FROM THE TRANSFIGURATION TO AN ARGUMENT OVER ABRAHAM
A catalog of virtues and graces, however complete, would merely give us a mechanical view. It’s the spotless purity and the sinlessness of Jesus as acknowledged by friend and foe that raises His character high above the reach of all others. In Him we see the even harmony and symmetry of all graces: His love for God and man, His dignity and humility, His strength and tenderness, His greatness and simplicity, and His self-control and submission. It’s the absolute perfection of Christ’s character that makes Him a moral miracle in History. It’s futile to compare Him with saints and sages, ancient or modern. Even the skeptic Jean Jacques Rousseau was compelled to remark, “If Socrates lived and died like a sage, Jesus lived and died like a God.”
—P. SCHAFF1
THE TRANSFIGURATION (MATT. 17:1–13; MARK 9:2–13; LUKE 9:28–36)
Jesus takes Peter, John, and James up the mountain to pray. While praying, His face shines like the sun and His clothing is radiantly white. Moses and Elijah appear and begin talking with Jesus about what He is to accomplish in Jerusalem. Terrified, Peter offers to make a tent for each of the three. A voice emits from a bright cloud overshadowing them and says, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” The disciples fall on their faces and Jesus touches them, telling them to rise and not to be afraid. When they look up, Jesus is alone. As they come down the mountain, Jesus tells them not to say anything about this until He is raised from the dead. The disciples ask Him why the scribes say Elijah must come first. Jesus says Elijah (meaning John the Baptist) has already come, and that Jesus will suffer just as Elijah did (Matt. 17:1–13; Mark 9:2–13; Luke 9:28–36).
Peter describes this event in his second epistle, testifying that he witnessed it firsthand and that it confirms Old Testament prophecies. Peter explains,
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this voice borne from heaven, we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (16–20).
Some believe the transfiguration was the apex of Jesus’ early ministry.2 It’s worth noting that Jesus was possibly illuminated from the inside, not the outside.3 The word translated as “transfiguration” supports this view, as it’s also the origin of our English word “metamorphosis,” which involves a comprehensive change, not just an external one.4 The transfiguration gives us a hint of the splendor Christ will bring at His Second Coming when He returns in a cloud of glory (Luke 9:26–27).5
The transfiguration event is unique to the Gospels. Nothing like it is recorded in the Old Testament or any other ancient literature.6 Walter Elwell observes that the voice at Jesus’ baptism says directly to Jesus, “You are my beloved son,” whereas at the transfiguration it speaks to the disciples, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” From this Elwell infers that the incident is directed not so much at Jesus as at His disciples. It follows closely after Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, at Caesarea Philippi, and God confirms his confession in the transfiguration.7
Note, however, that the voice doesn’t stop there. It also commands, “Listen to him,” and this is immediately followed by the narrative, “And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.” Rev. H. J. R. Marston surmises that “Christ must be all in all to each one of us. That is the lesson of the Transfiguration. Our Lord Jesus Christ must be the chief among the ten thousand. . . . Jesus Christ must take first place before everything else. We must remember that Jesus Christ alone can save us.”8
Peter manifestly receives the message. In one of his glorious speeches recorded in the Book of Acts, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly proclaims to the religious authorities, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (4:11–12).
Lutheran clergyman John G. Butler portrays the transfiguration as “a momentary change in the appearance of Christ in which the manifestation of His humanity gave way to the manifestation of His Deity. This transfiguration emphasized that though Christ walked on this earth as a man, He was, in fact, still very God.”9 God’s redemption plan comes into full view, as two towering Old Testament figures appear to Jesus the Messiah, and God divinely blesses the event which, of course, He orchestrated. The Father puts an exclamation point on His plan as He praises Jesus in the presence of Moses and Elijah for the suffering He is soon to endure for mankind’s salvation. What a wonderful picture of the Old Covenant giving way to the New!
