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"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
- John 8:47-59
In our current readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. (See the earlier readings beginning last Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.) At the current stage of events, Jesus has been in confrontation with the leadership, primarily the Pharisees, after they unsuccessfully tried to have Him arrested. Yesterday, we read that they answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Once again, we remember that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used primarily to refer to the leadership of the temple. All of the people here, believers and non-believers, are Jews. My study bible says that Samaritans were viewed as demon-possessed heretics. Jesus is from Galilee, to the north, on the other side of Samaria. Those who've defended Jesus have earlier been "slurred" by being accused of being Galileans as well (see John 7:50-52).
Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Here we are given another promise by Jesus. The words are explicit and clear as to His identity.
Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?" Again, John's Gospel uses the misunderstanding to create understanding. They hear a "temporal" or earthly speech; and Jesus is speaking of what transcends the world and yet is in the midst of it. The difference between the two serves for us to consider what happening, what Jesus is saying. It is the key to consideration of His identity.
Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Again, the words are explicit and clear. Jesus even states His motivation here: If He denies His relationship to God the Father, He would be a liar, but "I do know Him and keep His word."
Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." The I AM makes it completely clear. My study bible tells us, "I AM (Greek ego eimi) is a name of God in the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:13-15; Is. 43:10; see also John 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28; 13:19; 18:5-8). To the Jews this pronouncement was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God. John places special emphasis on the use of the expression for the purpose of revealing Christ as God. In context, this statement illuminates what He began saying in verse 51, that those who keep His word will never see nor taste death. Only God has power over death, and Jesus is claiming such power."
Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. They take up stones to put Him to death on the spot, but it is not yet His hour. A note explains, "The Jews regarded Jesus' claim to be one with God as the most abominable form of blasphemy. They took up stones because death by stoning was the penalty for blasphemy required by the Mosaic Law. But Jesus departs from their midst by divine power, without being harmed."
What always strikes me about Jesus in these scenes in John's Gospel is His explicit announcement of His identity as Son. There's no hesitancy. It is a complete confrontation with the authorities who will not understand Him, and will not accept what He's saying. He knows where He is headed. When He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM," it is with absolutely clear understanding that they know the I AM reference. He does not beat around the bush (if one will pardon an unintentional pun). But it's not His time yet. It's not His hour. That will come not in the temple in an abrupt gathering of stones in outrage, but through a carefully orchestrated hearing before the Council, machinations before Pilate and Herod and all the gears and machinery of the Roman state -- episodes in which all the intent and protections of the laws both of the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman state law will be somehow violated, deliberately outmaneuvered. The death that is to come will be explicitly public, and it will be the product of deliberations and manipulations -- with the full weight of all official rule behind it. Everybody will have a chance to reconsider before this final culmination of His human life. So, at this time, even in their outrage and preparation for stoning, it is not yet time, and Jesus hides Himself and goes out of the temple. These paradoxical-seeming events make us wonder, what is testimony? There is a time for Jesus to make His confrontations, and a time when He does not reveal Himself fully. There is a time when He hides Himself, and there will be a time when He hides nothing, and experiences the fullness of prosecution on every level, such as it was in the institutions of the time. But here, He shrinks from nothing in His emphasis on the truth, and His contrast of the desire for truth which is bound up in His love for God, His Father, with what He calls the father of lies (see yesterday's reading). One may only conclude that each of these confrontations, building up inevitably to the final outcome, are for one purpose: to give those to whom He speaks more time, to remind them of what they already know, to make purposefully and clearly understood that He is hiding nothing about Himself of what He is here to reveal. Whether He is accepted or rejected, one thing is absolute in what He is presenting here: God has sent Him, and He will not abandon that truth or that mission, He will not lie to please those who are outraged by Him, He will carry out His mission. Witnessing is a difficult thing. Throughout His ministry, Jesus is careful to go one step at a time, until it is truly time for this confrontation. He doesn't rush anything. His disciples gradually come to their faith, or the fullness of it. Even now, they don't understand everything He does or says. But when the time comes for Him to make this confrontation, He does it with the fullness of what is given to Him to do. He sticks with the truth that He is given to reveal. At all times everything goes back to the Father, even the timing of His eventual hour, His Passion, crucifixion, and Resurrection. What this says to my mind is something important about how we make decisions, how we decide to witness in our lives, and that is the essential choice of prayer to guide our actions. There is no formula "at all times" that is completely clear about what we are to do in terms of explicit right way or wrong way we are to say this or say that. Following Jesus' example, we rely on God to show us the way. In Luke's Gospel, when Jesus warns His followers about the persecutions to come after He is gone, He tells them, "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11-12). If we look at His example, what we find is that there is an appropriate time to all things, and that what He calls us to is not complacence with a memorized formula or a particular set of things we always do, but rather the wakefulness, the mindfulness of communion with God, of prayer with Him, a sense of service that is in the heart and waiting His word. Let us remember the fullness to which He calls us, the presence He invokes, the watchfulness He calls us toward. He has set for us the fullness of His example.
