54
John 8:26-30 JESUS
REASONING WITH THE PEOPLE
Introduction:
In a previous
text Jesus told the Pharisees that He
would soon go away and that they would seek for Him but
not
find Him. He
further told them that if they would not
believe in Him they would die in their sins. That means
that unless they would believe in Him they would not be
forgiven of their sins.
It means that they would not make
it to heaven. It
means that they would suffer for their
sins in the next world.
The Pharisees
responded by asking Jesus who He is. The
idea behind their question was, "Just who do you
think you
are to tell us that we will not go to heaven?"
Jesus answered
their question by saying, in effect, "I
am the same One whom I told you from the beginning that I
am." He had
never said to them specifically, "I am the
Christ," but He had told them in numerous ways that
He is
the Christ and He sticks with His story. He had told them
the truth to start with.
He had told them the truth all
along. He most
certainly could not be expected to tell them
anything different now.
In our text
today Jesus continues to reason with the
Pharisees and with the whole crowd of common people who
had
gathered to listen to Him.
I. Many things
Jesus would yet say to the people
V. 26, "I
have many things to say..." That
is, "I have
many more things to say to you." They had been
puzzled when
He told them that He was going away and that they would
not
find Him. They had
been very much angered when He told them
that unless they would believe in Him they would not make
it
to heaven. There
was a lot more yet that Jesus wanted to
tell them in order to wake them up to their need of
repentance and salvation.
He would tell them some more even
now. But much of
what He wished to say would have to wait
until later.
(V. 26),
"...and to judge of you..."
That is, much of
what He would say to them later would be judgemental of
them. He would
speak critically of them. They deserved
it.
They needed it. He
would do it, but not now. He would most
severely rebuke them.
He would call them "hypocrites,"
which they were.
He would call them "whited sepulchres."
They appeared beautiful and nice outwardly, but inwardly
they were corrupt and vile. Inwardly it was as though they
were full of dead men's bones. He would call them "vipers."
Inwardly they were as vicious as snakes. He would tell them
that they are children of the Devil, which spiritually
they
were. It was not
yet time for such stern rebuke and it did
not meet the purpose of God the Father for Him to tell
them
now. If they
thought that He was harsh with them now, they
would really think He is harsh later.
At this
present time, He will not get that harsh with
them, but He will speak sharply enough to jar them just a
little bit so that He might wake some of them up to their
need of salvation.
That is why He had told them that unless
they would believe in Him they would not make it to
heaven.
He wanted them to know that they were lost so that they
would seek salvation.
II. The
truthfulness of what He says
(V. 26),
"...but he that sent me is true; and I speak to
the world those things which I have heard of
him." Jesus
reminds His listeners of something which He had already told
them. He reminds
them that He had been sent to them. He
had been sent on a mission and part of His mission was to
deliver to them the message which the One who sent Him
gave
Him to deliver.
Jesus said, in effect, "All that I have
said to you were those things which I was told to say to
you. Everything
that I have said to you came directly from
Him who sent me. I
have only delivered to you the message
which He gave me to deliver."
V. 27,
"They understood not that he spake to them of the
Father." That
is, they understood not that He was saying
that God the Father had sent Him and that God the Father
had
given Him the message which He had spoken to them.
Let me say to
you that this is difficult to understand.
How could they not know that He was talking about God the
Father? How could
they not know that He was saying that God
the Father had sent Him and that God the Father had given
Him the message which He had delivered to them? He had
repeatedly told them.
He had told them over and over again
that God the Father had sent Him and that He was the Son
of
God. He had told
them that He was not of this world -- that
He was from above.
He said that God the Father had sent Him
from above! Why in
the world would they not understand now
that He was talking to them about God the Father?
So far as I
can tell there is but one answer. They
had
closed their minds to the idea that He is from
above. They
had closed their minds to the idea that God the Father
had
sent Him. They had
closed their minds to the idea that He
is the Son of God.
They had absolutely refused to believe
that He is the Christ of God! They had made up their minds
that He is a hoax, an imposter and nothing He could say
would change their minds.
They would continue to reject Him
as the Christ.
They would continue to plot against Him and
work against Him until they could some way, some how put
Him
to death and get Him out of their way.
III. The coming
proof of who He is
V. 28,
"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted
up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am
he..." The
term, Son of man, is a term that Jesus frequently used to
speak of Himself.
They were familiar with that.
They knew
that He was talking about Himself. Jesus told them that the
time would come when they would be given good evidence
that
He is who He has said that He is. The time would come when
they would have positive proof that He is who He said
that
He is. He said
that at that time they would know that He is
the Christ.
What time is
He talking about? He said that it would
come after they had lifted Him up. He was talking about His
crucifixion. He
was talking about being lifted up on a
cross. They would
nail Him to a cross and lift Him up
between heaven and earth.
He would hang there until He is
dead. Jesus knew
this and told them that He knew it. He
knew it and accepted it.
He would not try to prevent it.
He had come to this earth for this purpose to die on the
cross for the souls of men. Jesus said that at that time
after they had crucified Him they would know that He is
who
He had told them that He is.
Even then most
of them would still outwardly refuse to
acknowledge that they had crucified the Christ, but Jesus
said that inwardly they would know at that time that He
is
the Christ.
When the time
of His crucifixion would take place the
majority of these very people would be there to witness
it.
They would be in that great crowd which would cry out,
"Crucify Him!
