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John 8 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each.
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  Episode We take just a few minutes to focus on one chapter
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  of the New Testament, exploring the truths God is teaching us
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  through His Word and expanding our view of who He is.
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  Before you listen, make sure you've gone straight to the
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  source, either by reading today's chapter of the Bible
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  yourself or listening to today's read along episode in this
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  podcast feed. If you haven't done that yet,
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  feel free to pause and do that now.
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  When you're ready, let's dive into God's Word together.
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  In John chapter 8, Jesus engages with a group of Jews for a
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  fairly lengthy conversation. In that conversation He makes it
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  absolutely clear, clear enough that they try to stone him who
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  it is that He is claiming to be. I want us to zoom in on one
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  particular piece of that conversation toward the end of
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  the chapter where Jesus brings up the patriarch of patriarchs
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  of the Jewish people, Abraham. Listen to verses 48 through 59.
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  The Jews answered and said to him, Do we not say rightly that
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  you are a Samaritan and have a demon?
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  Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father and
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  you dishonor me, but I do not seek my glory.
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  There is one who seeks and judges truly, truly.
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  I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
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  The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon.
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  Abraham died, and the prophets also.
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  And you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste of
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  death. Surely you're not greater than
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  our father Abraham who died. The prophets died too.
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  Whom do you make yourself out to be?
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  Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
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  It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our
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  God, and you have not come to know him.
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  But I know him. And if I say that I do not know
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  him, I will be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his
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  word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to
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  see my day, and he saw it and was glad.
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  So the Jews said to him, You're not yet 50 years old.
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  Have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly,
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  truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.
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  Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid
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  himself and went out of the temple.
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  Jesus promises eternal life to all those who would keep His
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  word, to all those who would believe in him.
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  This ruffles the Jews feathers. Abraham died.
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  How is it that Jesus could promise something that not even
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  Abraham had attained to? Of course, this crowd of Jews
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  was missing the point. Abraham died in faith and so
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  though his body was temporarily laid in the ground until the
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  return of Christ, Abraham's spirit lived on.
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  In fact, Abraham is so alive that he rejoiced to see the day
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  of Christ. He rejoiced to see Jesus arrival
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  to earth. This infuriates the crowd.
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  How can this Jesus claim to have met or even seen Abraham?
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  Jesus is a young man and Abraham's time on earth has long
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  since passed. And now Jesus, very much on
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  purpose, really drops the mic. He responds, truly, truly.
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  I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.
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  Now. If that phrasing sounds a little
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  bit awkward or odd, it should. And if it sounds a little
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  familiar, it also should. Jesus uses the I AM language
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  that God used to reveal himself to Moses from the burning Bush.
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  In other words, the reason Jesus has seen Abraham and the reason
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  Jesus can confidently say that Abraham rejoiced to see his day
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  is that Jesus is God himself. He is no mere man.
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  He is the great I am, He is Yahweh, He is God.
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  And there is no doubt that the crowd heard his intention loud
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  and clear, because it is at this point that they pick up stones
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  to try and kill him. This is either the.
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  Greatest blasphemy? That a Jewish prophet can utter,
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  or even more incredibly, it's true in this case, the one whom
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  they were attempting to stone was not blasphemy.
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  No, this Jesus is no mere man. He is indeed God himself in the
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  flesh. So here it is, friends with
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  Christ, making claims like these.
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  There is no room for a neutral response to him.
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  There is no way to consider him to simply be a wise leader or a
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  good moral teacher. The Jews of his day understood
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  it, and we must. If he is telling the truth about
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  himself, then he is no mere teacher, no mere man.
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  He is God and He is so. If you are sitting on the fence
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  in your relationship or your response to Christ, it's time to
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  get off. We cannot embrace Him half
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  heartedly. We cannot sign off on some of
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  his teaching and ignore these clear claims that He is one with
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  God. Make him the Lord of your life
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  because He is already the Lord of all.
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  Submit to Jesus, the great I am today.