"Jesus, on the Truth"...Cont'd
Read vss. 33-44...The
truth will set you free (v. 32)! And Jesus is the Way and the Truth;
and He speaks openly of the truth...at least 10 times in this
chapter, and some of the truths that He speaks are outside of our
personal experience, and so, are difficult to relate-to. And that's
how we start, there in v. 33...
Now being told about being
made free is something the natural man doesn't like to hear, because
the implication is, that if salvation, or the act of believing and
receiving sets you free, then outside of Jesus we are in
bondage...just as, rather than being full, we are empty; rather than
being rich, we are destitute! You see, we don't realize that, before
Jesus, there are four things that we must become aware-of about
ourselves that need to change...first, that we lack Godly goodness.
Second, we lack Godly wisdom; third, we lack Godly strength; and
last, we lack freedom. In fact, our condition before Jesus, is far
worse that we imagine; even worse than the average SS teacher, or
preacher imagines! We are, in a nutshell, completely under the power
of the "prince of the power of the air", fulfilling the
lusts of our father, the devil (v. 44); in fact,
completely dominated by Satan's power over us.
Now if, before Jesus we
had been told that there was "no good thing" in us, we
would never have believed it, but after Jesus, when our hearts
are softened by His Spirit, our eyes are opened to the truth! But of
course, what we have here, are Jews, before Jesus, so they
reply..."We are Abraham's seed, in bondage to no man" (v.
33). You know, today, in our world, particularly in the mid-East, we
have a lot of concern about terrorism, and rightly-so. But of just
as great a concern, should be the problem of "errorists",
who teach falsehoods about the security of the unbeliever!
In the case of these Jews, they had heard all about their security
in Abraham, from as far back as the Genesis record. But Jesus
replies in v. 34, that their bondage is the same as our bondage
today, outside of Him; that is, every man in his natural
state..."whosoever commiteth sin" as the habitual course of
his everyday, every day, is the servant of sin!
God's thoughts are so
different from our thoughts! A man, before Jesus, supposes that to
"get saved", is to give up his freedom, get bound up in a
lot of restrictions and caught up in a lot of religion. What a lie!
The Jews thought that they fell under the protection of the house of
Abraham, but Jesus warns them in v. 35, that being a servant
(a-not-so-veiled reference to the birth of Ishmael, Abraham's
illegitimate son (Genesis 16,17) by his wife's servant girl, Hagar),
gives you no assurances. And we know that, that is true, even today.
Being your father's son does not guarantee an inheritance, as it
turns out; as it turns out, father can choose his heirs as he sees
fit. And that is exactly what Jesus is speaking-of here. You
cannot, and you do not, inherit salvation. Only a true son, a
spiritual son, who comes to his Father by faith and by the blood of
Jesus, will be made truly free, as He states in v. 36. This was
stated clearly by Him back in Luke 4.18, that the Spirit of the Lord
had appointed Him..."to preach deliverence to the captives...and
to set at liberty those who are bruised"; that is liberty, not
to do as I please, but at the Lord's pleasure! The bond-slave serves
out of fear; the son, out of love!
Notice vss. 37-44...v. 37
give us Jesus' take on the Jews of His day...in fact, on
Judaism..."My word has no place in you!" They were
collateral listeners; they were too busy with their own business and
with their own schedules to give "the Way, the Truth and the
Life", the time of day. What a gulf existed between Him and
them, as we see from these few verses, and He's bold in His
condemnation of them for sure! This is their real parentage!
And He had received this doctrine from His Father (vss. 38 and 40)!
So He tells them, here is the test of your faith...your spiritual
relationship with God; it is the works that we do which shows whose
we really are. The "works of Abraham" were faith and
obedience, but apparently, His words "had no place in (them).
Just think how Jesus
rounded those Jews up. First, He denied them their claim to father
Abraham; then He showed that, neither was God their Father; and now
He tells them that they are children of the devil, to do his
evil pleasure! Let me give you a little catalogue of the errors of
man. Some think there is no such thing as sin, or as Hell; some
believe man is evolved from apes rather than born of Adam; some believe we
have no souls, and that death ends existence; others believe they
will get to heaven on the ticket of their own good works...but none
of it is true. As we clearly see from v. 46, those Jews would not
believe, and from v. 47, they did not, because they heard not,
because they were not. And on the basis of that argument, the Jews
had to take the offensive, as we read there in v. 48. If you can't
take the bullet, at least you can try to dodge it! If you refuse to
honour Jesus by your acceptance of Him, then you dishonour Him by
your rejection of Him. But then, that is only what our Lord has
come to expect from His creation. As He states in v. 50, He does not
seek His own glory, but rather, to save and to glorify those
who are lost. He knew the hearts of those men
and He knew that, one day they would be judged; they would be subject
to "the second death", contrary to those who "believe
and receive" His sayings, v. 51.
Finally, let's consider
vss. 52-59. These man had absolutely no spiritual discernment! They
had no mind for spiritual things. It just goes to show that, no
matter how simply and plainly the truths of scripture are explained,
before Jesus we are unable to understand. Unable because of our
pride; unable because of our disinterest; unable because of other
gods! How, after all, did Abraham "see (Christ's) day? Well,
remember, Abraham had faith! And when God made His promises to him,
Abraham believed Him for it. Just as Jesus had said there in v.
55..."(He) knew Him and (kept) His sayings". And at that,
the Jews had had more than enough. When He said in v. 58 that He was
equal with the Father..."I am" (see Exodus 3.14 & 15),
the Jews "took up stones to stone Him", but He escaped ,
right through the midst of them!
You know, if Jesus was to
enter our places of worship today and talk to the masses like He
spoke to the Jews, we would want to get away from Him!
Just notice those words of that last verse...the Savior "hid
Himself from them". Well, I guess that by the look of things,
He still does...from the self righteous and the self-sufficient and
those who continue to deny Him; He still leaves those to their own
terrible fate.
My! How we need to
practice diligence in a lost and dying world!
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