Day 20
I wouldn’t say that I’m a big accessories girl. Now don’t get me wrong. I do love a new pair of shoes or fun, new earrings, but honestly, I am so hard on them. I regularly wear shoes out or lose one earring in a pair, leaving me with a jewelry box full of one earring from several sets. There is a handbag company, PomPom London, that I really love and have several of their crossover bags in several colors. Each bag comes with a couple of fun straps that you can change out depending on the outfit or season.
In today’s reading we see that there are some who believe in Jesus…or do they? Impressed with His knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, they liked how Jesus looked on them, much like a new accessory, a fun bag to collect and place their new beliefs in. He spoke of truth and freedom and family. All things they desired, albeit not how Jesus offered them. He refused to be an accessory, an add-on to their incomplete, incorrect theology.
Read John 8:30-59
While happy that many were believing in Him, Jesus needed to help these “believers” understand more fully what discipleship truly meant. His followers were to abide in His word, to continue believing what Jesus said and walking in obedience to Him. Then, and only then, would they know the truth and be set free. Slightly offended, they answered Him, “We are descendants of Abraham and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free?’” (v 33) Hold on! What are they talking about? They’ve definitely been enslaved as a people group over the course of their history - in Egypt, in Assyria, in Babylon. And ironically even now, as they argued for their physical freedom, they were under Roman rule.
Of course Jesus is addressing their misconception that being a physical descendant of Abraham and his covenant people automatically equals spiritual freedom. He refutes this bad theology by focusing on freedom from slavery to sin, from the guilt and enslaving power of sinful patterns of conduct. The only lasting path to freedom was through Jesus, “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” (v 36)
Before Abraham Was, I AM
Tensions continue to rise throughout Jesus’ dialogue with the Jews. They become increasingly frustrated as Jesus accuses them of not really believing Him, of not being the children of Abraham or God, and of actually being the children of the devil! But in their minds, Jesus didn’t cross the line entirely until He made the outlandish claim: “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” (v 58)
Returning to the discussion of Abraham, Jesus acknowledged that the patriarch was their father physically, but not spiritually, saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (v 56), again pointing out the spiritual difference between Abraham and his descendants. Unlike Abraham, who truly rejoiced at seeing Christ, these Jews had only a superficial trust in Jesus, thereby proving that they were not really the patriarch’s children.
But what does it mean that Abraham saw Jesus’ day? Jesus may have been alluding to the common rabbinic belief that God had revealed the secrets of the messianic age to Abraham, in which case He would have been making a claim to being the Messiah if His day is what Abraham saw. The writer of Hebrews includes this same faith logic in his Hall of Faith, found in Hebrews 11:
“These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb 11:13-16)
Still, Jesus revealed far more than His messianic role when He said Abraham saw His day. When the Jews responded with doubt and disbelief, asking how He, a man younger than fifty, saw Abraham, who lived millennia earlier, Jesus made an even bolder claim: “Before Abraham was, I am.” (v 58) Jesus was not simply saying that He existed before Abraham, or He would have said, “Before Abraham was, I was.” Instead, He was drawing from the Old Testament and God’s covenant name revealed therein. Thus, Jesus claimed equality with the Father by clearly using the divine name that God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM.” Jesus identified Himself as the eternal deity, declaring that He was alive as the second person of the Trinity before Abraham was even born. This was declared prophetically by Micah:
“Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from ancient times.”
Micah 5:2
And later, the Apostle Paul wrote of the truth that sets us free:
“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit - that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Christ, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen.” Romans 9:1-5
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Are you tempted to place Jesus on the same plane as other renowned religious leaders such as Moses or Muhammad? Or do you view Jesus as a fantastic accessory? In light of Jesus’ claims about Himself, however, we cannot do that. Jesus is not just another religious sage, or merely an accessory to our life. He is God incarnate. God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus, and He retains that flesh forever.
Pray the lyrics from “Who You Say I Am” by Hillsong Worship, based on John 8: “Free at last, He has ransomed me. His grace runs deep. While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. I’m a child of God, yes I am.”
Who You Say I Am - Hillsong Worship (Studio Version, with Lyrics)
