John 8:47–59
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” 48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 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.’ 55 But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
You actually need to read the whole of John 8 in order to fully appreciate the mood of the people and the Pharisees. It is no wonder they wanted to stone Jesus. He had just accused them of being liars and children of the devil, and then He makes the ultimate claim which so offended them: “Before Abraham was, I am.” Here Jesus claims to be God.
He made some astounding claims during His 3 years of public ministry, and today we’ll have a brief look at just 8 of those claims.
1. He claimed to be God.
Just after washing His disciples’ feet in John 13, He predicted Judas’ betrayal. “I am telling you this now before it happens, that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.”
Literally, “I am.” In other words, “I am the incarnation of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament who identifies Himself in Exodus 3:14 as “I am.” “Tell them ‘I AM’ sent you.” Or as Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”
Some say that Jesus never claimed to be God. Those people have clearly never read the Bible. Jesus consistently and often claimed to be God.
2. He claimed to exist before He was born.
John 8:58 again: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Not only does He claim to have existed before He was born, but that He existed as “I am,” the eternal, ever-existent God.
3. He claimed to have come as a shepherd to die for His sheep.
In John 10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
He claimed that His death would be the key to the eternal life of His sheep.
4. He claimed to be the only way to God.
It makes perfect sense for God Himself to be the only way to Himself.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The way, the truth, the life, the light. If we don’t believe in Jesus and who He claims to be, we will remain in darkness forever.
Jesus is not just one of many choices on the smorgasbord of world religions. He is the only truth. Every other religion or world system is satanic and evil, and leads to eternal darkness.
5. He claimed to be the bread and water that gives eternal life.
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
If you want life, come to Christ.
6. He claimed that we can do nothing without Him.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
7. He claimed to be the one who will raise people from the dead at the end of history.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
“This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
What a victory it will be for those who die in Christ. Death holds no fear for us!
8. He claimed to be the supreme glory that will satisfy us forever in the age to come.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
All of these Scriptures I’ve just quoted are from John’s Gospel, and there are many more here, and many more in the other three Gospels — like claiming to forgive sin, returning to earth in glory, and fulfilling the whole law.
Only God Himself could make such outrageous claims.
Those of you who have done the Alpha course will be familiar with this quote from CS Lewis: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
No man ever spoke like this man. He is true. He is who He said He is.
But don’t just leave it there. You need to come to Him to eat, drink, trust, find in Him eternal joy.
Who do you say Jesus is? That’s the most important question you will ever be asked in this life, and your eternal destiny hinges on how you answer it.
It is impossible to over-emphasise the importance of making sure that if you claim to believe in Jesus, that you have the true Jesus, for only He can save you from your sins. If you do believe in the true Jesus, then it should be expected that your life will be different from those that do not share that belief.
The true Jesus is God Himself in human flesh. He is the creator of all things, and it only follows then that He knows what is best for us.
We should obey Him without arguing. The next time you are resistant to obeying the commands of the Lord and following His principles and precepts in your life, ask yourself what you really believe about Him. Someone once said that Jesus is either Lord of all, or not at all. We each need to decide who He is for ourselves.
There is only one answer to all of the so-called big philosophical questions in life: Jesus Christ.
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” 48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 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.’ 55 But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
You actually need to read the whole of John 8 in order to fully appreciate the mood of the people and the Pharisees. It is no wonder they wanted to stone Jesus. He had just accused them of being liars and children of the devil, and then He makes the ultimate claim which so offended them: “Before Abraham was, I am.” Here Jesus claims to be God.
He made some astounding claims during His 3 years of public ministry, and today we’ll have a brief look at just 8 of those claims.
1. He claimed to be God.
Just after washing His disciples’ feet in John 13, He predicted Judas’ betrayal. “I am telling you this now before it happens, that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.”
Literally, “I am.” In other words, “I am the incarnation of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament who identifies Himself in Exodus 3:14 as “I am.” “Tell them ‘I AM’ sent you.” Or as Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”
Some say that Jesus never claimed to be God. Those people have clearly never read the Bible. Jesus consistently and often claimed to be God.
2. He claimed to exist before He was born.
John 8:58 again: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Not only does He claim to have existed before He was born, but that He existed as “I am,” the eternal, ever-existent God.
3. He claimed to have come as a shepherd to die for His sheep.
In John 10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
He claimed that His death would be the key to the eternal life of His sheep.
4. He claimed to be the only way to God.
It makes perfect sense for God Himself to be the only way to Himself.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The way, the truth, the life, the light. If we don’t believe in Jesus and who He claims to be, we will remain in darkness forever.
Jesus is not just one of many choices on the smorgasbord of world religions. He is the only truth. Every other religion or world system is satanic and evil, and leads to eternal darkness.
5. He claimed to be the bread and water that gives eternal life.
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
If you want life, come to Christ.
6. He claimed that we can do nothing without Him.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
7. He claimed to be the one who will raise people from the dead at the end of history.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
“This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
What a victory it will be for those who die in Christ. Death holds no fear for us!
8. He claimed to be the supreme glory that will satisfy us forever in the age to come.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
All of these Scriptures I’ve just quoted are from John’s Gospel, and there are many more here, and many more in the other three Gospels — like claiming to forgive sin, returning to earth in glory, and fulfilling the whole law.
Only God Himself could make such outrageous claims.
Those of you who have done the Alpha course will be familiar with this quote from CS Lewis: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
No man ever spoke like this man. He is true. He is who He said He is.
But don’t just leave it there. You need to come to Him to eat, drink, trust, find in Him eternal joy.
Who do you say Jesus is? That’s the most important question you will ever be asked in this life, and your eternal destiny hinges on how you answer it.
It is impossible to over-emphasise the importance of making sure that if you claim to believe in Jesus, that you have the true Jesus, for only He can save you from your sins. If you do believe in the true Jesus, then it should be expected that your life will be different from those that do not share that belief.
The true Jesus is God Himself in human flesh. He is the creator of all things, and it only follows then that He knows what is best for us.
We should obey Him without arguing. The next time you are resistant to obeying the commands of the Lord and following His principles and precepts in your life, ask yourself what you really believe about Him. Someone once said that Jesus is either Lord of all, or not at all. We each need to decide who He is for ourselves.
There is only one answer to all of the so-called big philosophical questions in life: Jesus Christ.