When Jesus said, I am, he was saying, There was a child born at Bethlehem. I am the child born at Bethlehem. But before Bethlehem, I am. Before Abraham, I am. This is the eternal Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. This time of year, do you ever feel as if you're the only one who cares about the birth of Christ? And even if the true meaning of Christmas isn't lost on you, These days get so busy it's possible that your attention isn't fully where you would like it to be.
Well, you're not alone.
So the goal of John MacArthur's current study is to help cut through some of the holiday clutter and focus your thoughts on what's most important this season. John's study is titled The Jesus of Christmas. and now with to day's lesson, here is John. I want you to turn in your Bibles to a text which may not on the surface seem to relate to Christmas. But it does John chapter 8.
John chapter 8. And I want to read to you a fascinating account. of Jesus and the Jewish leaders. In John chapter 8, beginning at verse 51. Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, If anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death.
The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died. And the prophets also. And you say, if anyone keeps my word, He shall never taste of death. Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died.
The prophets died too. Whom do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered. If I glorify myself, My glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God.
And you have not come to know him, but I know him. And if I say that I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know him. and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
And he saw it. and was glad. The Jews therefore said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was born. I am.
Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him. that Jesus hid himself. and went out of the temple. When you think of Christmas, You think of a baby being born. When you think of the birth of a baby, you think of a beginning.
The baby born in Bethlehem. was a beginning. The beginning of the incarnate God in human flesh, the God-man Jesus Christ. But here, would you please note? That the very one, Jesus Christ, who was born at Bethlehem, said, Before Abraham was born, I am.
I believe of all the majestic and astounding claims that Jesus made in the New Testament, none has more elevated solemnity than this one. This phrase Before Abraham was, I am, harbors within it the most authentic, the most audacious, and the most profound claim Jesus ever made regarding his being. And the Jews didn't miss it. They knew exactly what he was saying. They knew he was claiming to be the eternal one.
The timeless one. The God who is from everlasting to everlasting. They knew, therefore, that they must fall on their faces immediately and worship him as the creator God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the eternal God, or else they would stone such a claim because of its blasphemy. The Jews Should have made the right choice. They made the wrong one.
That is the most serious crime to be committed in the universe. In Deuteronomy 28, verse 58, we read these words. If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, listen, to fear this honored and awesome name, the I am your God. Did you get that? If you don't fear this honored and awesome name, the I am your God.
Then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses, and he will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also, every sickness and every plague which not written in the book of the law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed. God says, if you don't honor the name I am in its fullness, I'll destroy you. He's done it. When Jesus came into the world and said, I am.
And they would not fear this honored and awesome name. But they crucified him on a cross. God destroyed them. A few years later, in 70 AD, came Titus Vespasian and the Roman horde, and in the city of Jerusalem alone, 1,100,000 Jews were killed, and in succeeding months, 985 towns in Palestine were destroyed by the Romans, acting as the arm of the judgment of God. You must fear this honored name.
This awesome name. When Jesus said, I am, he was saying, There was a child born at Bethlehem. I am the child born at Bethlehem, but before Bethlehem, I am. Before Abraham I am. This is the Eternal One.
Jesus is saying, I came into the world as the I am to redeem, because that's what I am means, to bring to myself a people, and then to bless that people forever and ever. That's why he came. to accomplish this redemptive purpose. as the sovereign over salvation. Our Lord had to exercise power over several elements.
To be the I am and accomplish redemption, he had to exercise power, first of all, over sin. Look at Mark. Chapter two Mark chapter 2. This is a very familiar story about four men who brought a paralytic to Jesus. The place was so crowded they couldn't get him in the door, so they tore the roof off and lowered him down the roof in front of where Jesus was standing.
And you remember when the man finally landed at the feet of Jesus on this pallet or. Hard bed. Jesus saw the faith. Of these four men and also the paralytic. In verse 5 of Mark 2, he said, My son, your sins are forgiven.
