Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

You can often know a lot about a person if you know their father.

“I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:18-19, ESV).

These two verses give a brief overview of the conversation that would follow. Unless we know Jesus as Savior, we cannot know God either. What does this say about other religions? They do not worship the same God we do. We do not worship the same God by a different name. Judaism may be the only exception, because Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism, and we do worship the same God.

“These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come” (John 8:20, ESV).

Wow. Think about what that says. Jesus could have been arrested. Surely there were guards there. He could have been stoned. Surely they could have accused Him of blasphemy. The reason given that He was not arrested or stoned was not because He evaded their grasp, but because it was not yet time. God was in control then, and God is in control now.

“So he said to them again, ‘I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.’ So the Jews said, ‘Will he kill himself, since he says, “Where I am going, you cannot come”?’ He said to them, ‘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’ ” (John 8:21-24, ESV).

I don’t recommend always witnessing to people the way Jesus did. He told them they would die in their sin and would not go to Heaven (v. 21). Yet when Jonah preached in Nineveh, he brought a message of destruction, too (Jonah 3:4). Maybe we need to be more bold in our witness, and speak the truth in love. Jesus told them very straightforward what they needed to do to be saved.

“So they said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.’ They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.’ As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ ” (John 8:25-32, ESV).

Jesus was very misunderstood. This whole conversation follows a pattern: the Jews ask a question, Jesus answers it, the Jews misunderstand the answer, Jesus clarifies. But the Jews didn’t get it because they would not believe in Jesus. It’s easier to see how it all fit together after the fact. But this is not merely about understanding the big picture. It’s about accepting it by faith. For some of the Jews, the light came on and they finally got it. That Jesus is the Son of God. That they would die and be separated from God for eternity because of their sin. And that they must repent and trust in Jesus in order to be saved.

“They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:33-36, ESV).

Follow Jesus’s logic: 1) Everyone who commits a sin is a slave to sin. 2) Even though you are offspring of Abraham (God’s chosen people), you are slaves to sin, and therefore will not go to live in God’s house forever. 3) Only the Son of God has the right to live in God’s house forever, because He is without sin. 4)Therefore, only the Son of God can free us from our sin so that we can live forever with God.

It’s not because of our godly, Christian parents. It’s not based on our family history, our heritage, or our culture. We must each individually ask Jesus, the Son of God, to forgive us of our sins. Then, and only then, will we free from our bondage to sin and able to live forever in Heaven with God.

” ‘I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’ They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God’ ” (John 8:37-47, ESV).

Who’s your daddy? The Jews thought that since they could trace their roots to Abraham, then they were on right terms with God. But biological descent matters nothing. We must each have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. We are all doing the work of our spiritual father. Who’s yours?