Lent 5 - Judica March 17, 2024
John 8:42-59
Who’s Your Daddy?
V.42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent Me.”
Dear friends in Christ, the importance of fathers cannot be overstated. Especially in a society that is constantly blurring the lines between male and female–with men sometimes being vilified simply for being men–and the tragic rate of children living in fatherless homes with terrible repercussions. In our text, Jesus notes that all people have a father–not just their biological sire–but a father who is a spiritual being. And just as a good biological father who is involved in his children’s lives can make a tremendous difference in a person’s well-being, so too in this situation. For make no mistake–all have a spiritual being father–either the Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ–or the devil.
In a long discourse with the Jews in John 8, Jesus has been debating them about fathers, ancestry, and truth. To try and insult Jesus the Jews attacked Him by questioning where His Father was. Jesus replied in John 8:19, “You know neither Me nor my Father. If you knew Me, you would know my Father also.” Since God was His Father, and He is the only-begotten Son of the Father, Jesus argued that if people would abide in His truth they would be set free from sin and death. But they thought that merely being descendants of Abraham was good enough–they stated in v.39, “Abraham is our father.” Yet Jesus said this was not so, for they did not do the works of Abraham, but rather were seeking to kill the Man sent from God to preach truth to them–something Abraham never did. They then boldly asserted, “We have one Father–even God.” Which is where our text comes in with Jesus rebuking them and pointing out that they are actually following their true father, the devil, and rejecting God the Father’s Truth–Jesus.
Harsh words. Words that were not well received by Jesus’ audience. Children of the devil?! They were not pagan Gentiles or God-awful Samaritans–they were Jews–descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob–they had impeccable genealogical pedigree–could trace their family tree back to the 12 Tribes of Israel–how could Jesus speak to them so? It was outrageous!
Yet Jesus links their rejection of Him and His Word to their spiritual father–the devil. “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do 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 lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:43-44).
Just so today, beloved. Those who reject Jesus and His Word of truth cannot claim God as their Father, but rather take after their spiritual father from below–the devil. This is why so many today are blinded to the truth. How else could people with a straight face claim that there is no difference between men and women–that men can become women and vice versa? How is it that people, with all the wonders of the modern medical era and ultrasound imaging and video recordings still claim that the unborn are NOT full human beings deserving of protection? How can we gossip about our neighbor behind their backs–tearing down their reputation–and yet innocently claim to be merely ‘venting’? How can people claim to be Christian and yet hold that there are many paths to heaven and God? How do people hold to evolution and the Big Bang theory, reducing humanity from the pinnacle of God’s good creation to something akin to vermin needing to be eradicated in order to protect mother earth? LIES! Lies of the devil and his demonic horde! Lies that reject the clear Word of God and Jesus as the Truth of that Word made flesh.
And before we get on our high horses and look disparagingly at those around us who are caught in such vicious and deadly lies, let us not forget that such was each one of us. For we are by nature, conceived and born in sin. By nature we are spiritually dead and corrupt, following after our father the devil–believing his lies–as our first parents did in the Garden so long ago. Those who are of the devil are blinded to the truth of God and His Word. Yet Jesus declares (v.47), “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
So, the reason that people do not hear, and therefore reject, the Word of God is that they are not of God. For those who are of God, hear the words of God and believe in them–even as they believe in Jesus–the Word of God made flesh. How does one become of God? How does one have God as their Father? Not by anything that we do, beloved. As Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3:5-6, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” So, we must be born again–born of water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism. Born by the will of God through the Word of the Gospel.
For John writes in the prologue to his Gospel (1:11-13), “[Jesus] came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” So, to be born again–to be born of God, spiritually–is to believe in Jesus as God’s only-begotten Son. To trust in Him for life and salvation and no other. To cling to His Word of truth–even when it makes us uncomfortable–for His Word is life. And this is all God’s work, beloved, not our own. We are born–OF God. Born through faith worked by the Holy Spirit. What joy! What peace!
For Jesus Christ alone is the true, natural, only-begotten Son of the Father in heaven. By faith we are adopted into God’s holy family–with God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother and the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. Moved by the Holy Spirit who now lives in our hearts (after having bound and cast out the devil), we long to hear and keep God’s blessed Word. Jesus said (v.51), “Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps my Word, he will never see death.” The Jews thought this an outrageous statement–even blasphemed Him by claiming He had a demon. For Abraham–the great Jew–the father of the faith as it were–died–as did the prophets–but Jesus is saying that those who keep/guard/treasure His Word will never taste the bitterness of death–it would be laughable–if it weren’t so repugnant! For in order for Jesus’ statement to be true, He would need to be more holy than Abraham and the prophets–He would need to be…God?
