Jesus made many amazing claims about his identity. Many people wrestled with those claims then, and many still do now. Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg examines these claims and Jesus' calm but bold responses to the accusations of religious leaders who opposed him. The question is, who do you say Jesus is? Find out why your answer will have eternal consequences.
Our reading this morning is from. John chapter 8. And we'll read from verse 48. John chapter 8. And verse 48.
We're in the middle of this long dialogue between Jesus and the Jews. And the questions are coming and the answers are being delivered and so on. And from verse 48 we read, The Jews answered Jesus. Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon. Jesus answered, I do not have a demon.
But I honour my father, and you dishonour me. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it. And he is the judge. Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, He will never see death.
The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, He will never see 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 glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, He is our God. But you have not known him. I know him.
If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him. And I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.
So the Jews 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 I am.
So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Amen.
Well, Lord, we thank you that your word is fixed in the heavens as we turn to it now. That We might understand your word, that we might believe it, that we might trust in it, that we might live in the light of it, that we might gather ourselves up in it, Lord. We pray. uh that you will save us from as standing aloof from the truth that we now consider.
Okay. bring it home to our hearts in a life-changing way. We ask In Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Well, our truly, truly, this morning is there in verse 58. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am. Everything actually throughout the first eight chapters has in one sense been building up to this quite amazing declaration. And in chapter 8, Ever since Jesus has made the statement I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Ever since he has said that, He has been questioned. He's been interrupted. He's been contradicted In fact, it's a bit like these dreadful debates that, well, they call them debates where we have political figures. Who try and say something, and immediately they try and say anything at all. They're interrupted, they are accused, they're contradicted, and so on.
And this is exactly what's going on here. He is accused of uh creating for himself a storyline about himself That isn't true. That's what they're saying. We can believe, Jesus, that you're actually coming up with these various statements. And as the dialogue has progressed, and we can say it has progressed, it's not that they are talking apart from one another or they're talking beyond one another.
It is a dialogue. And we've seen, although we haven't worked our way through all of the chapter, we've seen that Jesus. Can we say this, that Jesus gives as good as he gets? That Jesus does not So, for example, in the section that begins with verse 39, which in my Bible has a heading, You are of your father the devil. It's quite a statement.
Verse 42, Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, which is what they're claiming, You would love me. For I came from God and I'm here. I came not of my own accord. But he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say?
It is because you cannot bear To hear my word. It's as if the dialogue is taking place and their mouths are working, their tongues are working, but their fingers are in their ears. You can't even bear to hear what it is I'm saying to you. You are of your father the devil? And your will is to do your father's desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. Because there is no truth. in him. When he lies, He speaks out of his own character. for he is a liar.
and the father of of all who tell lies.
Now that is about as straightforward, I think, as a person can be. And as a result of that, it is very clear that his antagonists, the Jews, on the other side of this fence, as it were, it is clear to them that they are unable to keep up with him. They are being caught, if you like, in their own arguments, which are. the very antithesis of being flawless. And so what do they do?
They do again what happens, I think, in political debates, they resort to personal abuse. And so they start to call in question his identity. No, you're not a true Jew. You are a Samaritan, they said. I think that's what we should conclude.
A Samaritan was just like a a notch above being A heathen. Not only are you a Samaritan, but we actually think that you have a demon. When we think about this and we realize what is actually being recorded for us here, it's quite staggering, isn't it? And yet, in conversation with people, that's exactly what we discover. We want to speak to them about Jesus, and they do not believe what we tell them because they cannot bear to hear what is being said about Jesus.
It is not that we are unable to articulate the claims in a reasonable way, or that we stumble, although we may. But it is that they just can't bear to hear what Jesus has to say.
Now, although they are somewhat abusive in their approach, Jesus' response, as we've seen, is actually calm. Verse 49 in responding to these accusations. I don't have a demon. It's Jesus has to answer that question. The Son of God.
has to look these fellas in the face. When he has the power to command legions of angels to step down in the prospect of his death. How gracious How kind is Jesus? I don't have a demon. But I honor my father And you Dishonor me.
I don't seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it. You'll notice it's capitalized in your Bible, speaking of God. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. And then as we saw last time.
