So before we start, I just want to take a minute.
We're going to pray. We're going to ask the Lord
to be guiding and directing us this morning,
because if you're just here to hear me talk,
no bueno. But we get to ask the Lord to be at
work in our hearts, to convict us through the
power of the Holy Spirit, and to draw out in
His Word what He has. So let's open in prayer.
Heavenly Father, good and gracious God, You are
so good. We praise you. We thank you for this
morning. We thank you for each and every person
that's here. Lord, as we get to open your word,
as we get to just dive deep together into who
you are, Lord, I pray that that would just continue
to change us. Lord, be at work in our hearts
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Draw us
to yourself. Lord, for those who are here this
morning who are struggling, who are tired, who
are joyless, I just pray that you would bring
joy. And Lord, for those who are here this morning
who have that joy and just the excitement of
walking in you, I just pray that you would continue
to strengthen and bolster. And Lord, help us
all to be radiant reflections of Jesus. As we
open your word, Lord, bless this time. We pray
this in Jesus' name. Amen. I mentioned we're
going through the book of John. If you don't
have a Bible with you, there on the back table
are these little blue books. The book of John.
Take one. It's yours. There's a whole section
next to it for notes. You can actually write
in your Bible. You can circle. You can underline.
And there's a little section for notes in there.
So take that. We want you to have that. That
is for you. But we're going to be working through
verse by verse in John chapter 8. But as we get
ready to do that, when I was younger, I took
a trip to the Outer Banks with my family. And
I had just purchased a Jeep Wrangler. And it
was a six -speed manual. And I was working my
first full -time job. And I was so excited about
this. And we went to the Outer Banks in North
Carolina. And there was a section where I could
drive my Jeep out onto the sand. And I just thought
that was the coolest thing ever. Put the top
down. We're driving out. you know, put it in
first. I start driving out, and all of a sudden,
and I'm just digging myself right down into the
sand, and I'm thinking, man, that was a little
anticlimactic. I'm thinking, oh yeah, I'm a cool,
cool 19 -year -old coming down here, full -time
job, get to do this, and then, yeah, no, nothing.
So I just buried myself right in the sand. I
thought, well, I can get out of this. It's a
Jeep. Four -wheel drive. So I put it, you know,
make sure I'm in four. Still nothing. I just
keep digging myself deeper into the sand. So
I thought, okay, well, four -wheel low. So I
put it in four -wheel low. Put in first. Still
just keep digging myself deeper in the sand.
And I just kept thinking, oh, I've got this.
I don't need any help. One more try, and I'm
going to get out. But every time I hit the gas,
I only just kept burning myself deeper. See guys,
sometimes the hardest person to rescue is the
person who refuses to admit that they're stuck.
And that's where the passage begins this morning.
So two weeks ago, we heard Jesus make some really
staggering statements in the first part of John
chapter 8. In John 8 verse 12, Jesus said, I
am the light of the world. Anyone who follows
me will never walk in the darkness, but will
have the light of life. And then Jesus said that
he had come from above, while the people who
were listening to him were from below. And he
warned them that they could not save themselves.
In John 8 verse 24, he said, therefore I told
you that you will die in your sins. For you do
not believe that I am he, you will die in your
sins. Then Jesus pointed ahead to the cross.
So John 8, 28, he says this. So Jesus said to
them, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you
will know that I am he, and that I do nothing
on my own, but just as the Father taught me,
I say these things. When Jesus told them who
he is, then... He came, where he came from, what
will happen if they refuse to believe him. The
section ends with something that sounds like
a really great conclusion. And it was in verse
30 where it says, and as he was saying these
things, many believed in him, right? So that
conclusion two weeks ago, many believed in him.
Jesus preached, people believed, everybody can
go home, yay team Jesus, all right. Except Jesus
doesn't end the conversation there. So when we
look at verse 31, which is where we're picking
up in our text this morning, it says, Then Jesus
said to the Jews who had believed him, If you
continue in my word, you are really my disciples.