Crucify Him!" They would see
Him nailed to a
pole by the Roman soldiers. They would march before Him and
mock Him and spit in His face. They would see Him drop His
head and breath His last breath. They would see the spear
pierce His side and see blood mixed with water run from
His
side. They would
see His lifeless body taken down from the
cross and laid in Joseph's tomb. They would know that the
great stone door was rolled shut and that Pilate's
official
seal was placed upon it so that no one would dare to open
it. They would
know about the Roman soldiers stationed
there to make certain that no man would take His body
from
that tomb.
Then three
days later, they would get the news that the
body of Jesus was no longer in that tomb. They would hear
the rumors that the disciples had come and stolen His
body
out of the tomb.
But in their
hearts they would know the truth. They
would know that the disciples could not have possibly
stolen
His body. They
would hear that the disciples had seen Him
alive. In their
hearts they would know that the only way He
could come out of that grave is that He is who He had
told
them that He is.
Inwardly they would know that He is the
Light of the World.
Inwardly they would know that He is the
Bread of Life. Inwardly they would know that He has told
them the truth and that He is the Water of Life. Inwardly
they will know that God is indeed, His Father and that He
is
the Son of God.
Inwardly they will know that He is the
Christ of God, the Savior of the World.
Yet even then
many of them will still doggedly reject
Him. Even though
inwardly they know that He arose from the
grave, they will still refuse to acknowledge outwardly
that
He is the Christ of God.
Jesus said in effect, "You want
proof of who I am?
You will get proof.
IV. Complete
obedience to God the Father
(V. 28),
"...and that I do nothing of myself; but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things." They will
have proof of who He is and proof that everything He has
said to them came from God the Father in heaven. It was God
the Father who sent His Son into this world, and it was
God
the Father who told Him what to say. He told Him what to do
and He told Him what to say.
The things
that Jesus did which infuriated the Jews so,
were things which God the Father had told Him to do. The
things which He had said which infuriated them so were
things which God the Father had told Him to say to them.
Thus, their contention against Jesus was in reality
contention against God the Heavenly Father and what God
the
Father had said.
V. Complete
support from God the Father
V. 29,
"And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath
not left me alone..." Jesus had complete confidence in the
success of His mission.
He knew that God the Father, who
had sent Him, had not deserted Him. God the Father was
still with Him supporting Him.
In John 6:66
it is said that many of His disciples had
become offended at Him and that they walked with Him no
more. The
Pharisees must have known this. They
kept up
with His activities very closely. They must have also
gloated in the fact that such a large number of His
disciples had deserted Him. They had no way of knowing yet,
but later one of His leading men, one of the twelve
apostles
would desert Him.
Judas Iscariot would not only desert Him,
but He would betray Him into their hands so that they
could
crucify Him.
But Jesus took
great comfort in knowing that even though
men would desert Him, yet God the Father would not desert
Him. He would
stand by Him and support Him in all His
ministry. The only
time when God the Father would refrain
from giving Him comfort and support would be while He was
on
the cross suffering for our sins. While He was on the
cross, God would lay the full penalty of our sins upon
Him.
But other that time on the cross, God the Father was
right
with Him to support Him every step of the way.
Jesus was not
telling these people anything they could
not see for themselves.
They had seen the miracles that
Jesus had performed.
By those miracles they could see for
themselves that God the Father was with Him and
supporting
Him.
(V. 29),
"...for I do always those things that please
him." It
would stand to reason that God the Father would
stand with Him and support Him in all things, because
Jesus
had done the will of God the Father in all things. Jesus
had done the Father's will and the Father was well
pleased
with Him. God had
even spoken from heaven and said, "This
is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
VI. The many who
believed on Jesus
V. 30,
"As he spake these words, many believed on him."
I take it that not many of the Pharisees believed on Him.
Perhaps a few did, but not many. Most of the Pharisees
continued to be against Him. But many in the crowd of
people believed.
We have seen in earlier Scriptures that a
relatively small number had already believed in Him and
that
many others were already considering the possibility that
He
might be the Christ.
They were already almost persuaded.
Now they were altogether persuaded. They accepted what
Jesus had said that He is not of this world. They accepted
what He said that He had been sent from Heaven. They
accepted Him as the Light of the World, the Bread of
Life,
the Water of Life, the Son of God, the Christ of God, the
Savior of men.
They believed in Him. They
trusted in Him.
They got saved.
Conclusion:
What about
you? Are you numbered among those who
have
already believed?
Or are you one of those who is earnestly
considering that Jesus just might be who He said He is,
who
the disciples said He is, and who the Bible says He is.
Perhaps you may be one of those who is almost persuaded.
Let me tell
you what I am going to ask you to do. I
am
going to ask you to become one who is altogether
persuaded
that Jesus is the Christ.
Do you want proof? You will have
the proof some day.
The Bible teaches that all will stand
before His presence some day. The Bible says that every
knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
is
the Christ.
Everybody will know! Nobody will
be in doubt!
Nobody will be in doubt ever again.
But I am
asking you to accept Jesus now as the Christ of
God because the Bible says that He is. In other words, I am
asking you to just take God's word for what it says.
Believe God!
Believe that Jesus is the Son of God because
God says so.
Believe in Him as your own personal Savior.
Trust Him to save your soul and to keep you out of
hell. Do
today what many of the people did on that day. Place your
faith in Jesus Christ to be your Savior.
If you are
already saved, then perhaps God is leading
you to this church to be a member of the church and to
give
your life in service to Jesus Christ, your Savior. If He is
leading you, He will put a desire in your heart to come
and
unite with us. If
so, will you come?
If you are
already saved and already a member of this
church, perhaps God is leading you to a closer walk with
Him. If so, will
you come and commit yourself to a closer
walk with the Lord?