This is astounding. This is absolutely shocking. For anyone to say I forgive you your sins. Verse 6, some of the scribes were sitting there and they were reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man speak that way?
He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And here again, they're faced with the same... Choice. He is either God who can forgive sins or he is the worst blasphemer.
And of course in verse 8 we learn that Jesus reading their minds. He was immediately aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, so he said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? That must have been a shock. Then he said this. Which is easier to say to the paralytic?
Your sins are forgiven. Or to say rising. Take up your pellet. and walk. Which is easier?
It's a fair question. Easy to answer. I'll tell you which is easier. It's a lot easier to say your sins are forgiven. That's easy to say.
Oh, it's impossible to do. But it's easy to say. Priests all over the place say it every day. Oh, my son, your sins are forgiven. You do your confession.
Your sins are forgiven. It's easy to say. I could say it. Your sins are forgiven. Easy to say.
That's what Jesus said, which is easier to say. That's easy to say. Verse 10, but in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I'll say the hard thing.
So I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go home. That's hard to say. You know why? Because immediately we're going to find out whether you're God. whether you have any authority at all.
I can say to you, my beloved, your sins are forgiven. And some of you might even believe that. But if I go to the hospital and I say, everybody, rise up and walk. And nobody moves. You know I don't have that power.
It's easy to say your sins are forgiven because it can't be verified.
So Jesus said, I just forgave the man his sins because of his faith. And just to show you that I really forgave his sin, I'll do the hard part: get up and walk. And he got up and walked. And in verse Twelve. They were all amazed.
They went into some kind of Fright. Panic. And they were glorifying God, saying, we've never seen anything like this. You see, If he is the redeemer God, then wouldn't we expect that he could forgive sin? Because he'd have to forgive sin to redeem, wouldn't he?
And he did. And to prove that he forgave sin, He did the hard part. He healed the man. That could be verified. The forgiveness couldn't be.
But once you verify the authority and the power, that he demonstrated in the healing you can see the authority and the power that he expressed in the forgiveness. There's a second thing. As you think about Christ. If he is to be the sovereign I am, the Redeemer God, he not only must exercise power over sin, but he must also exercise. Power over spirits.
Why? Because men are held in bondage to damning sin. They are held captive to demons and devils. He must have power over them as well. Look at Luke.
Chapter 4. And let's see if he has such power. Luke chapter 4. Verse thirty-one. Came down to Capernaum.
City of Galilee, he was teaching them on the Sabbath. They were amazed at his teaching. for his message was with authority.
Now, there was a young man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. Here's a demon-possessed individual. All demons are sinful, wicked, and unclean, but some are designated in the New Testament as unclean demons only to emphasize that they tend to produce deviant, perverted behavior. There are white-collar demons also. There are religious demons.
You know, there are those clean, sharp demons in a gray flannel suit. There are those kinds that are more subtle. This is the vicious, wicked, perverted kind of demon that has come to dwell in this young man. And so the Spirit cries out with a loud voice. And verse 34.
Ha! That's interesting, isn't it? That means demons have emotion. Feeling. Ha!
This is panic. What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. This is a demon.
Talking, did you know that all demons are fundamentalists? All of them. They're all evangelicals. They all have an absolutely accurate theology about Christ. No demon would join a cult that denies the deity of Christ.
They know better. That's for witless men and women. They may work through those systems, but they know they're lying. They know he's God. They know he's the Holy One of God.
So the demon says, Is this our time? Have you come? And this demon is in fear. Ha! Is this the time?
Is it now we got to go to the pit forever? And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet. Come out of him. It's like that. And the demon was mad, so he slammed the guy down one final time and left.
This is amazing. And Jesus was saying, the final doom isn't yet, but for now, get out of that man. The demon's gone. You say, well, why did God let him slam the guy down? Because he wanted it very apparent that something dramatic had just happened.
And everybody watching would have known. And they did, verse 36. They were all amazed. And they began having a discussion. What is this message?