John presents Jesus speaking directly to the
people who had believed in him. But Jesus immediately
begins pressing in on their belief. He's not
saying that continuing in his word earns salvation.
But he is saying that, hey, continuing, or if
you have the ESV, it says abiding in his word
reveals the reality of their faith. So it's one
thing to believe Jesus when you like what he
says. It's another thing to remain with Jesus
when his word confronts the story that you have
always believed about yourself. See, this passage
begins with people who had believed in Jesus,
and it ends with people picking up stones to
kill him. So it starts with, oh yeah, this is
great. And then it ends with, we got to kill
this guy. And there's something that's going
on. So what happened between verses 31 through
59? The short version is Jesus told them the
truth about themselves. He told them that they're
not as free as they thought. He confronts the
very idea of their independence. He challenged
the identity that they had built on their relationship
with Abraham as their father, exposing that lineage
couldn't secure their standing before God. And
then in words that were both unmistakable and
almost incomprehensible, in their weight. He
doesn't merely claim to be the God that Abraham
worshiped. He declared that he is the eternal
I am, the one that Abraham knew, speaking in
a way that left no neutral ground for response.
So each time Jesus speaks as we walk through
this passage, I want you to look at how the people
respond. See, we're going to see that Jesus offers
freedom. and the people deny their slavery. Jesus
is going to tell them the truth, and they're
just going to say, well, actually, you know,
this is our identity. We're going to defend this.
Jesus offers life, and they say, hey, we're not
dead. Do you have a demon? Like, what are you,
dude? And they're willing to believe in Jesus
until Jesus starts to contradict them. And still
he starts to poke at their own image and identity
of themselves. And so that brings us to a central
question that we're going to be faced with as
we walk through this text this morning. And that
question is, what happens to our faith when Jesus
confronts the story that we tell about ourselves?
So that question is, what happens to our faith
when Jesus confronts the story we tell about
ourselves? See, Jesus is about to offer freedom,
and then they just start denying that they're
in slavery. So Jesus begins by describing genuine
discipleship, where he says in verse 31, if you
continue in my word, you really are my disciples.
You will know the truth, and the truth will set
you free. That one that the truth will set you
free. You will know the truth and the truth will
set you free. It's quoted all the time in our
culture. You might see it on the side of like
the hippie vans. You might hear people that are
saying this. And it's used to celebrate education
and self -discovery. Speaking your truth because
that's going to set you free. But our culture
wants the promise of verse 32. without the command
of verse 31. If you continue in my word, you
really are my disciples. You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free. And they want
this promise without facing the slavery that
we're going to see in verse 34, or the Savior
that we're going to see in verse 36. See, Jesus
doesn't say, discover your truth, and the truth
will set you free. He says, continue in my word.
To continue means to remain or abide. I mentioned
ESV says abide. When we were working through
1 John, we talked about that a lot. But if you
weren't here, it means resting in and making
our soul focus on. See, a disciple makes his
home in Jesus' word even when it confronts him,
even when it starts to rip away the facade that
we choose to build for ourselves. See, guys,
truth is not something we create. Truth is found
in Jesus. It is not subjective. It is objective.
Truth is found in Jesus. Jumping ahead into the
book of John, we're going to get there soon.
But John 14 and verse 6, Jesus says this. John
14, 6. See? Truth does have a face and a name,
and that's Jesus Christ. And we know him by continuing
in his word. That's why verse 32 says the truth
sets us free, because Jesus is the truth. And
then verse 36 is going to say the Son sets us
free. See, the truth sets us free because Jesus
is truth. So Jesus sets us free. But instead
of asking Jesus to explain this freedom that
he offers, the people who believed here all of
a sudden switched to start defending themselves.
So verse 33 of chapter 8 says, We are descendants
of Abraham, they answered him. We have never
been enslaved to anyone. How can you say you
will become free? Jesus says, I can set you free.
