John 8:37-59
I have said before that I regularly try to insert myself into these Bible incidents. Today (as a bystander) I find myself consistently sympathetic to the Jewish leaders. Jesus is speaking words that they’ve never heard before. He is making claims about His Father, God, that sound outrageous – even blasphemous to them. I understand that their real concern may be political, either a concern for someone inciting an insurrection against Rome or of someone establishing Himself as a new Jewish leader. Either way, He is a threat to their way of life.
Setting that aside and forgetting what the 1st-century Jewish leaders heard from Jesus’ words, now I put myself as a 21st-century believer reading and hearing Jesus’ words – knowing that I have a responsibility to hear Him and act on whatever He is saying. And He is saying a lot!! Jesus is warning us against our pride and stubbornness and our self-satisfaction for who we are and where we’ve come from. He is warning us about the devil and his murderous ways, his seeking to kill our body and soul with his deceitful tricks. He is telling us about His relationship with the Father and (knowing what we know about His death and resurrection) how His relationship with the Father can be ours also! And He is telling us who He is, who He was from time eternal, the great “I AM”! Jesus may have left the Jewish leaders confused and angry, but He leaves us with clear Truth and begs our humility and our worship. Love Him!!
See also: June 25 / John 8:37-47; June 26 / John 8:48-59
Jesus was very direct to this group of Jews, calls them murders, liars. They claimed lineage and obeying all the rules including the Talmud, which I believe was written during the exile in Babylon. But your true father is the one you obey. God doesn’t allow murder, false witness, or prejudice in that they were to be a light to ALL people. So their actions indicate who they are really following, and it wasn’t Abraham’s God, nor Moses’s. How easily Satan messes with us!