The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
John 8:12opening verse read aloud: I am the light of the world
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
woman caught in adultery, scribes and Pharisees testing Jesus
2 Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down, and taught them.
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle,
4 they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
6 They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger.
7 But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.”
8 Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.
9 They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
10 Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”
main sermon text: I am the light of the world through before Abraham was born I am
13 The Pharisees therefore said to him, “You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
14 Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going.
15 You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one.
16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.
17 It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.
18 I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
19 They said therefore to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
20 Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
21 Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
22 The Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?”
23 He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.
24 I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
25 They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.
26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
27 They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father.
28 Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.
29 He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
30 As he spoke these things, many believed in him.
31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin.
35 A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever.
36 If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
37 I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
38 I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”
39 They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.
41 You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
42 Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.
43 Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word.
44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me.
46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
48 Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.
50 But I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges.
51 Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’
53 Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who 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 that he is our God.
55 You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him, and keep his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.”
57 The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
59 Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
on the testimony of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed
15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
Jesus read the Isaiah scroll at his first recorded sermon, stopping before the day of vengeance
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
19 and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor John opened in John 8, picking up where last week's passage about the woman caught in adultery left off, and followed Jesus through a sustained confrontation with the Pharisees in the temple. The sermon traced how Jesus made his identity plain, repeatedly and without theatrics, and how people either received it or hardened against it. The central question he left with the congregation was simple: what are you actually trusting in?
What was said
Last week's story about the woman caught in adultery drew two kinds of responses from people in the room. Some heard it as their own story of being set free. Others felt there was more to say about walking in actual victory rather than just escaping judgment. Pastor John acknowledged both reactions and said what that story did not have room to teach, this passage does: it is more natural for human beings to be self-righteous than to be righteous, and humility before God is not optional.
The "I am the light of the world" declaration that opens this section was not rhetorical flourish. The phrase "I am" on its own would have pulled every Jewish listener back to God speaking to Moses. Jesus was not easing into a claim about his identity. He was stating it directly, the same way he had already stated it when he stood up at the feast of tabernacles and said that anyone who was thirsty could come to him and drink. The invitation is wide open, Pastor John said, but the one making it is making an unmistakable claim about who he is.
The Pharisees pushed back on the legal question of testimony. One witness is not enough. Jesus answered that even if he were the only witness to his own origin, his testimony would still be true, because no one else had been where he had been. He knew where he came from and where he was going. They were judging by the flesh, and the flesh could not get them there.
The passage then turns harder. Jesus told them plainly that they would die in their sins unless they believed that he is who he is. Pastor John stopped there and called that the clearest short gospel statement in the chapter, because it holds both sides at once: there is genuinely good news, and the other side of that good news is genuinely bad. He connected it to the boy scout story he told, where one boy immediately loaded up a list of things he needed to do better, and the other boy just received what was said: you have a bad record, Jesus died to pay the penalty, and that is enough.
When some of those listening began to believe, Jesus did not soften what he said next. He told them that continuing in his word was what would show whether their faith was real, and that the truth would set them free. They pushed back by claiming Abraham as their father. He said Abraham believed God and acted on it, and that if they were truly Abraham's children they would do the same thing. The claim to spiritual heritage without actual trust in God, he said, was not covering them the way they thought it was.
The confrontation peaked when Jesus said that their father was not Abraham in any meaningful spiritual sense, but the devil, a murderer and the father of lies. Pastor John noted that Jesus said all of this without raising his voice or pounding anything. He was seated, speaking plainly. A preaching professor once told him that when someone makes a big noise about a point, the point is usually weak. Jesus never had to do that here.
It ended with the claim that settled everything: before Abraham was born, I am. They picked up stones. Jesus had not performed a miracle or issued a threat. He had simply told the truth about himself, and that was enough to bring the confrontation to a head. Pastor John closed by asking the congregation to consider whether they are trusting their own sense of righteousness or trusting Christ, and whether they are in the ditch of legalism on one side or licentiousness on the other, with the center being humility before God and acceptance of what Jesus has actually done.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor talked about how people naturally broke into 'teams' around Jesus, and how most of us are more prone to self-righteousness than to actual righteousness. Where do you see that tendency showing up in your own life?
