The Gospel of John: John 8:12-59

John 8:12-59

Title: The Great I Am.

Analysis:

                Jesus has continued to speak with the religious leaders and the people, proving that He is from God and does the works of God above. In this second “I am” declaration the mounting hatred of the people becomes extremely evident as they attempt to murder the Messiah.

                The Pharisees, ignorant of the previous claims of Christ in 7:16-18, when He proved His authority from the Father, accuse Christ again of testifying of Himself (8:13). Jesus counters and gives proof of His authority by declaring His beginning, “…I know where I came from and where I am going…” His partnership with the Father, “…I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent me…” and finally His intimacy with His Father, “…if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

                Jesus in verses 21-30 reveals the consequence of the Pharisees unbelief in Him. The Pharisees were self-righteous, thought of earthly things, were unbelieving, and ignorant of Jesus. They would not listen to His words nor believe in His name. Only the ones who would believe and know the truth would truly be free. For all men are enslaved to sinfulness but if men believe in the Son of God, they will be freed from this bond (vs. 35-36). Jesus, spoke these things because they were the words from His Father who was in heaven. Once again though, the Jews did not understand Him or His Father.

                In verse 39 they respond to Jesus saying, “Abraham is our Father.” But little did they really know who Abraham was. If they were the children of Abraham they would have believed in Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus knew their hearts, and their hatred towards Him and exposed them for who they really were in verse 44 saying, “You are of your Father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning…” Just as the devil was a murderer, the people and Pharisees for that matter wanted to murder Jesus.

                Jesus continues to call to the people saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” The Jews were even more angered by this and responded in verses 52-53, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also…Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham who died…whom do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered them by saying, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me…and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will 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. (Vs. 54-56) Tragically, the Jews mock the Lord again saying in verse 57, “So the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

                Because of their continual unbelief in Him as God the Lord Jesus now says to them in verse 58, “Truly, Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am.” In this statement Jesus declares Himself to be the eternal pre-existent Yahweh God of the O.T. This statement is the culmination of the continual discussion Jesus has been having with the Jews. They continually rejected Him as the rightful Messiah, and when He finally declares that He is the great I Am, they are filled with hatred. Immediately they pick up stones to throw at Christ but He hid himself, and eluded their grasp.

Response:

                This was by far the most difficult passage for me to write an analysis on. It contains so much discussion and rich truth it is hard to just slightly skim over it and give the main thrust. But what it comes down to is this; Jesus is the light of the world, the God-man, the Saviour of the world, and the Great ‘I Am’!

For personal application, verse 36 sticks out the most to me. It says, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” I know as a believer that it is the truth of the gospel and the belief in Jesus Christ as Lord that brings us freedom. This freedom is a privilege that God gave us when we were saved. It is a freedom to obey Christ and be submissive to His will and His Word. As Christians we live in this freedom from sin for our entire lives until we go to be with the Lord or He comes to take us home.

 

Blessings,

        Lucas C.

The Gospel of John: John 5:19-47

John 5:19-47

Title: Jesus Declares His Equality with God the Father.

Analysis:

                In this specific section of the Gospel of John we see Jesus declare to the religious elite who He really was. He boldly proclaims that He is equal with God in power and authority (5:19-30), next he gives the testimony of four witnesses each of which prove his claims to be true.  In 5:31-35 he gives the witness of John the Baptist, in 5:36 his works witness to Him, In 5:37-38 the Father bears witness, and finally in 5:39-47 Moses bears witness that Jesus is the Christ.

                Herein this first section (vs. 19-30) lays one of the greatest Christological discourses in all of scripture proclaimed by the Lord himself.  It begins with, “Jesus answered…” and it proclaims the equality of The Son God with God himself. First, Jesus claims to be equal with God as a person (vs. 19) saying, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something he sees the Father doing…” Jesus says that both He and God are one and the same. Secondly Jesus claims to be equal with God in life, saying in verse 21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” Both the father and the Son are givers of life, an attribute that con only be given to God. Therefore in this claim, Christ once again declares himself equal with God. Thirdly, Jesus claims to be equal with God in honour (vs. 23). “So that all will honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Fathers who sent Him.”  All throughout Scripture, we see that God alone is worthy of honour (Rev. 19:10; 22:9), and this passage is no exception. If Jesus were not God, He would not demand or receive worship from mankind. But Jesus was and is God; therefore we must worship and honour Him in everything.

                In verse 24 Jesus makes a transition starting with “Truly, Truly, I say to you…” And in the following verses, the Lord proclaims that all men will one day be resurrected to life and will be judged by Himself who is the Son of Man. Those who performed good deeds will receive life and those who committed evil deeds will receive death. Jesus then summarizes in vs. 30 by confirming that all he says is by the one who sent Him, that is the Father.

                As we reach verse 31, Jesus now begins to witness that what he says about Himself is true by using four different sources. First, John the Baptist is a witness to Jesus. Verse 33 says, “You have sent to John and he testified to the truth.” And verse 35 says, “He was the lamp that was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in its light.” John was witness to the Christ; the herald that was prophesied to come before Messiah (Is. 40:3). As Jesus says his testimony is true.

                 Secondly, the very works that Jesus performed shouted forth as a witness that he must be from God. Verse 36 reads, “…for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish – the very works that I do – testify about Me. That the Father has sent Me.” Jesus says that his works are and even more powerful testimony than John the Baptist was. The religious leaders knew this, for did not Nicodemus, ‘…the teacher of Israel…’ even say in John 3:2, “We know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Christ’s miracles were undoubtedly true, for even the people who rejected Him most, could not deny this fact.

                Once again, Jesus gives another witness that testifies about who He is. This third witness is the Father himself. Verse 37 says, “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me.” The reason that the religious men do not believe in Jesus is explained further by the Lord who says, “You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.” Although the witness of the Father was also true the people’s eyes were to open to this truth. Jesus now uses one more witness that declares he must be the promised Messiah and Son of God.

                This fourth witness is the very words of God themselves (vs. 39-46). Jesus says in verse 39, “You search the scriptures…it is these that testify about me.” These religious men were amazing students of the law, many of them having memorized most if not all of the Old Testament, but even with their knowledge they eyes were blinded to see that the O.T. scriptures testified about Jesus as the Messiah (Dt. 18:15; Is. 53; Is. 7:14; 9:6; 11:2;). Even Moses, says Jesus, will accuse them for they believed in Moses but did not believe in the Son of God.

                And thus Jesus ends the most amazing declaration of Himself as the Messiah, Son of God, and even God Himself. There can be no greater evidence than what the Lord provided in this chapter and it is a call to unbelievers who doubt who He is to turn from their sin and believe.                               

 

Response:

                After reading and studying such an amazing passage on the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, I feel that the only proper response is humility and worship. He was and is God the very Saviour of my sins who bore such a harsh burden upon the tree. In His sovereignty he knew he would bear this cross and be crushed as a sacrificial lamb in my stead (Is. 53:5-7). Thoughts of His great mercy must evoke songs of praise and adoration to his holy name. And I cannot help but say with Paul, “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”