Rather than believing the truth and repenting of their sin, they were trying to eliminate the messenger. The truth threatened them because it exposed their sinful hearts. Why were they trying to get rid of Jesus? He tells them the reason at the end of verse 37, “… because My word has no place in you.” He knew about the Pharisees’ plot to kill Him. They were counting on their spiritual heritage to put them in good standing with God.īut here is the problem: “… but you seek to kill Me,” (8:37). Jesus says in verse 37, “ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.” They can certainly trace their family roots all the way back to Abraham. Granted, they are children of Abraham in physical lineage. These Jews had made the claim in verse 33 that they were Abraham’s descendants and because of that, they were spiritually free. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.Ĥ5 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.Ĥ6 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?Ĥ7 He who is of God hears God’s words therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” 1. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Abraham did not do this.Ĥ1 You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication we have one Father–God.”Ĥ2 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.Ĥ3 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.Ĥ4 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. Listen to our scripture today, John 8:37-47:ģ7 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.ģ8 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”ģ9 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.Ĥ0 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Am I truly a child of God or am I a child of the devil? And so we who profess to be Christians and perhaps even are zealous about our faith need to consider carefully this paternity test. Their attitudes and actions show they actually were children of the devil. But Jesus plainly tells them that they were deceived. These people professed to believe in the God of Abraham and outwardly they were zealous for their religion. In other words, they weren’t raw pagans, Roman polytheists, or avowed atheists. What makes this dialogue troubling is that these Jews who were actually children of the devil were very religious people who professed to believe in Jesus. Their murderous intentions toward Jesus revealed that they were not children of God, as they thought, but of the devil. Now He deals with their claim to be children of Abraham by showing that their claim was false as seen in their deeds. Jesus pointed out however, that “ whoever commits sin is a slave of sin,” (John 8:34) and that only “ if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed,” (John 8:36). The believed that unlike the pagan nations they were free from spiritual bondage. They thought that because they were descended from Abraham that they were righteous. Telling them that they need to be set free from sin stunned them. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” (John 8:31-32). So He declared, “ If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. Last time we saw from verse 31 that Jesus spoke these words “ to those Jews who believed Him.” But Jesus is not just looking for professions of faith, He is looking for true followers, true disciples. In our text from John 8 today Jesus gives a spiritual paternity test to some Jews who had believed in Him. It’s easy to see that I am my father’s son because I look like him, I sound like him and I act like him. And probably because I spent a lot of time with him in my formative years, I have a lot of mannerisms that are like my dad. My voice even sounds a lot like his voice. People say that I look a lot like my dad. The results can be legally used for child support, inheritance, social welfare benefits, immigration, or adoption purposes. This test examines the DNA of the child and the potential dad to determine whether he is in fact the biological father. Each year, in the United States, there are around 300,000 paternity tests taken.
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