John 8:39-59: Inside Out and Upside Down

John 8:39-59: Inside Out and Upside Down

Please turn in your Bibles to John 8. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide that’s on page 742. We’re going to continue our series of sermons going through the Gospel of John passage by passage, and this morning, we’ll be looking at John 8:39-59. Tensions are continuing to escalate between Jesus and his Jewish audience. If you remember last week, in verses 31-38, Jesus told the crowds that they were slaves of sin. Then he tells them in the next passage, verses 39-47, that they’re children of the devil. I’m guessing that if anyone in the crowd was thinking about inviting Jesus to be the motivational speaker at their next event, they probably had second thoughts about that idea after they heard Jesus say that. Now this morning, we’re going to enter this intense conversation beginning at verse 48 and going through the end of the chapter. 

John 8:48-59: 48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 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 taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 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.’ 55 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. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. 

In the early years of the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus made a bold move. He published a book in which he denied something that virtually all scientists of that era simply took for granted—that everything in the universe revolved around the earth. Instead, Copernicus argued, everything actually revolves not around the earth but around the sun. And that might be a very familiar idea to all of us today, but back in the sixteenth century it was a radical departure from what everybody thought they knew. It was so radical, in fact, that it took the observations of several other scientists after Copernicus, including Keplar and Galileo, to finally persuade the scientific community that everything revolved around the sun. Most astronomers didn’t change their minds until about 100 years after Copernicus’s original discovery. And that whole process is now known as the Copernican Revolution. It certainly was a revolution in scientific thought.

And in our text this morning, Jesus presents some ideas that are no less revolutionary than the ideas Copernicus published in the sixteenth century. In fact, every aspect of Jesus’ ministry is both counterintuitive (or contrary to the way we naturally think) and also countercultural (or contrary to what the vast majority of society believes). And we can see that from the way his listeners respond to him in our text. So that’s our main point this morning: Every aspect of Jesus’ ministry is radically counterintuitive and countercultural. And there are three aspects of his ministry in particular that I’m thinking of that we can see in this text. Three aspects of Jesus’ ministry that are radically counterintuitive and countercultural. Number one, how Jesus lives. Number two, what Jesus offers. And number three, who Jesus is.

How Jesus Lives

So first, let’s look at how Jesus lives. We can see from this text that his life was all about trying to bring glory to the Father. Look at verses 48-50, “The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ 49 Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.’” So unlike so many of the other leaders of his day, Jesus wasn’t trying to make a name for himself. He wasn’t seeking his own glory. His life was all about the glory of the Father. As he states in verse 50, “I do not seek my own glory.” And by that, he seems to be implying that many of his listeners do seek their own glory. In fact, that’s the one of the primary reasons the Jewish religious leaders were opposing him—because they were jealous and they wanted people to follow them instead. They were all about their own glory. And so often, you and I can have that same mindset as well. We spend our lives seeking our own glory. We want to make a name for ourselves and be somebody important and rise to a certain level of achievement so that people around us will admire us. And if you trace it back, that’s actually what led the first humans to rebel against God in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:5 records how Satan told them that by eating the fruit they could “be like God.” And to trace it back even further than that, that’s why Satan himself rebelled against God. He wanted God’s glory for himself. And that same lust for glory that we find in Satan and then in Adam and Eve has subsequently been passed down in the human race from one generation to the next, and it resides within you and me today. It may manifest itself in different ways, but it’s there. In 1001 different ways, we’re like miniature Napoleon Bonapartes or miniature Alexander the Greats trying to build our own empire. Maybe we want to have an important job or be seen as a phenomenal mother or be recognized for some other skill or ability or role. Regardless of how our desire manifests itself, we’re naturally inclined to seek our own glory.

But Jesus wasn’t like that. Now it’s a little different for Jesus, because as we’ll discuss later in the sermon, Jesus actually was God. So there’s a sense in which he rightfully deserves to be glorified. But as part of becoming a real human being and living as one of us, Jesus determined that he would voluntarily lay aside his privileged position and seek the glory of the Father. And because of that, he serves as an example for all of us of the mindset we should adopt for our lives. He shows us a higher and a better way to live. We usually assume the best and most satisfying way to live is to seek our own glory and make our lives all about us. That’s why we live that way. But Jesus shows us differently. He shows us a life that’s all about the Father’s glory. And that way of living is actually the most satisfying way of living there is. Making our lives all about God is more satisfying than making our lives all about ourselves. 