What is this word? With authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And the report about him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district. Listen, this is the saving I am. And the saving I am, if he's going to do his redeeming work and gather a people whose God he will be.
And if he's going to pour out blessing upon them for eternity, he's going to have to have power over sin that binds them and power over the demons of this world that hold them captive. to satanic institutions. and schemes. He is sovereign over sin. He is sovereign over.
Demons. Yes, this is the I am. No one else could do this. The third thing we note is that he would need to be, if he were going to redeem, the sovereign over Satan himself. over Satan himself.
A couple of passages that are Key. One is John 14, 30. A very, very important statement made by Christ. In John 14, 30, Jesus, of course, in the Last Supper, the evening that he was going to be taken captive. Talking to his disciples, and in verse 30, He starts to feel the arrival of Satan.
Satan is coming. Satan is approaching. He can feel it. And he says Verse 30. I will not speak much.
More with you. This conversation's about over. For the ruler of the world is coming. I can feel him coming. He's moving toward me.
He'd seen him before. Oh yeah. He'd been around trying to destroy the Messianic line so no Messiah could be born, trying to destroy the Jews altogether so there would be no nation to redeem. He was there when the baby was born because he was killing all the rest of the babies, trying to kill this one. He had been there trying to tempt Christ to abandon his obedience to God and follow him.
He had been around a lot, but here he came again, and this was the final major conflict. He's coming. Jesus can feel it. This night And then he says the most incredible thing. And he has nothing on me.
What? That's right. He has nothing on me. I've lived 33 years or so. And Satan does not Have one single valid accusation against me of any wrong thought, word, or deed whatsoever.
He has nothing. on me. What a statement. He is powerless. Over me.
I feel him coming. He has no power. Way back in Genesis, we were told that someday. The seed of the woman. Would go into conflict.
with the enemy. the serpent. And he would bruise his. Head. and exercise a fatal blow.
The cross was that Fatal blow. Jesus said he's coming. In Luke 22, 52 and 53, we read, And Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple, the elders who had come against him, have you come out with swords and clubs as against a robber? Later that night, you remember in the garden? While I was with you daily in the temple, you didn't lay hands on me.
Why are you here now? And then he answers his own question. But this hour and the power of darkness are yours. Why are you here now? Because it's time for Satan, the power of darkness, to act.
Let him come. He's got nothing on me. No vulnerability, no weakness, no flaw, no sin, no place for Satan to strike a fatal blow.
So Jesus says End of verse thirty-one. Let's go. And where was he going? To the cross. Let's go.
I'm not afraid. Satan's got nothing on me. He can kill me there. But he can't keep me dead. Because I'm without sin.
And according to Hebrews 2:14, when Jesus went to the cross, this great thing happened. Through death. He, Christ, rendered powerless the devil. Through death, he rendered powerless the devil. If he is the I am and he is.
If he is the Redeemer God. He must have power over sin, and he did exhibit that. Power over Spirits, and he did exhibit that power over Satan, and he did exhibit that. There is one other. Over which he must have power, and that is death or sleep.
It was death, according to Hebrews 2:14 and 15, the fear of death that held men in bondage and doomed them to hell. The power of death had to be conquered. He had to conquer sin, he had to conquer spirits, conquer Satan, conquer death. Back in John chapter 2. Jesus said, Verse 19, destroy this temple and in three days what?
I'll raise it up. And these blockheads, never understanding what he said, Said it took 46 years to build this temple. And you're going to raise it up in three days. But he was speaking of the temple of his body. You kill it.
It'll come out of the grave. Because Satan can't hold me. He has nothing on me. There can be no punishment. Because there's been no crime.
In John 10, Verse 17, Jesus said, I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one has taken it from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again.
I will die and I will live again. It is because of his voluntary devotion to this great work of redemption that the Father loves him. And we love him.