They respond, who says we're slaves? What are
you talking about? Jesus offers them freedom
and they take offense at the suggestion that
they need it. Their statement is kind of historically
astounding, right? Because they're saying, we're
not slaves. We've never been slaves. Okay. We
remember some of our Bible history. They were
slaves in Egypt. They get out of Egypt. They
go and finally... in the time of the judges,
they get into the land of the promised land.
They were under the control of the Philistines,
the Moabites, and more. And then later, okay,
yeah, now we're not slaves. We have our own kingdom.
All of a sudden, in comes Assyria, Babylon. They're
under the rule of then the Syrian Seleucids.
Now, when they're writing this, they're under
occupation from Rome. And they say, ah, who says
we're slaves? We're not. We're descendants of
Abraham. We have never been enslaved to anyone.
See, as they speak these words to Jesus, Israel's
history is filled with foreign masters. So whether
they're trying to do some revisionist history,
which I don't think is exactly what they're doing,
or they're making a claim about their covenant
standing in the covenant that God made with Abraham,
where he said, you and your descendants and offspring
will belong to God as his people and receive
blessing. Their point is clear. They're saying,
we're Abraham's descendants. We're already God's
people. We're not the ones that need to be rescued.
I like the way that Joby Martin paraphrases the
mentality that these people have. They say, by
birth and behavior, God owes us salvation. We
are heirs of the promise given to Abraham. See,
their birth places them in Abraham's family.
Their religious behavior distinguishes them from
obvious sinners. The promise they believe then,
they're saying, obligates God to receive them.
No, we're descendants of Abraham. We're not enslaved.
God needs to do his part because we're his chosen
people here. That's what they're saying back
to Jesus. They don't see themselves as slaves
in need of rescue. They see themselves as heirs
who deserve the kingdom. They want a savior without
admitting that they need saving. They want liberation
without confession. They want freedom without
admitting bondage. So Jesus then responds in
verse 34 by naming the real master. Jesus responded,
is a slave of sin, right? So they think there's
no slavery to address. Jesus says, no, actually,
the problem is sin. And despite being descendants
of Abraham, you are slaves to sin. See, sin's
not something we occasionally do. It's not something
that every once in a while... we're a part of.
Guys, apart from Jesus Christ, sin is the master
that we obey. So we like to imagine ourselves
as independent. We tell ourselves, I can stop
whenever I want. So it's easy for us to sit and
look here and say, oh yeah, these people like
saying they're not slaves. How could they do?
Obviously, right? And then we sit here and we
say, well, you know, actually I'm not really
in like, it's a minor sin. It's something I struggle
with occasionally, but by the grace of God, it's
cool. Guys, apart from Jesus, when we continue
in sin, it becomes a master. We like to imagine
ourselves as independent. Then we do it again.
And sometimes that means we return to the same
bitterness. We go for the next juicy piece of
gossip. We lust after what is not ours. We consume
pornography. We dress or conduct ourselves in
a way that draws the eyes of others towards ourself
for our own pleasure and our own gratification.
We fall into the same pride, the approval seeking,
the need for control. We fall into the habitual
patterns of hiding and blaming and shame. See
guys, our culture defines freedom as autonomy.
No one tells me what to do. I define truth for
myself. I follow my own desires. This is even
more so in Alaska. We really like to be free.
We like to be independent. But when our focus
is on autonomy, when our focus in this freedom
is on our own selves and our own desires, that's
not what freedom is. See, Jesus doesn't offer
us autonomy. If our desires are ruled by sin,
doing whatever we want, having autonomy is actually
still slavery because we're slaves to sin. But
Jesus offers liberation, which is freedom from
sin's rule and freedom to live under the gracious
rule of the Son. And Jesus continues into verse
35, a slave does not remain in the household
forever, but a son... does remain forever. See,
a slave has no permanent standing in the house.
He has no authority to establish his place there.
