Transcript

Misinformation and error can be made known unchecked, then spread rapidly, be accepted as truth, and be passed on for years to come.

For example, the stories that were quickly published concerning the sinking of the RMS Titanic spread errors and fiction early on, but they became accepted as fact and passed on so that even now the same errors are perpetuated.

The most oft-repeated error was the claim that Titanic was criminally short of lifeboats.

The liner had 20 lifeboats that could accommodate a little over half of the 2,209 passengers on board the night it sank.

But in fact, the number of lifeboats on the Titanic was fully compliant with the British Board of Trade regulations.

It was anticipated at that time that in the busy North Atlantic shipping lanes, assistance from at least one nearby ship would be immediately available to any vessel in distress.

On this basis, any ship with approved watertight bulkheads to keep a damaged ship afloat required only enough lifeboats to ferry and transfer passengers and crew from a stricken vessel to a rescue vessel. And the Titanic was compliant with maritime safety regulations at the time and even went over regulations by adding four collapsible rafts.

The real tragedy of the Titanic’s sinking was not that she had too few lifeboats but that the captain and crew of the nearby ship, the Californian, failed to recognize the Titanic’s distress signals.

Satanically inspired errors, slander, fiction, and lies about Jesus Christ have been spread about Him for centuries by the unbelieving and have been accepted as fact.

It’s important to go to the Scriptures to read and understand the truth about Who Jesus Christ really is and Who He claimed to be.

John 8:31-38: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

“They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

“And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

“I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.”

In the current dispensation of grace, when one believes the gospel of grace for today that Christ died for our sins and rose again, we are saved and secure in Christ forever. We are saved by faith ALONE.

However, under Israel’s gospel of the kingdom, they had to believe and endure, persevere, overcome, and abide in Christ. The word “continue” in verse 31 means to abide, to remain.

Christ’s instruction to the Jew to “continue in MY WORD,” refers to the word and truth in the kingdom gospel that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

That was the “word” they had to “continue” to believe to be saved. In Revelation, Christ commended the church in Philadelphia, that they “kept My word, and hast not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8).

In the future Tribulation, the Antichrist will claim that he is the Messiah, and to believe in him one will have to deny Jesus. That is the choice all will face in that day, believe in the Antichrist as the Messiah and deny Jesus, or deny the Antichrist and believe in Jesus.

And because of the future decree in the Tribulation to worship the beast and his image or be killed and to take his mark to buy and sell, true believers will need to abide and continue believing in Jesus’s name to be His “disciples indeed.”

We see the “if…then” concept under the law in verse 31, as Jesus told the Jews, “IF you continue in my Word, THEN are ye my disciples indeed.”

Israel was told by God in the past about the law, “IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.”

Israel had to continue to obey God’s law by faith to receive blessing. Now they were being instructed by God Himself in the flesh to continue in Christ’s word concerning Christ’s identity to be His disciples indeed and they would receive a blessing.

As the Lord said in verse 32 that as one continued in His word and were His disciples, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

To “know the truth” is truth about Jesus, to know the truth that Jesus truly is the Christ, the Son of God. To continue in that truth by faith made the believer free, or it gave the eternal blessing of being free from sin.

The unbelieving Jews in the crowd bristled at Christ’s words and responded to Him, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?”

Even though the Jews were under the power of Rome at that time, and in the past the Israelites had been in bondage to the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians, in their pride, they insisted that, as Abraham’s descendants, they were free men.

But pride blinds the mind to facts and to one’s need. In their mind, the unbelieving Jews wondered how Christ could free them when they were not slaves.

The Jews derived their confidence about their salvation by their connection and relation to Abraham and God’s promises to Him. They had no sense of their spiritual bondage to sin and need to be free from their sins.

Thus, the Lord responded by telling them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” The word “servant” means slave or bondman.

The committing of sin reveals that one is under the power and authority of sin, bound to it as a slave is to his master. The ultimate bondage is bondage to sin, and each person needs to be set free from it.

So while the Jews proudly thought and boasted that they were free sons of Abraham, Christ pointed out that they were in bondage and slaves of sin.

And He added that “the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.”

Being a slave meant that one had no permanent place “in the house” (v. 35). In other words, the Jews’ physical genealogy did not guarantee a place forever in God’s family.

Being slaves of sin, they had no rights or inheritance in the family of God. The Lord was teaching them that while the slave may live in the house, he is not a part of the family.

And he “abideth not in the house for ever,” meaning that a slave is not guaranteed a future. While the Jews may have been Abraham’s seed, because they were slaves of sin, they were not part of God’s family, and thus, they had no future hope or inheritance. They needed to be set free from the bondage of their sins.

