John 8:48-59
“Notice what you notice.” The rise and fall in this chapter is intriguing. It begins with Jesus’ encounter with the adulterous woman. My sense is that His failure to judge the woman or to point specifically to the Jews and their faults led many to honor Him – if only in some small way. Then as He spoke to them over the next twenty verses, many came to believe in Him. Then He challenged them a bit and they got defensive and began to argue more extensively with Him, to become more hostile, again for another twenty verses.
Then in today’s reading Jesus levels two charges at them: (1) … I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you… (v. 55), and (2) Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. (v. 58) He first hits them on a personal level (effectively, “…you are liars…”), then on a higher theological level (“…I am!”). Their fury is now fever-pitch and they are finally ready to do to Him as He had said they were wanting to do – to kill Him.
If I read this entire chapter anew, like I had never really done before, listening to Jesus from the beginning telling about His heavenly origin, then the entire dialogue between Jesus and the Jews makes sense. But it’s only in smaller bites, digested daily, that I have come to appreciate Jesus’ part in the dialogue, especially His responses to their charges and questions.
It’s a good thing (the smaller readings) that we’re doing this year.
Slava Bohu!
I agree, Fred. It is easy to skip and skim, missing some important points. The I AM was His very clear statement at the end, just in case they missed it before. I was curious about the very end where they were ready to stone him, but he “hid” from them and left. No puff of smoke, but how/where could he hide in the temple in the middle of everyone? Their eyes were “adjusted”?