But the son of the father belongs in the house
forever. The son possesses the standing and the
authority to act. And then in verse 36, Jesus
says, so if the son sets you free, you really
will be free. See, a slave isn't the one that
can promote himself into sonship. A prisoner
cannot pardon himself. A sinner cannot break
the mastery of sin through greater effort. Only
the son can set the slaves free and say, hey,
you get to come to the Father, and now you get
to be a part of this family. So, you cannot be
then set free from a slavery you refuse to admit.
These people were saying, no, no, no, we're descendants
of Abraham, we're good. We've never been slaves
to anyone. And we often respond to Jesus exactly
like these people did. Some of us respond more
from the self -righteous religious crowd. No,
no, I'm good. I grew up in church. I was baptized.
My family's always believed. I know the Bible.
I serve. I'm not as bad as other people. Like,
I know I need God's grace, but there's some pieces
I can bring to this and do well, and God will
accept me. Others respond like those who already
know we're broken and far from God, and we say,
God, no. Pastor, I've made a mess of my life.
I know I've sinned too much. I don't belong in
church. God probably wouldn't want me. See, Jesus
isn't asking for our religious resume. He's not.
intimidated by your moral failures. He's asking
whether his word has authority over you and if
you have freedom in him. So what part of your
life, what part of your identity are you protecting
from him? See, for the Christians struggling
against sin, continuing in Jesus's word doesn't
mean sinless perfection. It means that when we
sin, We do not abandon Jesus or redefine what
he said or what he actually meant. We confess,
we repent, we trust, and we return because our
former master no longer owns us. Sin may still
speak, but it no longer has the final claim over
those whom the son has set free. So the people
deny their slavery by pointing to Abraham. Jesus
responds then by examining whether they actually
resemble the father. that they're claiming. So
Jesus tells them the truth, and they start defending
their identity. My dad died in a car accident
when I was nine months old, and so I never really
got to know him growing up, but I look exactly
like him. I've seen pictures, and family has
said, like, you act just like him too. And I
was at a store, When I still lived back in Pennsylvania
in the area that I grew up. And I was walking
down an aisle. My dad's name was Jerry. And I
turned the aisle and somebody goes, Jerry? And
I looked and I was like, no, Jared. But this
person saw me and thought I was my dad. And they
looked and they saw who I resembled. And they
thought that I was Jerry. My mom remarried when
I was two and a half. And I get to love having
my dad. He loves Jesus. And he's not stepdad,
he's dad. And growing up then, I got to have
a little brother. And it was crazy, right? Because
I looked exactly like my dad. My little brother,
he'd hate that I'd say this, but just like dad.
It was so funny. They were little one time and
they're both walking down the street and they're
walking exactly the same way. It was like mini
me. It was hilarious. See, sometimes you can
look at a parent and a child, a father and a
son. You can think, there's no question whose
kid that is. See, children bear the resemblance
of their father. So Jesus is saying, okay, you
have Abraham as a father. Do you resemble him?
Verse 37, Jesus says, I know you are descendants
of Abraham, but you're trying to kill me because
my word has no place among you. Notice the contrast.
See, Jesus is speaking the truth and they're
trying to kill the one speaking it. The problem
is not that they've never heard his word. They're
standing in front of the word made flesh. The
problem was that his word had no place among
them. There's no room for it because they're
too busy protecting the story they already believed
about themselves. They're too busy saying, no,
no, no, we're descendants of Abraham. We're good.
We got this. So verse 38, Jesus continues. He
says, I speak what I have seen in the presence
of the Father. So then you do what you have heard
from your Father. And then in verse 39, they
answer back, our Father is Abraham. They replied,
if you were Abraham's children, Jesus told them,
you would do what Abraham does. They keep going
back to Abraham. Then in verse 39 and 40, when
they say, our father is Abraham, they replied,
and if you were Abraham's children, Jesus told
them, you would do what Abraham did. But now
you are trying to kill me, a man who has told
you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham
did not do this. Biologically, they came from
Abraham. Spiritually, they looked nothing like
him. Abraham received God's revelation by faith.