Truly, truly, I say to you, If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
So in other words, Jesus is calm in his explanation. and I'm seeking my own glory. And then he is bold in his declaration. I'm telling you, he says, I'm telling you the truth. Anyone who keeps my word will not.
See death. An astonishing claim. We gave ourselves to it last time. The second half of the study last time was vital to. Understand what we were dealing with in the first.
I don't want to go back to it now, but I had a note in my notes. Uh that seemed very apropos. which I didn't mention last time, but someone has said, a wise man of seventy. need not be always fearing. much less talking about His approaching death.
But a wise man of seventy Should always Take it into account.
Well, enough said about that. Once again, to that amazing statement that truly, truly in 51, the Jews now come back at him again and look at what they say.
Now we know that you have a demon. In other words, we thought you did, but now we're pretty certain that you do. we're able to conclude that that actually settles it. In verse in verse 48, their statement is somewhat diffident, isn't it? Are we not right, they put it in the interrogative, are we not right in saying that you're a Samart and have a demon?
We're wondering about this.
Now in verse 52, we're absolutely clear about it.
Now we know that you have a demon. And the reason we know is because Abraham Died. The prophets died. And you are prepared to say anyone who keeps my word will Never see death.
Now, let me just make three observations. First of all, and we'll spend longer on the first two and very little on the third. First of all, let's notice that in this entire dialogue here, These individuals, the Jews, Are still wrestling with the question of Jesus' identity. They still cannot get Their heads, if you like, around the reality of what he's saying, and when they begin to approximate to it, they recoil from it.
So verse 53, their question is straightforward. Are you greater than our father Abram? And along with the prophets who also died.
So they're face to face with Jesus, literally face to face with Jesus, and their curiosity is aroused. I don't think it's possible for a person to come face to face with Jesus when we read the Bible and His words speak out to us. without realizing that there is a decision that has to be made. We either have to, as we said last time, bow down before him and worship him and receive him as the Lord of glory and the savior of the world. or else we walk away from him.
The curiosity of such an encounter is not unique to John chapter 8. In fact, although we didn't study John chapter 4, it's very much the same response as the woman at the well. When Jesus begins to speak to her in a face-to-face encounter, eventually she says to him, She asks him, are you greater than? than our father Jacob who built this well. What is she saying?
Who in the world are you? Who are you?
Now you may be here this morning, and that's exactly where you are as you make your journey through life. You may have come as a result of a friend who invited you. And you, like these individuals, Have as yet not fully resolved the question of Jesus' identity.
Now they're asking him, you will notice in 53, I hope your Bible is open. Who do you make yourself out to be? Who do you make yourself out to be? Now, the reason they're asking that is because Jesus has made these amazing claims. He's already told them, I am the light of the world, and whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.
I am the truth. and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And most recently, and anyone who keeps my word, will never see death. And they say, no, this cannot possibly be.
Now the inference is straightforward. Jesus, they say, is making himself to be something, making himself out to be something that he isn't.
Now, this isn't the first time that we see this in the unfolding of John's Gospel. You turn back for just a moment to chapter five, and we see this happening again. The healing has taken place at the pool on the Sabbath. The paralyzed man has taken up his bed and he's gone off. Jesus has said to them when they accused him of working on the Sabbath.
He says, well, you should know that my father is always working. I mean, he's in charge of the sun, the moon, the waves, the tides, and everything. He never stops in the order of creation. My father is working until now, and I'm actually working. Verse 18.
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, But he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. In other words, he was making himself out to be something that He wasn't. I was still in the text. Jesus then does not immediately Answer their question about Abram.
You will see that. Their question is: Are you greater than our father Abram who died? Jesus does not address that. He picks up on what he's already said in verse fifty. Remember up there in verse 50, when they accuse him of having a demon and so on, he said very straightforwardly, I don't seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks it. And he is the judge. Now he comes back to it.
Now you see in verse 54. If I glorify myself, He says that would mean Nothing. But he says, I am not without honor. And this glory is not self-given. In other words, I'm not glorifying myself.
I'm not actually doing what you're suggesting. I'm not making myself out to be something that I am not.
So, where then does this honor come from? Where does this glory come from?
Well, he says, it is my Father who glorifies me. Of whom you say He is our God.
Now when did they say that, well you have to go back up to verse what? Forty-one. You are doing the works your father did. They said to him, We weren't born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, even God.
