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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
Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, which is an autumn festival. He has been engaged in dialogue -- confrontation, really -- with the authorities in the temple. 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?" 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 is the teaching Jesus gives openly, and the command He gives to His disciples, and has given to those among the leadership who believed in Him: "Abide in My word." (See 8:31.) My study bible points out that these particular individuals who are His enemies among the leadership can't defeat Him through logic or truth, so they resort now to personal insult. Ironically, it's a sort of projection. He has told them their "father" is the father of lies, the evil one, because they cannot hear the truth. They respond by telling Him that He has a demon.
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." Again, Jesus refers back to the Father, who is witness to His identity as Son. He has done this twice already, in giving witnesses to His identity. In John 5:30-47, He gave four witnesses: John the Baptist, God the Father, the works Jesus does, and the Scriptures. In John 8:12-20, He gave two witnesses: Himself and God the Father.
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. My study bible says that this phrase I AM (in Greek, ego eimi) is the divine Name of God in the Old Testament. It was the name revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15). The power of this name is something incalculable; it is a statement of God. As my study bible puts it, "It is a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God." We can see this clearly by their reaction to Him. (See also Mark 14:62-64.) My study bible says, "John places special emphasis on the use of this Name to clearly reveal Christ as God. This divine claim illuminates Christ's authority even over death, a power belonging only to God the Father."
Once again, we observe here in the dialogue with the leadership that Jesus continually refers back to God the Father. He defines His identity as Son with the Father, His identity comes from the Father and His relationship to the Father. Furthermore there are more connections necessary here for that identity and for its recognition in us. Jesus says, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." There is a recognition here that we are indeed capable of. It's not just the Son that somehow knows the Father, in the sense of a capacity for recognition. Somehow our love for God the Father plays into our ability to recognize Jesus' words that come from the Father. In John's chapter 10, Jesus will call Himself the good shepherd, and teach that He knows the sheep that are His own, and those that are His own know Him, just as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father. (See John 10:14-16.) This is a kind of knowing and recognition that comes from a connection of love. We can't know God as Christ knows God; we don't know God the same way that we would know from speaking in the fullness of being that Christ does, but we "know" and come to know better, just the same. We're all in this together, with Him, and we are invited in. The implication here is that these who listen and cannot hear, who cannot hear nor know, have no love of the Father in them. They haven't got that deep desire for love in relationship to God. They may be the experts in the law and the Scriptures, but they're not there in that place with the heart. In Matthew 15:8 Jesus will quote the Prophet Isaiah: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me." And there's more to it all than that. This "knowing" is life itself, it's a sign of that life that doesn't end. Jesus speaks of relationship to Abraham, and the leadership can only think of death, that Abraham and all the prophets are dead. But they live in Him, and that is the life to which He invites us -- and even this leadership to which He speaks in today's verses -- to join Him in that life, to share in it. So knowing, recognition, relationship, love, and life itself as Jesus defines it -- all of these things are bound up in faith. That is something that asks us to touch the heart, to live in the heart, to recognize in the heart. It's all about the love that comes from the love of God, the desire to know the Shepherd, to realize oneself as "rational sheep." Just as Jesus is not alone, because the Father is always with Him, so we are not alone as well. We are never alone. Jesus' statement, "Before Abraham was, I AM" is a statement that tells us of His constant presence, a presence that's not defined nor limited by space and time. And so, sharing the attributes of God the Father, He is always with us, always present. We are not alone. That ever-present I AM is there for us; He's telling that truth for us, for all time, for all of us. Let us remember the currency of the Kingdom, the gate that opens the door for the sheep, to the sheepfold that holds us all: it's love. It's our love of the Goodness itself, the God who gave us His Son out of love. By ancient tradition, to know another's name is to know them, to have them revealed to you, a kind of power that is given in the deepest intimacy, and trust. God gives us the I AM so that we may know God, and know Christ. It's an invitation we mustn't fail to accept.