But the eternal Son, Who is the heir, “abideth ever” in the household of God. As “the Son”, He has all the authority, privileges, and rights that go with that position.

The Jews hope for freedom did not rest in being Abraham’s seed but through believing in Abraham’s Seed, Jesus Christ, Who “abideth forever.”

He, the eternal Son of God, could set them free from their bondage to sin and give them a permanent, everlasting place in the household of God’s family.

And Christ told them, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

As the Son of God, Christ had the full right and authority to set those who believed in Him free from their bondage to sin. And when one believes in Christ, they are free indeed from their sins and given eternal life and a future hope.

Christ old the Jews, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.”

Christ pointed out a particular sin in their heart, their desire to murder Him, to show their bondage to sin and need to be free. The “word” of Christ’s Person and identity had no place in them as they rejected that He was their Messiah.

And the word and claims of Christ had “no place” in their hearts, because their hearts were filled with hatred and murderous thoughts.

What Christ spoke and taught them was truth from the Father, He said in verse 38.

But in the Jews’ unbelief, Christ’s words had no place with them, because they listened to, followed and acted in accordance with their father, which Christ goes on to show them, was not Abraham, but someone else.

John 8:39-47: “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

“But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

“And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

Speaking of their father, the Jews defended themselves and “answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father.”

But the Lord replied that if they were truly Abraham’s children they would do Abraham’s works. If Abraham was their father and they were his children they would have imitated his actions as a child does, his actions of faith, obedience, and righteousness.

Instead, they were very unlike Abraham because they were rejecting and even seeking to kill the One who told them God’s Word and truth, when Abraham responded to God’s Word in faith and obedience.

They were not like Abraham at all. Their conduct was diametrically opposed to his and they were not his children and he was not their father. Their thoughts and actions were patterned after their true father, which was not Abraham.

Speaking of fathers, the Jews responded with an insult that “We be not born of fornication,” or they were not illegitimate children, like they believed Him to be.

Misinformation about Christ and His birth was spread and believed in that day. These Jews had apparently heard of the unusual circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth and they tried to smear His background.

So since they were speaking of fathers, they told the Lord that they know who their father is, unlike Him. And they made the further claim that God was their spiritual father.

Christ proved this claim to be false as well, because He told them if God was their Father, and they were His children, they would have loved and accepted Him, His Son, Who came from God the Father in heaven and was sent by Him.

The Lord asked them “Why do ye not understand my speech?” They had no openness to what He said. They were unwilling to tolerate the truth He spoke which came from God the Father. And it was because of who truly was their spiritual father.

As the Lord told them, “Ye are of your father the devil.” Their father was not God, they belonged to another; they had a father who blinded them which was why they were not hearing, understanding, or responding.

They had a father whose evil desires they were inclined to carry out, a father who is diametrically opposed to God, the truth, and all that is good.

Their hatred of God’s Son, their murderous intentions toward Him, and their opposition and rejection of the truth He taught them, all revealed that the father of these unbelieving Jews was Satan and that they were “the children of the devil” (I Jn. 3:10).

As the old saying goes, “Like father, like son.” The devil is the enemy of life and truth. He was “a murderer from the beginning” because by the devil’s evil working in the Garden, he brought death to Adam and the whole human race. The devil “is a liar and the father of it,” because the first lie came from the devil (Gen. 3:4).

Since these unbeliever Jews were children of a murderer, they wanted to kill Christ, and since they were children of a liar, they rejected the truth of Christ’s words.

To substantiate that He only spoke words of truth, Christ appealed to the fact that no one could charge Him with sin. He was pure and holy, and thus His words had no lies, they were free from any error or deception and were only truth. And since He was sinless and only spoke truth, the Lord said, “why do you not believe Me?”

The reason they did not hear or believe Him was that they were “not of God.” Their claim that God was their Father was not true. If God was their Father, they would hear and recognize His words and know they were the words of God.

John 8:48-59: “Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.

“And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

“Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

After Christ proved they were not true children of Abraham by faith, they called Him “a Samaritan” an ethnic slur meant to refer to one as a heretic and not a true, pure Jew. And after Christ proved that the devil was their father, they accuse Him of having “a devil.”

Unable to answer His arguments, the Jews resorted to name-calling and insults, and they dishonored the Son, doing so as He honored the Father in all that He said and did.

The Lord said, “And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.” It is God the Father Who “seeketh” the Son’s glory and honor (v. 54) and He “judgeth” those who dishonor Him.

Whatever they might have said or believed about Him, it didn’t change the truth as the Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”

Under the gospel of the kingdom, if one trusted and kept the Lord’s “saying,” or word, the truth that He is the Messiah, the very Son of God, they would “never see death,” spiritually that is.