The pastor described the boy who grew up in church listing all the things he needed to do, while the other boy simply accepted that Jesus died to pay his penalty. What does it look like in practice to trust Jesus that simply, rather than reaching for a list?
Speaker 2Thank you, Lord, for that sure and certain hope that you give us. We're grateful. And, God, may we continue to sing with an open heart, voices that extol and praise you. Amen. Good word from John eight twelve.
Jesus says, I am the light of the world. And if you follow me, you don't have to walk in darkness because you'll have the light that leads to eternal life. And you can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service. I'll invite the ushers to come on forward.
We're gonna sing your words. And from Romans, ten seventeen, it says, so faith. Where does faith come from? Faith comes from hearing, and that is hearing the word of Christ. The good news about Christ.
Before we sit here with
Speaker 1your prayer. God, thank you for this morning. I thank you for the folks gathered here in your name, Lord. For those who are sick and cannot be here this morning. I thank you for them.
I pray, Lord, that they are getting a dose of medicine that's good for them, that they're getting your word, and they're inviting it into their current situation. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that in the difficulty, where we feel like we are rundown or breaking down, Lord, that you are the, the divine healer that we need. We'd recognize that, and we'd live in the midst of that. In Jesus' name, Lord, we are gathered, and we pray to be a blessing to this world. We pray to be a blessing to this community.
We're asking, Lord, that you would do your will and your way among us. Right now, at this offering time, I pray, Lord, that you would that you'd take what is placed in these plates, the resources that go in there, but also everything metaphorically that we put in the plates, Lord. Our time and our effort, conversations, helping people along the way. God, I pray that you would bless every interaction, that you would continue to show who you are, not by grandstanding and not necessarily, Lord, by what we're against, but what we're for. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that you would be spreading your love, your grace, your mercy, that it would be incarnational ministry through your people.
In Jesus' name, we ask your multiplication and your blessing on this. Do your will, Lord, and your way. Amen. And it's time for children's church downstairs. Before the children get out of here, I need to ask something.
Mike, are we doing Awana tomorrow night? Awana tomorrow night. Awana tomorrow night. It is on. So I forgot to say it during the announcements because the slide didn't come up there.
But game circle on the floor means And Owana is 06:00 tomorrow night, 05:45 to sign up, 06:00 right here in this room to start out and then they'll spread out from there. Had a new family and one of the kids said, What's all this tape on the floor all about? Said, That's a good thing to remember. Here we are. It seems like every week it does this.
The intensification of controversy. How could it get much more worse than people are trying to kill you? Right? It's intensifying. Jesus is having, more direct interaction in Jerusalem right now with Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and the controversy surrounding him is intensifying.
And people, as people are won't to do, they break off into teams. Right? And so there is team Jesus, but it's quite small. And then there are opposing religious views, most people fit into. In general, the people were more impressed with the Pharisees than they were the Sadducees.
The Sadducees were somewhat complicit with the Roman government, and they tended to be wealthier people. And so there was a little bit of class clash that was going on too. Last week, we talked about the woman caught in adultery. I didn't go further than that. I just stopped right here.
And I'll have to say that it was a bit of a dividing line there. I heard from people from one side weeping that, That's my story right there. I am that woman. And I heard another side of the story that said, There's more to this than just being either judgmental or being set free, and I agree with that. And so I wanna say it is possible to walk in victory.
It is possible to walk in humility, and it is possible through Christ to do that. But it's more likely in our human nature to be self righteous than it is to actually be righteous. That story last week didn't give a whole lot of place to teach that lesson, so you can't preach every sermon every Sunday. But this one, I feel like Jesus is not just defending himself. He is giving his best apologetic, which is a defense.
And he doesn't grandstand. He speaks plainly and simply. And while he's doing it, it's it's making people either really, really uncomfortable or people are nodding in agreement and saying, yep. That makes sense. And I think that that's the way it is.
Anytime you present the actual gospel for what it is, that people will either get upset by it or they will say, okay, that makes sense. I've told this story before, but it's been a long time. Really quick. I had two Boy Scouts that wanted religious badges. Okay?