And I think those of us who have children get a glimpse of that with our kids. There are many evenings when I’d rather take my kids somewhere and watch them do something fun than do something fun myself. Like when I coach my four-year-old son’s t-ball team, it is a job. My father-in-law actually compared it to trying to herd a bunch of cats. Half of my time is spent telling the kids in the field to stop playing in the dirt. It’s not a sandbox. But I love coaching—and you know why? It’s because I love seeing Caleb have fun. I love seeing him hit the ball. I love the way he runs to the concession stand after the game to get a snow cone. I loved seeing the smile on his face last week as he received his participation trophy. All of that is enjoyable to me. Now there are definitely evenings when I just want to go somewhere without the kids and spend time with my wife or other adults, but most of the time, I just like seeing the kids have fun. I have a good time seeing them have a good time. And if God has changed someone’s heart and made them into a new person, that’s the way they think about living for him. It’s totally counterintuitive and radically countercultural, but living for the glory of God is the most satisfying way to live, for the believer, because you love God.

What Jesus Offers

Now a second aspect of Jesus’ ministry that’s counterintuitive and countercultural is not only how he lives but also what he offers. And the thing that Jesus offers is eternal life. In verse 51, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Now the Jews thought he was talking about physical death. That’s why they respond in verses 52-53, “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 taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” So the Jews were thinking in earthly terms and earthly categories. They thought Jesus was just talking about physical death. But Jesus was actually talking about another kind of death—a spiritual and eternal death in hell. That’s the kind of death he rescues us from. However, his audience didn’t get that. 

And just like the Jews, we naturally gravitate toward an earthly way of thinking. We spend just about all of our time thinking about this life and almost no time thinking about what happens after this life. I recently heard one preacher use the illustration of a rope. This rope represents eternity. It’s really long. And this part of the rope right here in between my hands represents the time that we spend on this earth. We’re born, we grow up, we live as an adult, and then we die. All of that happens within this part of the rope right here. And it’s such a tiny part of the rope, yet we live as if that’s all that matters. We live most—if not all—of our lives ignoring the rest of the rope that goes on and on and that represents the vast majority of our existence, and we spend all our time thinking about this little piece right here. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it, but that’s the way we think. We’re so preoccupied with life in this world.

But Jesus, in a way that’s again counterintuitive and countercultural, turns our attention toward eternity. And he tells us that those who “keep [his] word,” as he says in verse 51, “will never see death.” We’ll live forever in heaven with him. For the Christian, physical death isn’t the end. We may have a funeral service and get lowered into a grave and have people tearfully saying goodbye to us, but it’s not the end. For the Christian, it’s just the beginning of life like never before. Because Jesus paid for our sins when he died on the cross, we can spend eternity seeing God face-to-face and finally being able to worship him without any hindrances or limitations. That’s what I’m living for. I’m grateful for all the things God lets me enjoy in this life as an expression of his fatherly love towards me, but I’m so glad he offers me something more than a house that’s slowly deteriorating and something more than cars that are slowly deteriorating and something more than electronic gadgets that will be outdated before the year’s over. I’m so glad he offers me eternal life. And that’s what Jesus turns our attention to in this text.

Who Jesus Is

And finally, the third aspect of Jesus’ ministry that’s totally counterintuitive and countercultural is who Jesus is. So first we had how Jesus lives, then we had what Jesus offers, and now we have who Jesus is. Look at verses 54-58. Jesus is responding to the Jews’ question about who exactly he’s trying to say he is. Verse 54: “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.” 55 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. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.’ 57 So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” 

Now if you’re familiar with the Old Testament book of Exodus, you know exactly what Jesus means when he says those last two words, “I am.” That was the sacred name God used to identify himself to Moses. In Exodus 3, God sends Moses out on a mission to go to Egypt and bring out his chosen people, the Israelites. So Moses asks God in Exodus 3:13, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God replies in verse 14, “I AM WHO I AM.” That’s what God says. Then he continues, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” So God identifies himself in that peculiar way: “I AM.” And the reason he does that is in order to emphasize that he alone is the eternally existent God. There’s never a time when we’ll say that God merely “was” or that he merely “will be.” He always just “is.” He’s unchanging, self-sustaining, and eternal. And that’s who Jesus says he is in our text—nothing less than God in human flesh. And in case you’re wondering whether Jesus is really claiming that about himself, you don’t need to look any farther than the next verse, verse 59. The Jews understand exactly what Jesus is claiming about himself—that he’s claiming to be God in human flesh—and so they immediately try to stone him. That was what the Old Testament Law commanded them to do when someone blasphemed God. So that’s why they immediately make a move to stone him—because in their opinion, he’s speaking outrageous words of blasphemy.

