Ep. 264. John 8 | Sons of the Devil

EPISODE 264

SONS OF THE DEVIL: JOHN 8

John 8 is a crucial chapter for us to walk through and understand. Jesus says, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." The last part of this statement is important enough for us to spend the rest of our time here. Unless you believe that Jesus is the Messiah you WILL die in your sins. There aren't a dozen different roads all leading to the same place. We can't approach God through any method we choose so long as we just seek to be sincere. Christ Jesus is the only means by which we come to God, and those who have denied him or will deny him will die guilty of sin and forever separated from God.

"As he was saying these things, many believed in him." However, we have already seen that just because people believed in Jesus did not mean that Jesus entrusted himself to them. Many people have, and will, believe in Jesus and still miss the truth of who he is. They will stop short of him being Savior and land on the idea that he is a prophet or a good man.

From verse 31 to the end of the chapter, Jesus dismantles the Jewish perspective of who they are and who he is. "If you abide in my word (read that as message) you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We don't take issue with these words of Jesus, but the implication angered the Jews in attendance that they were in slavery. Jesus goes so far as to compare his audience to Ishmael as an illegitimate son. In other words, Jesus tells the Jews that they are like Ishmael, the slave son of Abraham and not heirs of Abraham, not true sons and daughters of God. Jesus doesn't pull any punches and tells them that not only are they not of Abraham, they aren't of God either. Then, to deliver the knockout blow, he tells them, "You are of your father the devil." Now remember, these are the people who had "believed" in him.

In our culture, we often ask fellow churchgoers, "Do you believe in Jesus?" and accept a "Yes" as an admission that they are Christians, but what I hope you can see is that not everyone who believes that Jesus existed and died and was raised from the dead are actually saved. The devil believes all those things and isn't "saved." Notice again that the Jews ask Jesus two questions after this very hard conversation, "Are you greater than our father Abraham?" And "Who do you make yourself out to be?" Meaning that they did not believe Jesus was greater than Abraham and that they did not believe him to be the Messiah. They believed he could heal, they believed he could raise the dead, they believed he could feed the crowds, and they were ready to make him a King, but they didn't believe him to be the fullness of Deity.

The end of this chapter has the people picking up stones to put Jesus to death. The same people that five or ten minutes earlier had believed in him were now ready to murder him. Next time we find ourselves asking someone if they "believe in Jesus" it may be a good thing for us to follow up with the question, "What do you believe about Jesus?" Better yet, start with the second question and eliminate the need for later clarification.

What we believe about Jesus matters, not just that we believe in him.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 John 2:22-23; John 3:18; John 12:32-34; John 3:14; Isaiah 52:13; Psalm 22:24; Galatians 3:7; Galatians 4:21-31; Genesis 21:10