And there is a religious badge. You put your merit badge. It's kind of funny that it's grace is what it's all about, but this is a merit badge. And so we're going through, and there are two kids. One of them has grown up in church.
I will. This church. He grew up through all this. He has sisters and brothers. And as we were going through the thing, the Boy Scouts told me, yeah, don't worry about anything.
You're a preacher. This is a religious badge. You say what you need to say. So I said, alright. This is an opportunity for several sessions in a gospel presentation.
Kinda went through what the Bible has to say about Jesus and then explained the gospel as, you know, the message of the cross. Foolishness to those who are perishing, but for those who believe, it's the power of God. It's the power of God unto salvation. Kinda quick. And I said, not based on what you do.
And I told a little gospel presentation, and then I stopped, and I said, now you repeat that back to me. Tell me what I'm saying before we make any kind of decisions here. And then I said, so what is it that we have to do? What is it that we need to believe? What is it?
Tell me what it is. And the little boy who grew up in church said, I need to be nice to my sister. I need to make sure I do this. I need to make sure I do that. I can't do this.
I need to read my Bible more. I need to pray. He just started listening off the list, and the other little boy was looking at him with a furrowed brow. I saw I ran into this boy the other day in Napa. He's a lot bigger than he was.
Excuse me. And he watched with a furrowed brow as that guy presented it back, And he said, what you said was that I haven't done all the right stuff in my whole life and that I have a bad record, but Jesus died to pay my penalty, I think I'll just go with that. It felt like the end of the story in Luke is, which one of these fellows went away justified? He just accepted it for what it was. Instead of going into all the dos and don'ts and all that sort of stuff.
It is in John, especially, we see that it really is about what you believe, and that's what you really believe. We're conflicted human beings. We've got different sides of a story. We're constantly wrestling, But Jesus is calling for us to put our faith in him. I have a professor, had a professor in school that wouldn't sing the verse we just sang in come thou found, the prone to wander, lord, I feel it.
He didn't wanna sing that verse. He said, I can walk in victory. I can walk in victory. I'm not going to sing it. He'd through prone to wander.
Prone to wander. He run. We sang it twice. It's we are prone to wander. We are as human beings, and humility before God is really, really important.
So let's go through this. We'll start with the verse that Carl used during the announcement in a minute for our text, but this is what's immediately preceding it. This is early in the morning, he came into the temple area, all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began teaching them. He did this constantly.
Whenever he was in the temple area, it was an opportunity to teach, even when he was 12 years old. Now the scribes and pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, they said to him, teacher, this woman's been caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say? They were trying to put him in a position where he would have to either disagree with the law or lose his reputation for compassion and love.
Now they were saying this to test him so that they might have grounds for accusing him, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground. And you remember, every time I see that, he wrote something. It's the only time we see Jesus writing in the New Testament. And when he wrote something, he wrote it with his finger. He points that out, and it always reminds me of this.
And when God had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone that were written by the finger of God. Man, I don't know what he was writing on the ground, but it could have been that. Same commandments, and none of us stand before that. Right? When they persisted and asked him, tapping their feet and leaning on him, putting the pressure, turning it up, He straightened up and said to him, He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
Again, he stooped down and he rode on the ground. When they heard this, they began leaving one by one, beginning with the older ones. I I just saw that for the first time preparing for last week. You think it was older ones had a little more wisdom and recognized that, you know what? I've got some things that I just have a hard time shaking.
They didn't have the Holy Spirit present in the same way that believers do now, but when they realized where they stood, they had to drop their stones and go, He was left alone. The woman where she was in the center of the courtyard had straightened it up. Jesus said to her, Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? She said, No one, Lord.
Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on, not sin any longer. What a gracious, gracious story about Jesus. That, I believe, is between two passages where there's some discourse from Jesus, some interaction with Jesus and the people, and he's showing what he's talking about right there in that story. I ended with this last week.
There therefore, there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is conviction. Okay? There is a Holy Spirit conviction that will convict us of our sin, that will convince us of God's righteousness, that will plead with us to lay it down at the foot of the cross to let it go like the second boy scout. Just trust Jesus that he can take it.
