John 8:37-47)

1) Abraham is not your father (John 8:37-40).

³⁷"I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." ³⁹ They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do" (John 8:37-40).

a) "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you."

i) Jesus must have been talking to the Jewish leaders. He acknowledged that they were indeed Abraham's descendants, but also pointed out that they wanted to kill Him.

ii) Jesus explained that was because His word had no place in them.

iii) The Gk. word translated "no place" means "to have room for, hold, contain" or "to make an advance in movement, be in motion, go forward, make progress."[13]

(a) The first meaning has been translated, "My word is not welcome among you" (HCSB), and "you have no room for my word" (NIV).

(b) The second meaning has been translated, "because my teaching makes no progress among you" (NET).

b) "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father."

i) Jesus, referring to the principle that sons imitate their fathers, repeated that His message came from the Father.

(a) The Gk. word translated "have seen" is a perfect tense verb meaning "have seen and continue to see."[14]

(b) That is from eternity to the present Jesus has seen what the Father does.

ii) Moreover, Jesus said that they were doing what their father had taught them.

c) "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.'"

i) The Jewish leaders angrily responded that Abraham was their father.

ii) Jesus replied that, were that the case, they would act like Abraham.

(a) This is a first-class condition, i.e., "assuming Abraham were your father...."

(b) "Do the deeds of Abraham"--Abraham was noted for his faith (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3-22; Gal 3:6-9) and living a life consistent with that faith (Jas 2:21-24).

d) "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do."

i) Jesus pointed out that they desired to kill Him because He was telling them the truth that He heard from God.

ii) Abraham did not behave that way.

2) God is not your Father (John 8:41-43).

⁴¹"You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." ⁴² Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word" (John 8:41-43).

a) "'You are doing the deeds of your father.' They said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.'"

i) Jesus repeated that they were doing their father's deeds.

ii) The Jewish leaders retort that they are not illegitimate; God is their one Father.

(a) The Gk. word translated "fornication" (porneia) means "unlawful sexual intercourse"[16] or "sexual immorality" (ESV, HCSB).

(b) This may be a cruel slander against Jesus based on a misunderstanding of the virgin birth.[17]

b) "Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.'"

i) Jesus answered that, were God their Father, they should love Him since God the Father sent Him and He has come from God.

ii) This is a second-class condition, "'If God were your Father...' (but he is not)."[18]

c) "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word."

i) Jesus asked rhetorically the reason that they could not understand Him.

ii) He answered His own question by asserting that they could not hear Him.

(a) Hear has a double meaning.

(b) The Gk. word translated "hear" means "to yield to, hear and obey."[19]

3) Your father is the Devil (John 8:44-47).

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" (John 8:44-47).

a) "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."

i) Jesus boldly claims that their source was their father the devil.[20]

(a) Therefore, they want to do what the devil wants.

(b) Ironside comments that "Men speak very glibly today of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. This book [i.e., the Bible] does not speak that way."[21]

ii) Jesus explained that the devil was a murderer from the beginning. This is because the devil robbed Adam and Eve of immortality.[22]

iii) Additionally, Jesus explained that the devil is by nature a liar and, therefore, does not take a stand based on truth.

(a) The Gk. word translated "devil" (diabolos) means "one who engages in slander."[23]

(b) Jesus called the devil "a liar and the father of lies."

iv) There is a personal Devil. The story of his fall is in Isa 14:12-15 and Ezek 28:13-17.

b) "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."

i) Jesus accuses them of unbelief precisely because He speaks the truth that they do not want to hear.

(a) The Gk. phrase translated "But ... I" is emphatic and means "But I Myself on the other hand."[24]

(b) The people that Jesus was addressing cannot be the new believers of John 8:30-31; these people do not believe.

ii) This is a case of one's morality dictating one's theology.

(a) We should ask ourselves, "If I were to believe what Jesus said, would my life have to change?"

(b) And "Am I willing to change in order to follow the truth?"

c) "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?"

i) Jesus challenges His opponents to prove that He is guilty of sin including lying; they seem to have been unable to do so.

(a) Ironside notes that "our Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them who trespass against us' (see Matt. 6:12; Luke 11:4), but He never prayed that prayer Himself."[25]

(b) The Gk. word translated "convicts" means "demonstrate, prove."[26]

ii) Jesus is sinless. Even hostile witnesses could not prove that He had sinned.

iii) Jesus then asked why, since He was telling the truth, they refused to believe Him.

d) "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."

i) Jesus answered that the one who has a familial relationship with God hears God's words obediently.

ii) Therefore, the reason that they cannot hear His words obediently is that they do not have that familial relationship with God.

