The truth either causes enmity or converts

Sermon for Lent 5 – Judica

Hebrews 9:11-15  +  John 8:46-59

In the beginning, after Adam and Eve sinned against God, God said to the serpent: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. Enmity. Hostility between the offspring of the devil and the offspring or “seed” of the woman. We see that enmity on full display in today’s Gospel as the offspring of the devil—the unbelievers among the Jews—hiss against Jesus, the promised offspring of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head, while Jesus, for His part, stood firm against them. Enmity between unbelievers and believers in Christ is still what we see in the world today. And the truth that Jesus spoke in today’s Gospel still does one of two things. It either hardens people in their enmity toward God and His people, or it converts them from hate-filled enemies of God into penitent children of God.

Jesus had been speaking the truth to the Jews in Israel for nearly three years at this point, and that truth is really very simple. The truth is that all people descended from Adam and Eve, both Jews and non-Jews, are lost and condemned sinners by birth. But God sent His Son into the world to save sinners. He calls all men to repentance and faith in Christ. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. As Jesus put it earlier in John 8, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

But when the Jews heard Jesus talking about them as people who walked in darkness, when they heard Him talking about Himself as the light that leads to life, they got angry. How dare He make either of those claims! They were Abraham’s children, after all! Children of God!

Oh, but Jesus showed them that they were neither children of Abraham nor children of God. Because true children of Abraham and true children of God would have believed the truth that Jesus was speaking. Which one of you convicts me of sin? And if I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is from God hears God’s words. This is why you do not hear, because you are not from God.”

True children of Abraham and true children of God hear Jesus, listen to Jesus, believe Jesus. Those who have God for a Father hear God’s words. Those who don’t hear and believe God’s words are among the offspring of the devil.

This isn’t fatalistic, though. Saul the Pharisee didn’t believe the word about Jesus either for many years of his life. He wasn’t from God at that time. He was still among the offspring of the devil at that time. But finally the word of Christ broke through his stony heart, and then he was born of God, and from that time on he did listen to the word of God and believe it, even as he went on to preach it.

So it has been ever since. At first the word of God, the truth of Christ sounds bitter, because we so desperately want to defend ourselves and justify ourselves. We want to believe what we want to believe and do what we want to do. Until God steps in and says, “You’re not good enough as you are. Your natural beliefs are wrong. Your behavior is immoral. Your deeds are tainted. And you can’t lift a finger to save yourself.” That truth hurts. But those who are born of God know it to be true, while those who are not of God try to deny it, and oftentimes lash out at the one who speaks the truth.

Then the Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?”

That was their brilliant argument. They actually resorted to name-calling. “Samaritan! Demon friend! How dare You claim that we, the Jewish leaders, are not children of God!” Oh, the world takes great offense when Jesus says such things. For as godless as people are, most of them still claim to be good, godly, even religious people—people who are on the side of the angels, the truly good and decent people of the world. They at least pretend to be shocked if they are exposed as unbelievers who are on the devil’s side. No, they say, it’s You, Jesus, the intolerant One, it’s you Christians, the intolerant ones, who have a demon!

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and who judges.”

Jesus doesn’t argue with the Jews. He simply denies their charge that He has a demon. And then He simply tells it like it is. He is the One who has God for a Father—in the truest sense of all. He is the One who is honoring God His Father, even as the Jews dishonor Jesus. And that will not go well for them. You can’t honor God the Father while dishonoring Jesus. As He said earlier in John’s Gospel, All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Jesus doesn’t seek His own glory as the Son of Man, but the Father demands that people honor His Son, and He promises to judge those who don’t.

But to those who do honor Him, who hear His word and keep His word, Jesus has an amazing promise. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

Now only God can claim such a thing, so already you see just what Jesus was claiming about Himself. But what does He mean that a person who keeps His word will never see death? Both Christians and non-Christians die. But to “see” death or to “taste” death, as the Jews put it, is worse than dying. It’s being condemned to eternal torment and suffering. It’s your soul “on fire” as Jesus pictures it in the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, with no hope of that fire being extinguished. But Jesus promises that the one who keeps His word will never see any such thing. And even the bodily death that we still endure is only a temporary thing, for those who keep Jesus’ word. They will never see condemnation. They will never see hell.

But the Jews didn’t want to dig deeper and find out what Jesus actually meant. They made fun of Him and pointed out how ridiculous His claim was.

Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. And you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God. You do not know him; but I know him. If I were to say, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar, like you. But I do know him and keep his word.

Notice, to these people who are lashing out against Him, Jesus doesn’t stop and rephrase and explain Himself. “No, no, you’re right. Abraham died. People die. That’s not what I was talking about. What I meant was…” No, even as the Jews doubled down on their unbelief, so Jesus doubled down on His bold claims. He knows God. They don’t. And that’s why they’re not interested in an actual discussion with actual arguments.

There’s a lesson in that. When it comes to the truth of the Christian faith, you can’t give an inch to those who aren’t acting in good faith in the first place. You don’t back down. You don’t apologize. You stand firm on the truth. And maybe you even say something more shocking, like Jesus did.

Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.  

The Jews kept claiming that Abraham was their father. So Jesus throws it back in their faces. “Your father” (in quotes) Abraham was looking forward to My day, to My coming into the world. And by faith he saw it. He saw it as something sure and certain, that I would come, descended from him, and be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, that I would come as his true Heir according to the covenant, just as God promised him.

Then Jesus adds the final blow: The Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! And you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

I AM. That is the name of the LORD, Jehovah, Yahweh. I AM WHO I AM. Jesus was claiming to be more than just Abraham’s offspring, more than just the offspring of the woman. He was claiming to be the eternal LORD God. And they understood what He was claiming, because they  picked up stones to throw at him.

Now, it must have seemed almost silly as Jesus, a 32-year-old man from Nazareth, stood before them and claimed to be the God of Israel, the great I AM. But there are only two possibilities: Either Jesus was telling the truth, or He was lying. Either He is the eternal LORD God and you should listen carefully to every word He says, or He isn’t, and you should get as far away from that liar as possible.

You’re here today because you have heard the word of Jesus and believed it. And you were right to believe it. He is true God and true Man. He is the light of the world. He is the resurrection and the life. So don’t worry about the enmity toward Christ you see in the world. And don’t worry about the enmity that’s directed toward you or toward God’s Church. It must be this way, until the Christ comes again in glory on the last day. As for you, cling to the truth that Jesus has spoken. Cling to Him as your Savior. And listen carefully to every word He says. Listen especially to His promise of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to all who believe in Him. And know that He is able to keep that promise, because He really is who He says He is, the God who became Man in order to crush the ancient serpent’s head. Amen.