So the I am. Is the Redeemer God? And he came and said, I am. And as the I am, he had to redeem his people from their sins. To do that.
Conquer sin. Spirits Satan Sleep. Or death. When Jesus said, Before Abraham became I am. They knew he was claiming to be the God of redemption.
They should have also Remembered He had shown them his power over sin to prove he was the God of redemption. He had shown them his power over spirits over and over, his power over Satan. And if they hadn't seen that yet, they would soon see it on the cross and through the open tomb. They would see also his power over death. They should have made the right choice.
They had enough evidence that this was the I am. They all said Are you the Son of God then? And he said to them, Yes, I am. You know what they did? They said, What further need do we have of testimony?
We heard it ourselves from his own mouth. What do you mean by that?
Well, there he goes again, claiming to be the I am. And he was. You say, well, what what should be the proper response? I'll give you an illustration. Chapter 18.
Theirs was the improper. At least, this is a partial illustration of the proper response. John's Gospel, chapter 18, Jesus is in the garden. They all come to capture him. Jesus takes the initiative in verse 4.
Here comes the Roman cohort, the officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees. They got their lanterns and torches and weapons. And they don't know whether there's going to be a riot or whatever's going to happen, so they're armed. Jesus takes the initiative. He's not hiding.
He knows all things that were coming upon him. He went forth and said to them, Whom do you seek? They answered him. Jesus the Nazarene, he said to them, remove the word in italics. What'd he say?
I am. But this is rubbing it in. I am And also, Judas, who was betraying him, was standing with him. When therefore he said to them, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground. The whole entourage collapsed in a heap.
That's power. Just saying his name, I am. Crash goes the whole crowd. Into the dirt. And then in verse 7.
Uh who was it you were seeking? Uh Jesus the Nazarene? Jesus answered, I told you. That I Mm. What is the proper response?
To fall down. They did that. They were sheer Terrorized. They They were crushed by the force of his name. They should have stayed down.
The proper response to the IM is to fall down. Perhaps in fear? Perhaps in terror. but ultimately in worship. The tragedy is they got up.
took him prisoner. Kill the IM. failed to honor The awesome name. and were destroyed. As a people.
How will you respond? This Christmas? to who it is that we Remember? and worship. You can cast stones at him and call him a blasphemer.
Or You can worship him as God. The God who saves His people From their sins. Our Father, thank you for this glimpse. Deity. We are odd that we can speak now.
to you the great I am. We are stunned. Got You, the I am. The eternally existing, ever-near, redeeming, blessing God. lives in us.
Oh What mystery What joy. And may we realize this Christmas that as we look back at the birth of a baby. He. is the I am. And may we never mistake who the child was.
Lest We fail. to fear Dishonored. and awesome name. And may we Unlike the crowd that day in the garden, Fall down. In fear?
And remain Fallen. in worship. We pray in the mighty and glorious and saving name of Jesus Christ. Amen. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
John has been challenging you to make sure you put first things first this Christmas by focusing your attention on the Jesus of Christmas. That's the title of our current study. And, friend, keep in mind that you can review each lesson from this study at our website, gty.org. The Jesus of Christmas is a great series to listen to with your family as you prepare for the celebration this Thursday. Listen to the audio or read the transcripts or do both when you connect with us today.
Our web address again, gty.org. And if you know someone who might benefit from hearing programs like today's, perhaps a co-worker or a neighbor, encourage him to tune in to this daily broadcast and point them to our website, gty.org And remember, at the website you'll find thousands of free sermons by John MacArthur. And be sure to download the Grace TU app, which gives you access to all of those sermons wherever you take your mobile device. It's all free at gty.org. And if I can ask a favor, if you're grateful for today's broadcast, or if you can point to some specific ways you benefited from Grace to You this year, we'd love to hear your story.
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Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Join us tomorrow when John looks beyond the traditional Christmas story. Showing you why Christ deserves all of your worship, and not just on Christmas Day, but every day. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time on grace to you.
