Sermon Notes - John 8:48-59 - Littleby Baptist Church - June 4, 2023

1.     In last week’s verses Jesus was clear, those who were rejecting Him were following the ways of the devil.

a.      They were being led astray.

2.     Those who accept Jesus are children of God.

a.      As children of God when we continue in the word of God we are set free.

b.     We are able to see the lies of the devil for what they are.

c.      As we embrace the word of God, we are not as easily led astray as those who do not.

d.     Which is why we must trust in the words of our God.

3.     I think it would be safe to say that as we pick up where we left off that some of the Jewish leadership were not very happy with Jesus.

a.      He had stated that they were not acting like Abraham who honored God.

b.     Jesus also plainly stated that their father was the devil, which is a far cry from their claim to be following God.

c.      They may have been stating one thing, but their actions, their rejection of Jesus, and them wanting to kill Him pointed to them being completely of the world.

d.     You cannot fully live in sin and honor God at the same time.

4.     Let’s see how this conversation wraps up.

5.     John 8:48

a.      I think it is obvious the Jews were angry and have resulted to name calling.

b.     In calling Jesus, a Samaritan, they were attacking His character.

c.      Samaritans were looked down upon as people who had intermingled with non-Jews.

d.     The Jewish people had been commanded by God to not intermarry with the people in the Promised Land so that they would not be led astray with their false religions.

e.      The Jews believed that Samaritans blood and the religious practices had been corrupted.

f.      They were insulting Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan.

g.     If that was not enough, they stated that He was demon possessed.

h.     Jesus had just stated that they were following the devil, the father of lies and they turn around and accuse Him of being demon possessed.

i.       They are essentially calling Jesus a heretic, unclean, madman, who is flat out evil.

j.       A very strong reaction to the conversation we have looked at over the last couple of weeks.

k.     Jesus must have hit a nerve.

6.     John 8:49-50

a.      If we think about what John has shown us about Jesus’ actions and words, they don’t sound like those of a demon possessed man.

b.     Jesus performed miracles or signs in private, not seeking attention to elevate himself.

c.      He was not working to raise His station in life.

d.     He was not after increasing His power and influence.

e.      Jesus was always pointing back to Father God.

f.      He was giving the Father the Glory.

g.     Stating that He was doing the Father’s will.

h.     Jesus actions and teachings are righteous and holy.

7.     They attacked Jesus and, in the end, He simply stated, re-read 50.

a.      Jesus is giving it all to the Father.

b.     The Father is the ultimate judge.

c.      Jesus was on earth to carry out the Father’s will.

d.     Jesus once again models the perfect response for us.

e.      When we are attacked, our tendency is to make our case and fight back.

f.      That does not always work out the way we want it to.

g.     There are times that it may be best to grin and bear it.

h.     Not saying we don’t take a stand on what is right.

i.       We need to stand on the Word of God and the Truth found in it.

j.       At times we have to stand when we are being attacked.

k.     But there are also times where the best course of action is to let God handle it.

l.       In this case, Jesus decided to leave it in the Father’s hands.

8.     John 8:51

a.      Trust in what Jesus is saying.

b.     Keep His Word and you will not see death.

c.      Hear what Jesus is saying and hold onto it and you will have eternal life.

d.     Observe it, pay attention to it, fulfill it… and you will live forever.

9.     In the last couple of weeks, we have seen that we are to:

a.      Continue in His Word and to Keep His Word.

b.     By doing so, one is a disciple of Jesus and will never see death.

c.      Jesus put a very strong emphasis on Scripture.

d.     He was making it a priority for us.

e.      We need to be people of the Word.

f.      We are saved by our faith in Jesus.

g.     That faith grows by us digging into scripture, learning it, and following it.

h.     Follow Jesus, keep His Word, and never be separated from God.

10.  John 8:52-53

a.      They saw a man standing before them who must have been completely crazy.

b.     They had not understood what Jesus had been telling them.

c.      Even after seeing the signs Jesus had performed, people never tasting death was beyond their comprehension.

d.     I would expect we would have responded the exact same way.

e.      How could anyone never taste death.

f.      We are all going to die.

g.     But that is not the end of it.

h.     Jesus was pointing to our place in eternity, not living forever in these fleshly bodies forever.

i.       But forever with Him.

11.  John 8:54

a.      If any honor or glory is to be given it will come from the Father.

b.     The same Father that the people were claiming to be their God.

c.      John the Baptist humbly pointed people to Jesus.

d.     Jesus spends His life pointing people to the Father, to the point that He died so that we can spend an eternity with the Father.

e.      As we walk this earth, we are to point people to God Father through His Son.

12.  John 8:55

a.      Jesus is once again claiming to be connected to the Father.

b.     Their relationship is closer than we can comprehend.

c.      They know each other’s thoughts; they are in constant communion.

d.     They existed before the beginning of time together.

e.      They are connected.

f.      Jesus is out to fulfill the Father’s will.

g.     Those that He is talking to, did not even know the Father.

h.     They were blinded by their sin.

13.  John 8:56-57

a.      On the surface their question makes sense.

b.     Jesus being 32 or 33 years old at this point, could not have known Abraham who lived roughly 2,000 years prior to the day this conversation took place.

c.      From a fully human perspective they had a point.

d.     But Jesus is human and God.

e.      Genesis 12:3

f.      Abraham knew that through his descendants that all the people of the earth would be blessed.

g.     Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise from God the Father.

h.     Abraham would have been rejoicing when Jesus came to earth as the gift of salvation was near.

i.       The Jews seemed to believe that the blessed was Abraham, but in reality it is Jesus.

14.  John 8:58-59

a.      With these words Jesus stated plainly that He existed before Abraham was born.

b.     Beyond that, with the words ‘I Am’, Jesus was claiming to be God.

c.      The reaction of the crowd showed that they understood what Jesus was saying.

d.     They had to decide whether they believed Him or not.

e.      Jesus was either a blasphemer, a liar, or God as He claimed.

f.      The people picked up stones to throw at Jesus, shows that they did not believe that He is God.

15.  John’s intent for writing this Gospel was to help people to see that Jesus was fully human and fully God.

a.      As the events of the Feast of Tabernacles come to a close, we can see that John emphasized some of Jesus’s teachings that pointed to who He is.

b.     Today, we see Jesus clearly claim that He is God.

c.      That He was the fulfillment of a promise given to Abraham some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ.

16.  In previous weeks Jesus has said that He was connected to the Father.

a.      That what Jesus taught ultimately came from Father God.

b.     That Jesus was here on earth to do the Father’s will.

c.      He has said on more than one occasion that He came from the Father.

17.  John is making a case that Jesus the man, is the Christ.

18.  He is Savior for all of us.

19.  He is God incarnate.

20.  Each person has to decide what we believe.

21.  Do we believe that Jesus is who He said He is?

22.  Those who call Jesus a good man, a prophet, or something else are ultimately calling Jesus a liar.

23.  Jesus claimed to be God, He cannot be anything else without contradicting what He said.

24.  Someday, every person will know that Jesus is God.

25.  Some will realize it before they stand before Him in judgement and we praise God for that.

26.  Some will realize it when it is too late.

27.  Pray that God opens doors for you to share Jesus with others.

28.  Pray that people in our lives will recognize Him before it is too late.

29.  Pray for lives will be touched and souls to be saved.