And Jesus again straightforwardly said, If God were your Father, you would love me, for I come from God and I am here. I didn't come on my own accord. But I was dispatched. I was sent here. Remember that somehow in the mystery of the purposes of God in eternity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have set about, if you like, the business of salvation.
And we should just note what we say to our children when they ask us these big, hard questions about the mystery of God's dealings. That very straightforwardly, we're teaching our children and our grandchildren that Jesus Christ. Is God the Son for From all eternity. God is Son from all eternity. When we read John's Gospel, we find that he is also called the Word of God.
Well, how does this work? They ask us.
Well, he became a man. He was born into the world. Living in the world, he never stopped being God's Son. He was born in the same way that anyone else is born. Coming into the world according to the processes of the creative order.
But he did not begin life nine months before he emerged When Mary gave birth. Why? Because he is not only the Son of God, but he is God the Son from all of eternity. And this is foundational biblical doctrine, incidentally. This is not some strange esoteric approach to understanding the doctrine of the Trinity.
And so these individuals, these straight monotheists, are up against this dilemma. How can it possibly be? That you We know where you came from. We knew that you worked with your father Joseph. We know about Bethlehem.
We know about all these things. How can you possibly say this?
Now, the words of Jesus, of course, are the words that the Father has given him. That is also very important, and it doesn't come in this chapter, but it comes in John chapter 12. And you might want to just see that it's there. If you turn to John 12 for just a moment. And again, in one of these great declarations of Jesus.
Jesus cried out and he said, Whoever believes in me Believes not in me, but in him who sent me.
Now that's very important. It's very important for my Jewish friends.
some may be within earshot of my voice right now. Listen to what Jesus says. For I have not spoken on my own authority. By the Father who sent me, has himself given me a commandment what to say and what to speak. Jesus is saying I'm not giving myself an honor.
The Father honors me. I am not taking glory to myself. It is the Father who glorifies me. I'm not making stuff up. I am speaking the words that the Father has given me to speak.
In other words, If you get Me? You get him. And if you get him, You get me. It so it was a perplexity for them. Unless you believe that I am He, he said in verse 24 back in John chapter 8.
Remember John chapter 8. In in verse 24, He said to them, Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. You see, there's a consequence to unbelief. The people said, well, I just don't believe. Doesn't really matter.
Oh yeah, my hatchers. Because you face eternal death. As soon as Jesus says that in verse 24, we're back at the same question. Verse twenty-five. I'm looking now to see if it's there.
Yes, it is. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. And so they said to him. Who are you?
Who are you?
The wrestling with a question of his identity. I was sitting at my desk last night. as happens to me all the time. I I suddenly uh was transported back to 1970. And I could hear in my head.
uh Mary Magdalene song. Uh from Superstar. Mary Magdalene, as given these words by Andrew Lloyd Weber, hasn't really much of a clue what's going on. And as you move around the community in these days, If there is any interest whatsoever in Jesus of Nazareth, Most people that I encounter have already concluded with Mary Magdalene. That he's a man.
He's just a man. Like so many others.
So many different religious leaders, so many ideas out there.
So many across the pages of human history. What's the big deal? about Jesus. You're listening to a message titled Before Abraham Was, I Am, on Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. We'll hear the conclusion tomorrow.
I hope you are finding this study of Jesus' amazing claims to be helpful. If you'd like to listen to the complete series, you can find it on our website at truthforlife.org. It's titled Truly, Truly I Say to You, and the sermons are free to watch or download and share. All of Alistair's teaching is available for free, and that's because of listeners like you, who pray for this ministry, and who give to cover the cost to produce and distribute these daily programs to listeners across the globe.
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By the way, if you're in pastoral ministry or church leadership, did you know that Alistair is hosting Basics 2026 in Valencia, California this year? It'll take place on September 29th through the 30th. Men who are in pastoral or other ministry roles are invited to join Alastair, along with guest speaker Herschel York, and pastors from around the country, to study the Bible together and encourage one another to do the basics of ministry well. For more information and to register, visit basicsconference.org. Thanks for listening.
You ever become frustrated when you're unable to convince others of the deity of Christ? Tomorrow we'll learn an important lesson on this topic from Jesus himself. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