If we are confessing our sin, he has forgiven our sin. We have to let it go. There is conviction, but there's not condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Oh, wow. That's a dividing line.
For those who are in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation. But for those who don't put their faith in Jesus, Jesus is gonna say, what? What's going on today. So here we are teaching in the temple area. Jesus again spoke to them.
He said, I am. That in itself, just stopping at the I am would be and it was an emphatic. Ego and me. I am. It would have to call their minds back to God speaking to Abraham and I mean, God speaking to Moses.
And who is it, lord? Who is it? I am. The self evident one. I am the light of the world, and the one who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
This is a bold statement in the temple area. If you remember back just before the story about the woman caught adultery, the climactic appeal from Jesus at the feast of tabernacles standing up probably after the Isaiah passage about the water of salvation, Jesus stood and said, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. That's major. That's Jesus.
If you struggle with the exclusivity of the gospel, it's wide open. If anyone, anyone who's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. I am the light of the world, the one who follows after me. Walk towards the light. Whoever follows after me will not walk in darkness, but he will have the light of life.
And so the Pharisees said to him, you're testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Why should we trust you? You ran like a crazy man. Well, a single witness shall not rise up against a person regarding any wrongdoing or sin that he commits.
Actually, that means that for that woman caught in adultery, they had at least two or three witnesses. How difficult for her. On the testimony of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed. Some translations say the fact shall be established. They didn't trust just one witness in Jesus, they saw as just one witness.
This standard for establishing facts hangs around. It's not just Old Testament. It's also New Testament. In Matthew, we've already covered Matthew 18. It says, If your brother will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Paul says in two Corinthians, Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. First Timothy, Don't entertain an accusation against an elder except on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just last chapter, two weeks ago, we covered Nicodemus kind of defending Jesus on a technicality. Does our law convict a man without first having heard from him to determine what he has done? Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy, Hebrews says, on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
It seems like it'd be pretty easy to conspire against somebody to just have two or three witnesses that agreed. And we do see that later on, that's what happened to Jesus. People who didn't even like each other were concurring. So the testimony of two or three witnesses for the pharisees was a huge deal. And he says, you're testifying about yourself.
Your testimony is not true. And Jesus answered and said to him, even if I am. Even if I am. I'm not. But even if I am testifying about myself, my testimony is true because I know where I came from.
Had anybody else ever been there? Who's who's gonna be the second witness to that? There's not anybody there with him that can know that Jesus had been present with God even before the creation of the world. I know where I came from, and I know where I'm going. He's not grandstanding.
He just knows it. But you do not know where I came from. You do not know where I'm going. You judge according to the flesh. I'm I'm not judging anyone.
Do you remember the story of Jesus' first sermon from Luke four, the first one we have recorded in Luke? It says he stood up and he read the Isaiah scroll, and he read it all the way up to the and to announce the acceptable time of the Lord's favor. The next line in Isaiah says, and to announce vengeance of our God. Jesus stopped shy of vengeance of our God. He stopped shy of that talk of justice that proceeds forth and will come to pass.
He was opening up the age of grace, and he did it from the very first sermon we have recorded. Jesus is saying, I'm not judging you, but I am presenting you with the truth, and you need to judge accurately. And you can't just do that just by the flesh. Even if I do judge, Jesus said, my judgment would be true. It is true for I am not alone in it, but I am the father who sent me.
Jesus is in a unique position, and it is something that's very hard to comprehend. It's very very hard to understand. Even if I were to judge, my judgment would be true, for I'm not alone in it. But I am the father who sent me. Even in your law, has been written that the testimony of two people is true.
You've just decided that that's the case. I am he who testifies about myself, and the father who sent me also testifies about me. And so they were saying to him, where's your father? Who is this guy? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father.
If you knew me, you would know my father also. Now he had disciples that did know him, that had been introduced to his father, but even the disciples are confused. You remember Thomas saying, we don't get it, Lord. Where are you going? We don't understand.
Philip, have I been with you this long and you still don't know? Right? The pharisees were in a tough position because they did not know him very well. They were digging for more, and Jesus was sitting there just telling the truth. You know neither me nor my father.