They, the people here who had believed, are actually
trying to kill the one who was sent from God.
See, they have Abraham on their lips, but they
have murder in their hearts. And Jesus knows
this. And he's confronting this. See, a family
tree, it can tell you where you came from, but
it can't tell you who you belong to. So when
their claim to Abraham fails, they raise another
claim. Verse 41, Jesus finishes by saying, look,
you're doing what your father does. The people's
response? We weren't born of sexual immorality,
they said. We have one father, God. So they might
be directly insinuating about Jesus' own birth.
There's some scholars that think this was basically
like, well, you want to talk about fathers? Jesus,
yo mama. And then they go into it, right? Some
scholars believe it's that. At the very least,
maybe it is, maybe it's not, but at the very
least, they are insisting that they are not illegitimate
children. They belong to God. God is their father.
They move from Abraham as our father right to
God as our father. Checkmate, Jesus. Try and
refute the perfect Sunday school answer. Well,
he does. They claim relationship with God while
rejecting the one that God sent. And Jesus is
not going to allow this contradiction. So verse
42, Jesus said to them, if God were your father,
you would love me because I came from God and
I am here. For I didn't come on my own, but he
sent me. They say, God is our father. Jesus says,
then why don't you love his son? The question
is not ultimately, what do you feel about God?
The question is, What do you do with Jesus? You
can feel reverent towards God. You can believe
in a higher power. You can admire Christian values,
speak religious language. But Jesus says our
relationship with the Father is revealed by our
response to the Son. You cannot love God while
rejecting Jesus. You cannot honor the Father.
while refusing the one that he sent. So Jesus
then continues in verse 43. Why don't you understand
what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word.
Once again, everything comes back to their response
to Jesus's word. He offers freedom, they argue.
He tells them truth, they refuse to listen. He
tells them where they came from, they reject
him. The problem's not merely a lack of information.
This resistance is spiritual. And then Jesus
speaks some of the strongest words in the Gospel
of John in verse 44. You are of your father,
the devil, and you want to carry out your father's
desires. He was a murderer from the beginning
and does not stand in the truth because there
is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks
from his own nature because he is a liar and
the father of lies. You are of your father, the
devil. See, Jesus is not making an ethnic condemnation.
Jesus is Jewish. His disciples are Jewish. But
Jesus is saying, yeah, I recognize that you are
descendants of Abraham, but I'm going to expose
who you really look to as your father. I'm going
to expose your spiritual allegiance. The devil
is a murderer and a liar. They are rejecting
the truth and want to murder the one speaking
it. And Jesus says, guys, the family resemblance,
it's unmistakable. They say God's our father,
but they reject God's son. They say Abraham is
their father, but they do the opposite of Abraham.
Their spiritual father is revealed by the desires
that they follow and the truth that they refuse.
And then in verse 45. Yet because I tell the
truth, you do not believe me. Guys, that's a
staggering statement. Jesus does not say, even
though I tell you the truth, you do not believe
me. He says, because I tell the truth, you do
not believe me. See, the truth is actually the
reason they reject him. His words are exposing
something that they are determined to defend.
And then Jesus asks this. In verse 46 and 47.
Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am
telling the truth, why don't you believe me?
The one who is from God listens to God's words.
This is why you don't listen. Because you are
not from God. Jesus speaks the truth. Their refusal
to hear reveals who they belong to. See, guys,
it's possible to know God's vocabulary while
resisting God's Son. The clearest evidence of
a spiritual life is not merely that we've heard
Jesus' word. It's what happens when his word
confronts us. When Jesus disagrees with you,
what happens next? Do I submit or do I immediately
begin looking for a way around what he said?
That tends to be like, yeah, for me. Okay, Jesus,
but like, you know, how do I, that makes me uncomfortable.
