Meditations in John Chapter 8 – XI

“Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death…Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.”

Three of the primary colors of the kaleidoscope which is the Gospel of John are the Divinity of Jesus, eternal life, and the resurrection. The latter two flow out of the first one; it is because Jesus is God that those who come into a relationship with Him have eternal life, a life that is fully expressed in the resurrection of the dead. This is a resurrection that begins today and ends, at God’s appointed time, tomorrow; the tomorrow in which the resurrection trumpet is blown is the last tomorrow, for beyond that tomorrow is a new day without end, without tomorrows. The new day is both the previous day’s tomorrow and a new eternal never-ending day.  

In Jesus Christ we experience eternal life today because we are in Him and He is in us. This life is Jesus, being joined to Jesus. The relationship of Eden is more than restored, its consummation is inaugurated, its fullness is initiated. Jesus’ point to Martha and Mary is, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” Yes, Jesus is the Resurrection tomorrow, but He is first the Resurrection right now. Mary and Martha believe that if Jesus had been there that Lazarus would not have died; they also believe that Lazarus would be raised on the last day. What they have not yet seen is that Jesus is the Resurrection, that He is I AM; that “he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”

Jesus comes to offer a dying people life and is rejected by most of them. He can offer them life because of who He is – God. Only God can give eternal life, and here is the God of Sinai, here is the God of Abraham, condescending to men and women, fulfilling the promises to the Fathers, and He is rejected. The fulfillment of the covenants and promises, the One who Moses and the prophets spoke of, is before their very eyes and He is rejected. The Burning Bush is before them, for if a bush on fire and not consumed is a miracle, how much greater the miracle of Jesus Christ; a man without sin; without sin of action or sin of motive or sin of thought; a man pure and holy; a man in whom His ever-watchful enemies can find no fault; a man with the compassion of God, the righteousness of God, the love of God, the truth of God, the light of God, the judgment of God – God Incarnate, oh what a Man! Surely this exceeds the Burning Bush in majesty and mystery.

Jesus begins in verse 12 with, “I Am the light of the world”, He ends in verse 58 with, “Before Abraham was, I Am.”

The Creator of the Universe, the Creator and Father of mankind, the Giver of the covenants, appears in Jerusalem and proclaims Himself just as He proclaimed Himself on Sinai, and we attempt to stone Him. He offers us life and we offer Him death.

Meditations in John Chapter 8 – X

“Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’…Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 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.” [From John Chapter 8.]

The Jews reiterate the charge that Jesus has a demon (vv. 48 and 52). His claims are too much for them, and since they cannot convict Him of sin, they charge Him with having a demon. Does this make sense? They can find nothing actually wrong with Jesus; in verse 46 Jesus asks, “Which of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?” They’ve been watching Him for three years, scrutinizing Him, having Him under surveillance; yet they can find no fault in Him so they turn to groundless accusation, name-calling – when there is nothing substantive to accuse a person of name-calling is the fallback position. Surely if Jesus had a demon they would have a ground of accusation.

The first 11 verses of the chapter fit nicely into the trajectory of verses 12 – 59, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” (verse 7). In the first 11 verses the woman’s accusers admit by their refusal to stone her that they have sin, and then we have the Sinless One setting her free to sin no more. In verses 12 – 59 those around Jesus, and specially those who had unconsummated belief in Him, when confronted with their own sin adamantly refused to admit they were in slavery to sin, and in rejecting their need for deliverance from sin attacked the One they were believing in; first attacked Him with accusation and then sought to attack Him with stones. The first 11 verses provide the first bracket of an inclusio in that the woman’s accusers sought to stone her (v. 5) just as the accusers of Jesus sought to stone Him (v. 59). The chapter begins with one in sin threatened with stoning by others in sin; the chapter ends with sinful accusers attempting to stone the One without sin. Fallen humanity stones one another and it stones God. God’s offense? He is holy. We accuse God of being a devil because He is holy and righteous and pure and we can’t stand Him; we treat the devil like God because the wicked one gives us what we want and feeds our self-righteousness. We would rather be in slavery and self-righteous than be free and live by the righteousness of Another.