We ended last week’s bible study with Jesus telling these Jews “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:38) This can also be seen in Matthew 3:7, when John the Baptist encountered Pharisees coming to his baptism, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” I confess to this verse being one of my favorites. So we have the herald to the Lamb of God, and the actual Lamb of God Himself, 2 uncompromising men, speaking the unvarnished truth to these righteous appearing Jews. Which those Jews rejected angrily. Then, like in Matthew 3, their claim, piously made, was to be sons of Abraham. (v. 39)
Jesus countered them “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” (vv. 40-41)
Have you ever been so sure you are right about something and then somebody comes along and tells you, no, the sky is in fact blue. How does that make you feel? Nobody likes being told they are wrong, and if you are prone to being full of yourself, an authority on the very subject you’ve been told you’re wrong about, that might very well blind you to the actual truth and entrench your wrong headed ideas all the more. We see it today in many areas of our current culture. Call it the chicken little syndrome, shouting to all that the sky is falling.
We see it 2 millennia ago when an entire people were sure that being of the direct line of Abraham, how could they not go to heaven? They follow the law, sacrificing as the law demands, certain of them endowed with extra special righteousness, wrote many more rules to be obeyed, in a sense putting a fence of protection around the Law, that none may sully it. Now, this rabbi that consorts with tax collectors and other low lifes, is telling them they have got it all wrong, you are in fact doing the work of satan. That might irritate you and your friends enough to make you think you should maybe do something about this irritant, like kill this rabbi that speaks to them this way.
That’s exactly where these Jews were, when Christ was talking to them. They responded to Jesus, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” (v. 41) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am 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. 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 lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (vv. 42-47)
There it was, right out in front. If they were truly claiming God as their Father, they would love Him. Because instead of loving this Son of Man, they were plotting to kill him. The very law they upheld with such reverence, convicted them. We see a reference to it Galatians 4:4
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,”. They followed the letter of the law, but not the true intent of the law. Verse 44, You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
Does it shock you that while you walked in sin, your father was satan? None of us have stepped outside the bounds of sin, however there is a redeemer that took our sins, past, present and future and shed His blood over it to cover it, so that we that believe, will truly be sons and daughters of the Father and have eternal life. Does that mean we can go about life as we please, because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are free to live life as we see fit? No, we are now accountable to our Father and because we are no longer slaves of sin, we do our very best to obey and love Him and give Him the glory of all that we do. Repenting daily our sins: Acts 3:19
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”
This book I am getting my bible studies from, given to us by our Father, you might ask yourself, is it required of me to read? Yes, I would say so. You are interested in what the Father is doing, are you not? But that is an old book, things have changed since then. I would counter that God does not change, nor does His law, only we who sin and make excuses do. Maybe you don’t like to read. Fine, there are audio versions of the bible available or maybe somebody could read it to you. But, you say, you’re too busy trying to live… Note what is said about excuses up above. Are you speaking the words of your father? The Pharisees did and were not prepared to listen to anything told to them differently. None can drag you to the cross and make you believe. Either you repent, believe and obey He who created you, or listen to the words of your father, who “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” (v. 44) Examine yourself and see who you are accountable to. If you are not happy with the answer, there is One who is always available to hear your prayers and a book to read. Repent, Believe, Obey and Continue.