Jesus boldly responds that the very Father whom they claim to be their God, is the very One who glorifies Him. He cannot lie like them and claim not to know the Father–for He keeps the Father’s Word–in its entirety–perfectly. Jesus goes on to note that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day–and did rejoice in it–the day of the coming Messiah who would offer up His body and blood unto death as the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
For when Abraham was about to slay his son, Isaac, on the mountain, it was the preincarnate Lord Jesus who spoke to him–preventing him–and giving him a ram to sacrifice as a substitute. Just so Jesus would one day take on human flesh to be that sacrifice–the heavenly Father would not spare His own Son, but offer Him up into death to save the world from its sin. Jesus would willingly do this. Jesus saw and spoke with Abraham–He speaks as though He knew Abraham personally–which He did. This is why Jesus declared, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus herein claims, unequivocally, to be the Only True God–YHWH (the Great I AM)–whom the Jews were supposed to worship and adore. Yet, as so many had rejected Jesus–and rejected His Word–they therefore, “picked up stones to throw at Him.” They tried to murder Him right then and there. Of course, the Jewish leadership would later succeed in a nefarious plot to take Jesus’ life on Good Friday. But we know that this was actually all according to God’s own plan. That Jesus went to the cross willingly to lay down His life for His people so that they might be saved from their sin and the devil’s lies. Coming instead to faith in Him as their Saviour–and joyfully following and keeping His Word of Truth.
This is what we Christians now do, beloved. Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, filled with the Holy Spirit, hear the Father’s voice in His Word. We hear it, and we rejoice in it. And we do not give in to the lies of the devil. Rather, we cling to God’s Word, and we proclaim this holy truth to all who will listen. That they too may be set free from the lies of the devil–set free from bondage to sin and death–and instead receive the truth and life that is for all people through faith in Jesus Christ alone. For truly, “If anyone keeps [Jesus’] word, he will never taste death.” So, hear the Word of God and rejoice in it–for you ARE of God, your heavenly Father, through faith in Jesus. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
John 8:42-59
Who’s Your Daddy?
V.42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent Me.”
Dear friends in Christ, the importance of fathers cannot be overstated. Especially in a society that is constantly blurring the lines between male and female–with men sometimes being vilified simply for being men–and the tragic rate of children living in fatherless homes with terrible repercussions. In our text, Jesus notes that all people have a father–not just their biological sire–but a father who is a spiritual being. And just as a good biological father who is involved in his children’s lives can make a tremendous difference in a person’s well-being, so too in this situation. For make no mistake–all have a spiritual being father–either the Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ–or the devil.
In a long discourse with the Jews in John 8, Jesus has been debating them about fathers, ancestry, and truth. To try and insult Jesus the Jews attacked Him by questioning where His Father was. Jesus replied in John 8:19, “You know neither Me nor my Father. If you knew Me, you would know my Father also.” Since God was His Father, and He is the only-begotten Son of the Father, Jesus argued that if people would abide in His truth they would be set free from sin and death. But they thought that merely being descendants of Abraham was good enough–they stated in v.39, “Abraham is our father.” Yet Jesus said this was not so, for they did not do the works of Abraham, but rather were seeking to kill the Man sent from God to preach truth to them–something Abraham never did. They then boldly asserted, “We have one Father–even God.” Which is where our text comes in with Jesus rebuking them and pointing out that they are actually following their true father, the devil, and rejecting God the Father’s Truth–Jesus.
Harsh words. Words that were not well received by Jesus’ audience. Children of the devil?! They were not pagan Gentiles or God-awful Samaritans–they were Jews–descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob–they had impeccable genealogical pedigree–could trace their family tree back to the 12 Tribes of Israel–how could Jesus speak to them so? It was outrageous!
Yet Jesus links their rejection of Him and His Word to their spiritual father–the devil. “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my Word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do 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 lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:43-44).
