Daily Devotions
John
A false faith exposed
Text: John 8 : 12-59
A FALSE FAITH EXPOSED
Did the Jews really believe in Jesus as He spoke to them? John recorded their response to the promise of Jesus – that His Word would make them free.
“They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants,
and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say,
“You will be made free?”‘”
John 8:33
The Jews had tremendous nationalistic pride. They saw themselves as “Abraham’s descendants”. They were always a “free” people! Was that statement true? The history of Israel would contradict this wild statement of the Jews.
Ancient Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. Judah was first humbled by the Babylonians before it was finally destroyed by them. Israel had never been “free” from those days till the present moment. Rome ruled the world with an iron hand! How could the Jews speak about not being in bondage to anyone?
Had they really believed in Jesus? On the outside, the Jews would have appeared to believe in Jesus. But when examined in detail, their false faith was exposed. What did they hope to gain by declaring faith in Jesus anyway? Thank God for the wisdom that the Father gave to Him to examine the so-called faith of The Jews.
A SLAVE OF A DIFFERENT KIND OF MASTER
There was no point debating the validity of the statement of the Jews with reference to their being in bondage. Nationalistic pride ran high among them. To battle the nationalistic spirit would yield no results at all.
Thus Jesus took another route. He spoke of being enslaved to a different kind of a master. This tyrant was even worse than any human master.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you,
whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
And a slave does not abide in the house forever,
but a son abides forever.
Therefore if the Son makes you free,
you shall be free indeed.'”
John 8:34-36
Had the Jews any understanding of the depth of truth Jesus was speaking to them? He was speaking about how man was enslaved by sin! Did the Jews recognize how enslaved they were? They were abusive. They were wicked. They were hardened. They were slaves! Their master was Sin!
Did they not realize that though they abide in the household of Abraham, they were only abiding as “slaves”? They were not abiding as sons of Abraham at all. Slaves come and go. They had no rights at all. Did they not recognize their sinfulness?
Jesus could free them from the power of sin. Had He not come as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world? If only they had faith in Him, He could break the power of sin in their lives. He could cause them to become true sons of faith, and therefore true sons of Abraham (John 1:12).
No matter how difficult it was, Jesus had to touch on the subject of being “Abraham’s descendants”. He said,
“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants,
but you seek to kill Me, because My word
has no place in you. I speak what I have
seen with My Father, and you do what you
have seen with your father.”
John 8:37-38
The Jews took great pride, inordinate pride in their ethnic ancestry in Abraham. They proudly called themselves, “Abraham’s descendants”. Yet, their behaviour betrayed them. If they were truly descendants of Abraham, would they not have behaved in a more civil manner? Would people who claimed the ancestry of Abraham harbour thoughts of wicked murder in their hearts?
Why were the Jews so murderous? Jesus exposed the Jews for being the hypocritical people that they were. Did they think that they could deceive Him by pretending to express faith?
Jesus defined faith in a special way as far as the Jews were concerned. If they really had faith in Him, then they must also abide in His Word. If His word did not have a place in their hearts, then they cannot speak of having faith at all!
The words of Jesus came from His Father. If the Jews could not understand that truth, how could they speak of having faith in Him? He then went on to postulate a staggering thought! They had a different father!
THE TRUE SONS OF ABRAHAM
Naturally, the Jews protested! Loudly, they dismissed the statement Jesus made. They were firmly entrenched in their nationalistic belief. They cried out with great insistence.
“Abraham is our father.”
John 8:39
Jesus was not yet done. He refuted this claim. He went on to explain Himself.
“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would do the works of Abraham.
But now you seek to kill Me,
a Man who has told you the truth
which I heard from God.
Abraham did not do this.
You do the deeds of your father.”
John 8:39-41
Did these so-called sons of Abraham have any idea what Jesus was driving at?