If you knew me, you would know my father also. In these words, he spoke in the treasury. As he taught in the temple area, no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. Then he said again to them, I'm going away, and you will look for me and will die in your sin. And where I'm going, you cannot come.
That's a hard news. Right? He's stating the facts just as they are. Humility or pride? Are you going to accept what Jesus has to say with humility simply, or are you gonna buck up against it in pride?
I'm going away, Jesus says, and you'll look for me and will die in your sin. Where I'm going, you cannot come. So the Jews were saying, surely, will not kill himself. I mean, that wouldn't make any sense. Will he since he says, where I'm going will he?
Since he says, where I'm going, you cannot come? And he's saying to them, you are from below, and I am from above. You are of this world, and I am not of this world. It's a hard news. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that I am.
He's already given a great bold proclamation that if you want salvation, if you're thirsty for it, come to me, and I'll give it to you freely. He's already, by this point, said, I'm the light of the world. Anybody who wants to see what's going on, come to me, and you'll see what's going on. You won't walk in darkness. You won't be asking questions like this one anymore.
I'll answer the questions for you. Therefore, I said to you that you'll die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am, you'll die in your sins. That's a very clear, short gospel proclamation. There is good news, but the other side of the good news is pretty bad news.
And then they were saying to him, who are you? And Jesus said, what have I even been saying to you from the beginning? I'm saying the same thing over and over again. It's not a secret. I was saying this stuff when I was 12, sitting right here.
It's hard to understand because it is a unique thing. I have many things to say and eventually to judge regarding you, but he who sent me is true. God is true. And did they have God's word? They had the Old Testament.
They knew that God was communicative. They knew that he had been communicating. Also, there had been about a four hundred year intertestamental silence for them. That they had written a whole lot about what they thought the Old Testament said, but it'd been four hundred years since Malachi at this point. I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but he who sent me is true, the things which I heard from him, these things I say to the world.
He offered grace. He offered mercy. He offered peace. He withheld judgment, and they did not realize that he was speaking to them about the father, the father, the father, father God. So Jesus said, when you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am, and I do nothing on my own.
That when you lift up the son of man is an oblique reference to the cross most people believe, when he is lifted up. Jesus says, when I'm lifted up, I'll draw all men to myself. This is a reference to that, I believe. So Jesus said, when you lift up the son of man, you'll know that I am, and I do nothing on my own. But I say these things just as the father instructed me.
I'm listening for my orders, and I'm obeying them. He who sent me is true. He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. That sounds bold, doesn't it?
My grandfather used to say, If you can brag without lying, go ahead and brag. His point was most people came. But Jesus could. He's in a unique position. He hasn't left me alone.
He's with me. I always do the things that are pleasing to him. And as He said these things, many came to believe in Him. So all that I've told you so far sounded like, Man, that's a hard message. Man, that's a hard message.
That's really difficult. But when they were listening to it, it was clicking for them, and it said many came to believe in him. Now, there's a break right there in the action, I think. He's going to start back up again, and it'll be about two professed believers. Many of them are kinda clicking and saying, yeah, I think that makes sense.
We'll go with that. The discourse to the professed believers continues to be difficult. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him, didn't say believed in him, it says believed him, if you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples. If you continue in my word, you're truly my disciples. It is an open invitation, but the open invitation, once taken, accepted, it will lead to a walk with Jesus.
Does that make sense? Try not to get hung up on can you lose your salvation. That's that's a really difficult one. Just in humility, keep on turning to him. If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Amen. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And this says, and they answered him, we're Abraham's descendants. We don't have anything to worry about. We've never been enslaved to anyone.
That's not true by the way. They were enslaved to lots and lots of people since Abraham, right? How is it that you say you will become free, that you will be set free, that you'll become free? We we don't get it. And Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
It's not the Egyptians or the Babylonians. It's sin that enslaves. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever. The son, though, does remain forever.
Jesus is speaking this as the son of God, but he's offering sonship. He's offering to be in the family of God. So if the son sets you free, you will really be free. That's what I'm saying. Yes.