How do I navigate around this? Do you receive
his word or do you edit Jesus until he agrees
with the life that you already wanted? See, saving
faith doesn't ever mean that we don't struggle
with Jesus' words. It means his word has a home
in us and we listen, we wrestle, we repent, and
we return to him. See, this passage confronts
this false idea of borrowed faith. You cannot
inherit salvation from faithful parents. You
cannot borrow it from a faithful spouse. You
cannot live on your church's confession of faith.
The people said, look, we're Abraham's descendants.
Jesus says, guys, God does not have grandchildren.
He has sons and daughters. The question is not
merely whether your family belongs to Jesus.
The question is whether you belong to Jesus.
God has sons and daughters, not grandkids, that
are born into salvation. See, they can't answer
the truth Jesus is speaking, so now they're going
to change their tactics up a little bit, and
they're going to attack the person speaking.
But in their anger, they're actually going to
ask one of the most important questions in the
passage. Verse 48 of John chapter 8. The Jews
responded to him, aren't we right in saying that
you're a Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus has
just exposed their spiritual condition. They
kind of have to confront and recognize this.
And their response, it's not repentance. Their
response is insult. When they can't refute what
Jesus says, they now attack the person of Jesus.
They say, well, you know, aren't we right in
saying you're a Samaritan? You are less than
a person. You are less than a real Jew. We don't
want anything to, and you have a demon. These
words you're saying, these are ridiculous. Jesus
responds, verse 49 and 50. I do not have a demon,
Jesus answered. On the contrary, I honor my Father
and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks it and judges. They dishonor
Jesus. Jesus continues by honoring the Father.
They attack his identity. Jesus entrusts his
identity and his glory to the Father. Then even
after they insult him, look at Jesus' response.
Verse 51. Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my
word, he will never see death. Jesus says, keep
my word and you will never see death. Even after
insults, Jesus offers them life. Their response?
Verse 52. Then the Jews said, now we know you
have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets.
You say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never
taste death. Notice the slight difference here.
right? Jesus says they will never see death,
and when they're going back and repeating this,
they say they will never taste death. We're not
going to press too far into that difference,
but the word that Jesus uses carries the idea
of beholding something steadily and becoming
acquainted with its reality. See, Jesus is not
promising that believers will never physically
die. Unless Christ returns first, the believer
is going to taste death. But the believer will
never stare death face to face as his final destiny
or his victorious master. See, death remains
an enemy, but because of Jesus, it's a defeated
enemy. See, the Christian may taste death, but
does not have to be terrorized by it. They hear
Jesus' promise only in physical terms. They say,
Abraham died. The prophets died. Everybody dies.
They think physical death is going to disprove
Jesus' promise. But Jesus is promising eternal
life that physical death cannot destroy. So now,
in verse 53, they say, Are you greater than our
father Abraham who died and the prophets died?
Who do you claim to be? They intend the question
as an accusation. But their accusation places
the central question in front of us. Who is Jesus?
And they're meaning this like, Jesus, are you
greater than Abraham? And Jesus responds in verse
54. If I glorify myself, Jesus answered, my glory
is nothing. My Father, about whom you say, he
is our God, he is the one who glorifies me. You
do not know him, but I know him. If I were to
say I don't know him, I would be a liar like
you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Again,
notice this contrast. They claim he is our God.
Jesus says, no, actually, you never knew him.
Jesus knows the Father and keeps the Father's
word, and they claim the Father while rejecting
the Son standing in front of them. And then verse
56, Jesus says this, Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. They're
hiding behind Abraham while rejecting the one
that Abraham longed to see. Abraham's faith looked
forward to the fulfillment of God's promise.
Is that fulfillment? And so the people respond
this way in verse 57. The Jews replied, you aren't
50 years old yet and you've seen Abraham? See,
they're still thinking only in these human categories.
Maybe they just picked an arbitrary number or
maybe they picked 50 because for those who were
serving as Levites in... The ministry, once they
hit the age of 50, they were supposed to retire.