(a) The Gk. word translated "of" or "from" means "to denote origin as to family, race, city, people, district, etc."[27]

(b) The Gk. word translated "hears" or "hear" means "to yield to, hear and obey."[28]

b. The true Son (John 8:48-59)

1) Honors His Father (John 8:48-50).

⁴⁸The 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 (John 8:48-50).

a) "The Jews answered and said to Him, 'Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'"

i) Jesus had accused His opponents of having a familial relationship with the devil.

ii) The Jewish authorities that are opposed to Jesus countered by accusing Him of having a demon and insulting Him by calling Him a Samaritan.[29]

(a) The term "Samaritan" may also mean "heretic."[30]

(b) Jesus was accused of being demonized three times (John 7:20; 8:48-52; 10:20).

b) "Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.'"

i) Jesus replied that His did not have a demon. He did not even dignify the racial slur with a reply.

ii) Jesus claimed to honor the Father and noted that they dishonored Him whom the Father had sent.

(a) Dishonoring a king's emissary is dishonoring the king himself (2 Sam 10:1-6).[31]

(b) Jesus has already taught that it is impossible to honor the Father without honoring the Son (John 5:23).

c) "But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges."

i) Jesus did not seek His own glory. He left that to God the Father.

ii) God the Father will judge those who dishonor Jesus.

2) Is greater than Abraham (John 8:51-55)

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" (John 8:51-55).

a) "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."

i) Jesus solemnly announced that no one keeping His word would ever see death.

ii) As we have seen in John's gospel the "truly, truly" (literally "amen, amen") marks Jesus' solemn pronouncements.

iii) The Gk. phrase translated "never" is a double negative making a strong denial.[32] Wuest translates it as, "never, positively not" (NTET).

b) "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."' "

i) Jesus' opponents in the Jewish authorities repeated the charge of demon possession.

ii) They interpreted Jesus to mean physical death.

iii) Therefore, His claim would have been absurd since Abraham and all the prophets had died.

c) "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?"

i) They taunted Jesus asking Him if He were greater than Abraham and the prophets.

ii) Ironically, Jesus is greater than Abraham and the prophets.

iii) Jesus' opponents do not think so; grammatically, a negative answer is expected.[33]

d) "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."''"

i) Jesus repeats that He does not glorify Himself; the Father glorifies Him.

ii) Then Jesus claimed clearly and unequivocally that His Father is the One that the Jewish authorities call God.

e) "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."

i) Jesus maintained that His opponents did not know God.

ii) Wuest translates the perfect tense verb, "And you have not known Him in an experiential way, and do not know Him at present" (NTET).[34]

iii) However, Jesus claimed to know God the Father.

iv) He could not have denied that relationship without becoming a liar like them.

3) Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:56-59).

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 (John 8:56-59).

a) "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

i) Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus' day.

ii) Some rabbis taught that God gave Abraham a vision of the future when He made the Abrahamic covenant.

iii) More likely this refers to Gen 22:13-15, known to the rabbis as the Akedah ("Binding"), and God's provision of a ram to replace Isaac as the offering.

iv) This is a type of the death and resurrection of Christ (Heb 11:17-19).[35]

b) "So the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'"

i) Again, Jesus' opponents in the Jewish leadership considered His claim absurd.

ii) Jesus was less than fifty years old.

c) "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'"

i) Jesus claimed to exist before Abraham and used the divine name "I AM" to describe Himself.

(a) The Gk. has only "I AM"; there is no "He."

(b) This was a clear reference to Exod 3:14 and is a clear claim to deity.[36]

(d) Phillips paraphrased this as, "before there was an Abraham, I AM!" (NTME).

ii) Jesus had once again claimed equality with God (John 5:18).

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

i) Jesus' opponents in the Jewish leadership reached for stones to stone Him.

ii) However, Jesus supernaturally evaded them and left the temple.

III. Applications

A. What this says about Jesus Christ ...

1. Jesus is sinless. Even hostile witnesses could not prove that He had sinned.

2. Jesus honors the Father and the Father honors Him.

3. Jesus is the eternal God; He is the great "I AM."

B. What this says to us ...

1. The mark of a true disciple is continuing in God's word.

2. Continuing in God's word leads to knowing the truth, and knowing the truth liberates us.

3. Real freedom is spiritual freedom.