John 8.2-59
Having previously looked at something of the background to the three "Verily, verily" statements of the Lord Jesus recorded in John 8, we now turn our attention to the statements themselves.
The enslaved condition of the sinner
"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" (vv.8.34-38).
The plight of the sinner is truly desperate. "Whosoever committeth sin", in this context, refers to those who are marked by sin as a continuous habit or practice. It is a reference to those who are in an unregenerate state, and does not include the person who, though justified by faith, still occasionally commits sins as a result of the unaltered old nature. Believers in the Lord Jesus, saved by the grace of God, are "justified from all things" (Acts 13.39) but, as we know all too well, we do still commit sins. We need to differentiate between condition and conduct. If sinless perfection were possible for the believer on earth, and it is not, then condition and conduct would be one. Of our conduct, Paul wrote, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?". Immediately following that, however, he said concerning our condition, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Rom 6.16-18).
The boast of the Jews to whom the Lord was speaking was that, through their natural links with Abraham, they were entitled to, and guaranteed, a place "in the house". Did not the Scriptures say, "And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant" (Gen 17.9-14). As far as the Jews were concerned, they had been born "in the house" and had been circumcised. All that pertained to their father Abraham was, therefore, theirs as well. They were his heirs.
Later, as Paul concluded all under sin in the opening of the Roman epistle, he wrote, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Rom 2.28-29). It was a feature of their unbelief that the Jews resolutely refused to accept the teaching of both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul concerning the necessity for spiritual circumcision and spiritual sonship. They boasted in a freedom that they did not possess, and a sonship that was not theirs. In truth, they were simply slaves under the bondage of a dreadful, death-dealing master. The clear evidence of their spiritual condition, and the identity of their true master, was that they sought to kill their Messiah. Well did the Lord say to them, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (8.44).
The enduring confidence of the saint
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death" (v.51). This statement by the Lord Jesus takes us back to an earlier occasion when He said, "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). The Jews immediately demonstrated that they were of their father the devil (v.44) by distorting the Saviour's words. They said, "Thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death" (v.52). Paul reminds us concerning the devil and his lies that "we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor 2.11), and we do well to remember that his determination to distort and deny the Word of God is no less today than it has ever been. How arrogant and audacious it was to misquote the Son of God to His very face! The whole scene takes us back to the Garden of Eden, for there Adam kept the saying of the devil and immediately saw spiritual death. The Jews were in the same condition, but, whereas Adam knew and confessed his fallen state, the Jews refused to acknowledge theirs. The Lord Jesus, speaking of the Father, said, "I know him, and keep his saying" (v.55), and the same submission and obedience that characterised Him must needs characterise His hearers also if they were not to "see death". Thus the Lord Jesus said "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death", the enduring promise to all believers by the "last Adamthe second man the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor 15.45,47).
The eternal character of the Son
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (8.58). At the beginning of this particular discourse with the Jews the Lord Jesus had said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (v.12). In so describing Himself, the Lord laid clear claim to being Israel's Messiah, for "the Rabbins denominated the Supreme Being, the light of the world, and this title being assumed by our Lord was a cause of offence to the Jews" (Benjamin Wilson). Lightfoot quotes Rabbi Biba Sangorius who said, "Light is the name of the Messiah".
Now, in addition to His claim to Messiahship, the Lord Jesus makes an equally clear claim to absolute deity. His statement is clear and precise, devoid of any ambiguity: "Before Abraham was [came into existence], I am [not, 'was']". If the Lord had wished merely to indicate His pre-existence, He could have said grammatically, "Before Abraham was, I existed", but instead, He said, "I am", a term of eternal existence. The immense significance of His words was not lost on the Jews who heard Him. They knew full well the exchange between God and Moses at the commencement of the Exodus from Egypt: "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 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" (Ex 3.13-14). The One who stood before them was greater than Jacob (Jn 4.12), greater than the temple (Mt 12.6), greater than Jonah (12.41), greater than Solomon (12.42) and greater than Abraham.
The conclusion of all His words and deeds was inescapable, however difficult it might have been to comprehend. Jesus of Nazareth, whose words they had heard with amazement, whose miracles they had observed at first hand, was the Messiah, God manifest in flesh! There was no room for manoeuvre, no space for further debate. They must confess their foolishness, blindness, and pride. They must bow the knee and acknowledge their Messiah as Lord and King. They must yield to the clear evidence of all His signs and words. Or not! "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" (Jn 8.59).
To be continued.