You've got the Old Testament. Yes. You've got the patriarchs. Yes. You've got a lot of good things about God, but the way to know God is to know me.
He's already made an invitation, right, an altar call, couple of different times. So if the son sets you free, you'll be really free. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, yet you're seeking to kill me. These two things don't go together. I know that you're Abraham's descendants just of the earthly line of Abraham, yet you're seeking to kill me, God's anointed one, because my word has no place in you.
I speak of the things which I've seen with my father. Therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father. These are people who are professed believers at the beginning of the paragraph, but they they think, okay. If we were to go with you but when you say it's being set free, we're free. And he said, no.
You're not. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. And Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children, then do the deeds of Abraham. What did Abraham do? I mean, from our very intro the first introduction to Abram before he was called Abraham, when it was Abram, God said to him, leave the land that you know and go to a place that I will show you.
Then Abram believed in the Lord, and God credited that to him as righteousness. Paul says that in Romans four. What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. He trusted God.
If you are Abraham's children, then act like it. Do the deeds of Abraham. Believe God. I'm sitting right here. Just trust me.
But as it is, you're seeking to kill me. If something doesn't change, right, you're seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard directly from God. This, Abraham did not do. Abraham believed God. He acted like it.
He acted on it. He left the land, and he went to the place that God would show him. Now Jesus intensifies the controversy here by adding this, you are doing the deeds of your father. It's not Abraham. They said to him, we were not born as a result of sexual immorality.
We do know who you are. We do know where you came from. We heard that story about Joseph. Come on. That's ridiculous.
Mary, we have one father, God. And Jesus said to them, if God were your father, then you would love me because I'm right here in the flesh. For I I came forth from God and I am here for I've not even come on my own, but he sent me on a rescue mission. Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It's because you cannot listen to my word.
Your preconceived notions are not allowing you to hear me. You all know what confirmation bias is? After the last three years, you got to know what confirmation bias is. You only listen to the stories that agree with you and deny everything else. It's a very real thing.
Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It's because you cannot listen to my word. You are of your father, the devil. Man, that's hard. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.
He was a murderer from the beginning. His temptation in the garden led to death. He's constantly instigating people to hate each other, which is tantamount to murder, Jesus has already told us, And you wanna do that too. You wanna act just like him. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him.
He wanted to make himself like God to be higher than God. There's no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature because he's a liar and he's the father of lies. You see the intensification? But because I'm speaking the truth, you don't believe me.
Which one of you convicts me of sin? Eventually, they'd be screaming, blasphemy, blasphemy, blasphemy. And the truth is, if he were not the unique one and only God man, Jesus, mediator, it would have been blasphemy to say all this stuff. But the truth was the truth. Which one of you convicts me of sin?
There was no one there that could do it because he was not guilty of it. If I speak the truth, why don't you believe me? He's already told them because the one who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you're not of God. That's the simplest explanation he can give.
My sheep know my voice. Okay. So we've had teaching in the temple, and we've had his discourse to the people who say that they believe and then realize that they don't. Now, this is the response of unbelievers. The Jews answered and said to him, do we not rightly say that you're a Samaritan and that you have a demon?
You are definitely on the other team. Don't try to put yourself on our team. Don't try to say you're the leader of our team for crying out loud. You are not that guy. You're a Samaritan and you have a demon.
I saw where you came from. I saw that you came in from the road to Samaria. We all know we're supposed to go down to Jericho and come up. Do we not rightly say you're a Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus answered, I don't have a demon.
I I don't know why. Sometimes Jesus sounds like Andy Griffith to me. He's just shaking his head. I don't have a demon. I honor my father and you dishonor me.
On the contrary, I honor my father. The one that you have said, you set your part set your life apart for him, and you do all of those laws, you do all of those things, you get that super long list, and you're not honoring him. Mercy not sacrifice. Right? I don't have a demon.
On the contrary, I honor my father. This is what this looks like, and you dishonor me. But I'm not seeking my own glory. There is one who seeks it. That's God.
God does seek my glory. He knows what's best for me, and the cross is a part of his glory. That's when John said he was glorified. Peter says when we when we experience unjust suffering, we're experiencing the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, that there is such a thing as redemptive suffering. I'm not seeking my own glory.