As Christ stated earlier in John, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (5:24).

Under this gospel, those who believed in Christ and Who He is and did not deny Him were delivered from spiritual death and given spiritual life, and they would never see “the second death” (Rev. 21:8), which is to be eternally separated from God in the lake of fire.

The Jews changed Christ’s words (v. 51) and mistook them to mean one would never die physically (Heb. 2:9).

Their thinking was that if Christ’s words had the power to prevent death, then He must be claiming to be greater than anyone who had died, even the great men in Israel’s past.

The most illustrious of Israel’s fathers, Abraham and the prophets, who had kept God’s Word were dead, so the unbelieving Jews were incredulous that Christ promised exemption from death to anyone who would keep His saying.

In their thinking, the great men from Israel’s past never claimed to be able to give immortality or give such authority to their words.

And so they asked Him, “Whom makest Thou Thyself?” or “Who do you make yourself out to be?” or “What are you claiming about yourself?”

The Lord said He did not seek to honor Himself, if He did, His honor would mean nothing before the Jews. But the Father honored Him always and knew who He was and knew if He was greater than Abraham and the prophets.

Concerning the One “Whom ye say, that He is your God,” Christ said that unlike them the Father gave honor to Him, the Son. And they did not know the Father, “but I know Him,” the Lord said. The Son knew the Father from eternity past. The Jews had no relationship with Him; Christ had an eternal relationship with Him.

And I like how straightforward the Lord put this next part, that for Him to say that He as the Son did not have a full, authoritative, perfect knowledge of God and His will, nature, character and Person would mean He was a liar like they were. Christ knew the Father and He kept and perfectly obeyed His Word and will.

Then going back to whether He was greater than Abraham, the Lord told them that their father Abraham rejoiced to see His day and he saw it and was glad.

Abraham looked forward in hope to the “day” of the Messiah. Since the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, Christ said that he rejoiced to see “My day.”

Abraham and the heroes of the faith did not live to see the fulfillment of the promises made to them, but they received and understood them and saw them afar off by faith.

It was like Job, who was a contemporary of Abraham, and said: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (19:25,26).

Abraham was glad at his hope for the Messiah and His day, thus recognizing his inferiority to the Messiah (8:53).

And Christ said that Abraham’s attitude was to rejoice at His coming and was glad at it, unlike them and their attitude of hatred, who were trying to kill Him.

The Lord’s statement implied to them that He saw Abraham and knew firsthand that He rejoiced at His coming, and they object since He was not yet even 50 years old. And Abraham lived at least 2000 years prior to this time.

Then in one of the most powerful statements in the Word of God as to the deity of Jesus Christ, the Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

With this climactic and dramatic statement, Christ told the Jews that He is the eternal God, existing not only during the time of Abraham but before it and from eternity past.

Christ was telling them, “Before Abraham was and came into being, I am eternally existent. Before Abraham was historically, I am from eternity past. Abraham was, but I am.” Christ asserted more than He just existed before Abraham; He said that He eternally existed and He self-existed in eternity as Almighty God.

Abraham had a beginning. Abraham lived during a fleeting span of time on this earth. But, Christ as God, the eternal Son of God, He never came into being; He never had a beginning. His being transcends time. He always existed, and He is fully God (1:1).

Christ did not say, “Before Abraham was, I was” or “I was there before Abraham,” but rather, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

“I am” is full disclosure of Who Christ is. It is a title of God that belongs to Him alone.

Christ stated that He is the great I AM, the Jehovah God of Israel revealed at the burning bush. Before them stood the same One who spoke to Moses, “And GOD said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

And this statement told the Jews that Jesus Christ is infinitely superior and greater than Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets (8:53). As John the Baptist said earlier in the Gospel of John, “He that cometh from above is above all…” (3:31).

This is the most direct of all of Christ’s uses of the name and title of God, “I am.”

When Jesus Christ claimed the title of “I AM” that day, everyone listening knew exactly what He meant: that He is God.

Those who suggest that Christ never claimed to be God should consider the reaction of the Jewish religious leaders to His words, shown in the next verse.

The Jews, knowing full well that Christ was claiming to be God considered His claim to be blasphemous and the punishment for blasphemy under the law was stoning.

And they were so enraged that they picked up stones fulling intending to kill Christ right then and there, which showed the truth of Christ’s words that in their unbelief their father was the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning.

But as the Jews were picking up their stones, the Lord slipped away through the crowd and left the temple.

So to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” We learn from this passage that Jesus Christ is I AM. He is the uncreated, self-existent, eternal One. Jesus Christ is God.