And likewise today, the idea that God would come to this earth as a human being is almost as radical to many people today as it was to Jesus’ original audience. If you were to ask a random person in America who Jesus is, they probably won’t say he’s God’s in human flesh. They may say he’s a great moral teacher or a really inspirational person, but unless they’re a Christian, they probably won’t say he’s actually God. The very idea seems so radical to many people. After all, why would God become a human being? 

Well, the Bible tells us that he did it in order to save us. You see, we stood condemned before God because of the sins we had committed. We deserved his punishment. But God determined that instead of pouring out that punishment on us, he would uphold the requirements of justice by pouring it out on his own son instead. So Jesus became a real human being as the first step to making that substitution happen. You see, only a human could stand in the place of humans in receiving God’s punishment. So Jesus became human. And then he died on the cross, bearing the sins of all humanity, before finally—victoriously—rising from the dead. That’s how he made it possible for us to be saved.

And the whole idea of that really is counterintuitive and countercultural, because we don’t see love like that anywhere else in this world. Most of the time, when things are difficult, we try to get away from them. Like if you grow up in a bad part of town—on the other side of the tracks, so to speak—you try to work your way out of there. You try to earn enough money to get a nicer house with a nicer yard in a nicer school district. You don’t want to have to deal with the crime and all the other issues that come from living in the hood. You want to live somewhere nice. That’s the mindset most people have. But God didn’t do that. He didn’t keep himself a safe distance way or remain comfortably aloof from our sufferings. We often imagine he’s distant in the midst of suffering, but he’s not. He was willing to enter our world and become a human being in order to rescue us. It’s a concept that’s radically counterintuitive and countercultural, but that’s what Jesus did. Or in the words of our third point, that’s who he is—God in human flesh on a mission to save us. 

Conclusion

And when we see Jesus for who he is, it’s immediately apparent that there’s no one else like him. When God opens our eyes not just to the facts about Jesus but to the glory and beauty of Jesus himself, it’s impossible not to recognize his supremacy and delight in him. He’s infinitely more loving that the most loving of other people. He’s infinitely more righteous than the most righteous of other people. He’s infinitely more powerful than the most powerful of other people. He’s infinitely wiser and more gracious and more faithful than anyone else with those qualities in this world. Jesus is infinitely superior to everyone else in every way. There’s none like him. 

One of the people our country admires the most is Martin Luther King, Jr.—and rightfully so. Martin Luther King lived an extraordinary life. He demonstrated incredible courage and a commitment to justice that’s truly exemplary. From the Montgomery bus boycott to the historic march from Selma to Montgomery to the Albany movement to the March on Washington, Martin Luther King put his life on the line in order to protest the injustices he saw. But he had a crippling weakness that was never really made public during his life time. Martin Luther King regularly committed adultery. I remember the first time I heard that from one of my professors in college. I found it shocking. So I did some research, and unfortunately, the evidence is well documented. His wife knew about it, many of the top civil rights leaders who traveled with King knew about it as well, and they all just seemed to accept it as something he needed to reduce his stress. Martin Luther King had a regular habit of committing adultery. 

And the reason I share that is to emphasize the fact that no matter how great someone is, they always have things in their life that aren’t so great. The closer you look, the more flaws you see—with anyone. Anyone, that is, except for Jesus. Because the closer you look at Jesus, the more beautiful and wonderful and glorious you see that he is in every way. There’s no one like him. It’s true that every aspect of his ministry is counterintuitive, and it’s true that every aspect of his ministry is countercultural, but that’s just because our intuition and our culture are so limited. Jesus is the very definition of perfection in every aspect of his being and doing. And as Christians, he calls us to delight ourselves in him. That’s what Christianity is all about. It’s all about delighting in Jesus himself. Becoming a Christian is about commencing your delight in Jesus, and growing as a Christian is about increasing your delight in Jesus. So, is that why you came to church this morning? Is that the goal you pursue throughout the week? Is that what you desire even more than any of the blessings Jesus gives?  Do you delight in Jesus himself? He is the great I AM.