Just so today, beloved. Those who reject Jesus and His Word of truth cannot claim God as their Father, but rather take after their spiritual father from below–the devil. This is why so many today are blinded to the truth. How else could people with a straight face claim that there is no difference between men and women–that men can become women and vice versa? How is it that people, with all the wonders of the modern medical era and ultrasound imaging and video recordings still claim that the unborn are NOT full human beings deserving of protection? How can we gossip about our neighbor behind their backs–tearing down their reputation–and yet innocently claim to be merely ‘venting’? How can people claim to be Christian and yet hold that there are many paths to heaven and God? How do people hold to evolution and the Big Bang theory, reducing humanity from the pinnacle of God’s good creation to something akin to vermin needing to be eradicated in order to protect mother earth? LIES! Lies of the devil and his demonic horde! Lies that reject the clear Word of God and Jesus as the Truth of that Word made flesh.
And before we get on our high horses and look disparagingly at those around us who are caught in such vicious and deadly lies, let us not forget that such was each one of us. For we are by nature, conceived and born in sin. By nature we are spiritually dead and corrupt, following after our father the devil–believing his lies–as our first parents did in the Garden so long ago. Those who are of the devil are blinded to the truth of God and His Word. Yet Jesus declares (v.47), “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
So, the reason that people do not hear, and therefore reject, the Word of God is that they are not of God. For those who are of God, hear the words of God and believe in them–even as they believe in Jesus–the Word of God made flesh. How does one become of God? How does one have God as their Father? Not by anything that we do, beloved. As Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3:5-6, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” So, we must be born again–born of water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism. Born by the will of God through the Word of the Gospel.
For John writes in the prologue to his Gospel (1:11-13), “[Jesus] came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” So, to be born again–to be born of God, spiritually–is to believe in Jesus as God’s only-begotten Son. To trust in Him for life and salvation and no other. To cling to His Word of truth–even when it makes us uncomfortable–for His Word is life. And this is all God’s work, beloved, not our own. We are born–OF God. Born through faith worked by the Holy Spirit. What joy! What peace!
For Jesus Christ alone is the true, natural, only-begotten Son of the Father in heaven. By faith we are adopted into God’s holy family–with God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother and the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. Moved by the Holy Spirit who now lives in our hearts (after having bound and cast out the devil), we long to hear and keep God’s blessed Word. Jesus said (v.51), “Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps my Word, he will never see death.” The Jews thought this an outrageous statement–even blasphemed Him by claiming He had a demon. For Abraham–the great Jew–the father of the faith as it were–died–as did the prophets–but Jesus is saying that those who keep/guard/treasure His Word will never taste the bitterness of death–it would be laughable–if it weren’t so repugnant! For in order for Jesus’ statement to be true, He would need to be more holy than Abraham and the prophets–He would need to be…God?
Jesus boldly responds that the very Father whom they claim to be their God, is the very One who glorifies Him. He cannot lie like them and claim not to know the Father–for He keeps the Father’s Word–in its entirety–perfectly. Jesus goes on to note that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day–and did rejoice in it–the day of the coming Messiah who would offer up His body and blood unto death as the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
For when Abraham was about to slay his son, Isaac, on the mountain, it was the preincarnate Lord Jesus who spoke to him–preventing him–and giving him a ram to sacrifice as a substitute. Just so Jesus would one day take on human flesh to be that sacrifice–the heavenly Father would not spare His own Son, but offer Him up into death to save the world from its sin. Jesus would willingly do this. Jesus saw and spoke with Abraham–He speaks as though He knew Abraham personally–which He did. This is why Jesus declared, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus herein claims, unequivocally, to be the Only True God–YHWH (the Great I AM)–whom the Jews were supposed to worship and adore. Yet, as so many had rejected Jesus–and rejected His Word–they therefore, “picked up stones to throw at Him.” They tried to murder Him right then and there. Of course, the Jewish leadership would later succeed in a nefarious plot to take Jesus’ life on Good Friday. But we know that this was actually all according to God’s own plan. That Jesus went to the cross willingly to lay down His life for His people so that they might be saved from their sin and the devil’s lies. Coming instead to faith in Him as their Saviour–and joyfully following and keeping His Word of Truth.
This is what we Christians now do, beloved. Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, filled with the Holy Spirit, hear the Father’s voice in His Word. We hear it, and we rejoice in it. And we do not give in to the lies of the devil. Rather, we cling to God’s Word, and we proclaim this holy truth to all who will listen. That they too may be set free from the lies of the devil–set free from bondage to sin and death–and instead receive the truth and life that is for all people through faith in Jesus Christ alone. For truly, “If anyone keeps [Jesus’] word, he will never taste death.” So, hear the Word of God and rejoice in it–for you ARE of God, your heavenly Father, through faith in Jesus. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.