There is one who seeks and judges. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone follows my word, he will never see death. That's the third gospel proclamation from the mouth of Jesus in just chapter seven and eight. Probably more of them if I counted, but three bold ones. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone, open invitation, follows my word, he will never see death.
And then their reaction to that is this, now we know you have a demon. Now we know that you have a demon. That's ridiculous. Abraham died. Abraham died and the prophets died as well.
Yeah. You killed him, by the way. And yet you say, if anyone follows my word, he will never taste of death. That's ridiculous. Jesus has already said this.
Right? If anyone's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. You know? It goes hand in hand.
If anyone follows my word, he will never taste of death. And you're not greater than our father, Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets died too. How is it that you say this? Whom do you make yourself out to be?
He's already told him that he's the son of God in this paragraph. He's already said that. Whom do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. I'm not grandstanding.
I'm just speaking the simple truth. It's my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. So here, directly, he is claiming to be the son of God. He's unwilling to say that God is their God. You see what he says?
Of whom you say he is our God. That's sort of like the professed believers from before. They were saying, okay, I think I can go with you, but not if it not if it goes against my identity in Abraham. Of whom you say, he is our God, and you have not come to know him, but I know him. I know him.
And if I say that I do not know him, then I'd be a liar just like you. Wow. If I were to say that I did not know God, I would be a liar just like you. But I do know him, and I follow his word. Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.
He knows Abraham. So the Jews said to him, you're not yet 50 years old. I mean, he's 33. You're not even 50, and yet you've seen Abraham. Ridiculous.
But they judge according to the flesh, And it does sound ridiculous. Got a 33 year old guy says he's seen Abraham who died a long time before that. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was before Abraham was born, I am. And then he doesn't follow it up with the light of the world, the bread of life, all this. He just claims for himself, I'm the self evident one.
I am the one. Period. Truly, truly, I said to you, before Abraham was born, I am, and therefore they picked up those stones again to throw at him. At him. What had he done?
Told the truth. It was a strange truth, obviously. It's happened once. He's the only one who could have ever told that and had it be the truth that way. Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and he left the temple grounds.
We'll see him come back there again. We're walking the walk with him on the way to the cross. This, to me, I have written down in my little harmony of the gospels. This is Jesus apologetic for himself, and he doesn't go into histrionics about it. It's a simple straightforward truth.
Couple of little bits of sarcasm, I think. I could say that, but I'd be a liar just like you. Talking to the devil and saying when he lies, he speaks his native tongue. Yeah. I had a preaching professor in seminary that I drove crazy.
I couldn't I couldn't do that method thing, but he said, weak point pound pulpit. When people make a big deal about this and that, usually, they've got a pretty weak point, and they're bolstering just about all the activity. I see Jesus seated and talking, and he's just saying it how it is. He got away. I think that's the last slide.
Would you just take the time this morning to think about what is it that you're really trusting in? Are we trusting in our own view of righteousness? Are we trusting in Christ? Are we listening to his words? Are we listening to the Holy Spirit's direction in our life and obeying?
If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Can I get the band on back up, and we'll close with a song? And the altar is always open, but I wanna pray for us while they're gathering up here. Jesus, in your name, we pray. Will you will you help us understand exactly what that means?
Lord God Almighty, may we be a gentle, humble witness, and may the righteousness that is a derived righteousness we have none of our own. May we not walk in self righteousness, Lord, but may we walk in a Christ centered righteousness that is winsome and draws people. Lord, in the way that Jesus was constantly in conflict with religious people, Lord, I pray that there would be those who realize which ditch they are in, whether they're in a legalistic ditch of do's and don'ts and a long list of musts, or whether they're in a ditch of licentiousness where they're just living completely libertine. God, pray that both of those sides, that each of us that falls into those ditches constantly, that we'd be drawn to the central truth of the gospel, humility before God, acceptance of Christ, and union with God as a result. In Jesus' name, Lord, we pray.
Amen.
Speaker 2Jesus.
Speaker 1May the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. Peace on earth. Amen. Goodwill towards men. In Jesus' name, may we be spreading that news.