So maybe they're saying, Jesus, you're not even
retirement age and you claim to have seen Abraham?
Yeah, whatever. But then Jesus answers with the
climax of this entire confrontation. In verse
58, Jesus said to them, truly I tell you, before
Abraham was, I am. Jesus doesn't say before Abraham
was, I was. He says before Abraham came into
existence, I am. Abraham had a beginning. Jesus
simply is because he is God. To hear the full
weight of that claim, we need to hear the Old
Testament context behind this. Because Jesus
is referencing something that these people would
have known well. Jesus is actually saying, I
am. He says, Yahweh, I am God. In Exodus chapter
3 verse 14, back when God was getting ready to
send Moses to go and to bring the people out
of slavery, the slavery they conveniently forgot
about earlier, God replies to Moses. And in verse
Exodus chapter 3, verse 14. God replied to Moses,
I am who I am. This is what you are to say to
the Israelites. I am has sent you. See, at the
burning bush, God revealed himself as the great
I am. He is not created. He is not dependent
on anything outside of himself. He simply and
eternally is. And Jesus here then in saying,
I am, is not merely claiming to have existed
before Abraham. He's speaking the language of
God's own identity, Yahweh. That language doesn't
stop in Exodus. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse
39, God's word says, see now that I alone am
he. There is no God but me. I bring death and
I give life. I wound and I heal. No one can rescue
anyone from my power. In the Greek Old Testament,
when it's translated, the I alone am he contains
the exact same words that are used in John's
gospel for I am. Ego imai. I am. When we look
at the context there in Deuteronomy, the Lord
says that he alone has authority over life and
death. No one can rescue outside of his power.
Jesus has claimed that he can set slaves free,
that anyone who keeps his word will never see
death. Jesus is claiming the authority that belongs
to God alone because he is God alone. And then
in Isaiah 43, verses 10 through 11, it says,
you are my witnesses. This is the Lord's declaration.
And my servant whom I have chosen so that you
know and believe me and understand that I am
he. No God was formed before me and there will
be none after me. I, I am the Lord. Besides me,
there is no savior. That language, it's already
been running through John chapter 8. In verse
8, 24, if you do not believe that I am he, you
will die in your sins. John 8, verse 28, when
you lift up the son of man, then you will know.
that I am he. In John 8, 58 then, he says, before
Abraham was, I am. In Isaiah, the Lord says,
know and believe that I am. In John, Jesus says,
you must believe that I am or you will die in
your sins. You will be slave to your sins. Jesus
isn't claiming to be older than Abraham. He's
not claiming to be the father. He says, I am
the eternal son who is placed in divine identity
with Yahweh. The I am who spoke from the burning
bush, the one who alone gives life and defeats
death, the only savior whom people must know
and believe is standing right in front of them.
See, he's not just merely greater than Abraham.
Jesus is the eternal son that God gave and the
God that Abraham trusted. So Jesus reveals who
he is. And now in verse 59, we see their response.
So they picked up stones to throw at him, but
Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
It's their final response. Jesus offers freedom.
They deny slavery. Jesus tells them truth. They
refuse to listen. Jesus offers them life. They
start calling them names and say, oh, you have
a demon. Jesus reveals himself as the eternal
I am, and they reach for stones to kill him because
they think it's blasphemy. They're missing this
guy they were starting to believe. They're missing
the entire point of who he is. They claim to
honor Abraham while attempting to stone the God
of Abraham. See, Jesus won't allow us to call
him helpful while refusing to call him Lord.
They were believing what he was said, but many
were not ready to call him Lord. See, we can't
just reduce Jesus to a good moral teacher, a
spiritual accessory, someone who helps you achieve
the life that you've already planned. He is the
eternal son. He doesn't simply offer advice.
He claims authority over all things. He does
not merely improve people. He raises the dead
and frees slaves. His identity demands a response.
So, realistically, most of us are never going
to pick up literal stones. But we often try to
silence Jesus in a more, you know, respectable
ways. We ignore what he says. We explain away
whatever he confronts us with. We obey only the
parts that we agree with. We create a version
of Jesus who will affirm us and leave us alone.
But the Jesus who never contradicts you is actually
just really a reflection of you. And trust me,
you ain't Jesus, and I'm not either. The real
Jesus is the eternal I am. He confronts us because
he loves us. And he alone has the authority to
free us. When I buried that Jeep in the sand,
I couldn't get out. I just kept digging myself
deeper. But admitting that I was stuck wasn't
enough. Some of you are wondering, are we ever
going to find out what happened to you? There
was an older gentleman riding by, and he stopped
his vehicle. And he said, son, you know you should
just air down your tires. It'll make this a lot
easier. But I had got myself stuck so deep that
even airing down my tires couldn't get me out
of the hole I was stuck in. I was high -centered.
All my effort, I had sunk myself so deep into
the sand that not even airing down the tires
was going to work this time. So this guy tossed
me to the end of a tow strap. And he pulled me
out of the hole I was trapped in. I needed power
outside of myself to be free. Jesus doesn't expose
our slavery to simply humiliate us. He exposes
it because he loves us enough to free us. And
he is that one who says, reach for my hand. I
am here to pull you out. Instead, the people
in this passage, they reach for stones. But Jesus
isn't going to die according to their timetable.
It says Jesus hid himself and was hidden. There's
a lot of different thought. Was it magical? Did
he disappear? I don't know. I don't really think
it matters. But it wasn't his time. See, the
eternal son was going to come and lay down his
life willingly. The one who had every right to
condemn sinners will be condemned in the place
of sinners. Jesus had already told them in verse
28, when you lift up the son of man, then you
will know that I alone am he. See, the great
I am will be lifted up on a cross. The son who
remains forever will enter death and taste death
in our place so that we can become sons and daughters.
The one who said the believer would never see
death will taste it in our place. He will bear
the penalty of our sin. He will break the power
of sin, rise victorious over death. And that
is how the Son sets sinners free. So the question
isn't just, do you believe in Jesus? The people
in this passage, they said they believed. The
question is, what happens when Jesus' word, truth,
confronts us? They reach for stones. We reach
for other ways to defend ourselves. Some of us
reach for religion, our family history, church
attendance, good work, biblical knowledge. Others
reach for autonomy. This is my life. I define
myself. No one gets to tell me what to do. And
even those who follow Jesus can reach back for
autonomy when his word confronts something we
don't want to surrender. Religion says, I don't
need to be rescued because I'm good enough. Autonomy
says, I don't need to be rescued because I've
got this. Jesus says both leave us enslaved.
But the Jesus who tells the truth about our slavery
is the same Jesus who went to the cross to set
us free from that as our master. So stop defending
yourself. Admit that you can't free yourself.
Receive his word, remain in his word, and trust
the Son. See, the one you may want to silence
is the only one that can save you. Only the eternal
Son can set sinners free from sin and death.
And hear his promise in verse 36. So if the Son
sets you free, you really will be. free. God
is good. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father,
it is just amazing to know that you have given
us the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, who came,
who died on the cross for our sins, who has set
us free from sin and from death. And Lord, I
just pray that you would draw us continually
to right relationship with you, Lord. If there
are any here this morning who don't know you
as Lord and as Savior, who have not faced that
truth and are still desiring their own truth,
Lord, I just pray that you would be at work in
their hearts, draw them to you. Lord, for those
who are here this morning who are saying, no,
there's this thing I just don't want to give
up, this thing that I can't confront. Lord, I
pray that you would convict through the power
of the Holy Spirit. Draw us to yourself. Help
us to know that. whom you have set free, will
be free indeed. What a wonderful promise. What
a wonderful free gift. It's not because of anything
that we have done, but only because of who you
are. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.