JESUS EXORCISES A BOY, PREDICTS HIS DEATH AGAIN, AND FINDS A COIN IN A FISH (MATT. 17:14–27; MARK 9:14–32; LUKE 9:37–45)
When they come down from the mountain the next day, Jesus and His disciples are met by a great crowd. A man steps forward and tells Jesus about his only son, who is possessed by an evil spirit and foaming at the mouth. He begs Jesus to help the boy, saying His disciples were unable to cast out the spirit. “O faithless and twisted generation,” Jesus declares, “how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” The demon throws the boy down but Jesus rebukes the spirit and heals the boy, then returns him to his father. All are astonished at the majesty of God, which shows they recognize that Jesus is doing divine work whether or not they fully realize He is God. When the disciples ask Him why they can’t drive out the spirit themselves, He says it’s because they have insufficient faith: “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Jesus is echoing the Song of Moses (Deut. 32:1–43), in which Moses describes those who have betrayed a perfectly faithful and just God as “a crooked and twisted generation” (Deut. 32:4–5). Paul uses the same term: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philip. 2:14–15). With “crooked and twisted generation,” Jesus describes the insufficiency of the disciples’ faith and probably the faithlessness of most people in general.
Here again we see the interrelationship between genuine faith and healing. Jesus invokes the mustard seed as an analogy for the power of faith because it’s a tiny seed that grows into a ten-foot-high shrub or tree.10 The point is that just a little faith can instigate powerful action—Jewish literature often expressed the same idea through the metaphor of moving a mountain.11 Though some may dismiss this as hyperbole, know that God is omnipotent, and faith in this instance is tapping into God’s power. Jesus would later say, when explaining the difficulty of entering into the kingdom of God, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).
While in Galilee, Jesus distresses His disciples by relating that He will be delivered to the authorities and killed, then he’ll be raised on the third day. They don’t understand Him because “it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it”—which will also be the case when Jesus predicts His death the third time (Luke 18:34). One might ask why Jesus would stress a point—“Let these words sink into your ears” (Luke 9:44)—and yet conceal its meaning. A simple explanation is that God is sovereignly choosing to conceal the truth from them until it’s time for them to understand it, and then they would remember His words.
As the group arrives at Capernaum, the tax collectors meet them and ask Peter whether Jesus pays taxes (referring to the Temple tax). Jesus asks Peter, “From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” Peter replies, “From others,” and Jesus responds, “Then the sons are free.” He instructs Peter to go to the sea, get a fish, and take a shekel from its mouth to give the collectors. Jesus is not obligated to pay a tax to support His Father’s house, which is also His own house. Jesus is teaching Peter that He has inaugurated a New Covenant, and that He and His followers are not subject to the laws of the Old Covenant. Nevertheless, to avoid needless conflict in His ministry, He miraculously produces the necessary coinage to satisfy the tax bill.
This is consistent with Paul telling the Corinthian believers, “We aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man” (2 Cor. 8:21). Paul explains that spreading the Word and winning converts is so important that he conforms to potential converts’ traditions to minimize conflict and resistance. “For though I am free from all,” Paul writes, “I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:19–23). Similarly, Peter instructs his Christian brothers, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Jesus repeatedly demonstrates that winning souls for Christ is paramount and that compromising one’s practices, though not one’s principles, is warranted if it furthers that purpose.
JESUS TEACHES ABOUT GREATNESS, TEMPTATION, THE LOST SHEEP, AND CHURCH DISCIPLINE (MATT. 18:1–20; MARK 9:33–41, 42–50; LUKE 9:46–50)
The disciples begin to argue over which of them is the greatest in the kingdom. When they put the question to Jesus, He replies, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Jesus is emphasizing the importance of Christian service, which He exemplifies. He is the greatest, yet He lays down His life for us. He would tell them later, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). To be Christ-like, we must display a servant’s heart and put others before ourselves, not as their slaves but as cheerful Christians helping our fellow man. In the kingdom, greatness is not determined by status, but service.
Jesus places a child by His side and explains that unless people humble themselves like children they will never enter the kingdom. Saving faith requires humility—a childlike trust in Jesus Christ to save you.12 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,” utters Jesus, “and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” To show kindness to those in need is to welcome both Jesus and the Father.
Jesus says that whoever causes one child who believes in Him to stumble would be better off with a millstone around his neck and thrown into the sea. While temptations will surely come, woe to the one from whom they come. If one’s body part causes him to sin, it would be better to cut it off than be thrown into eternal fire.
I think Jesus means we will inevitably be tempted to sin, but we should do our best to avoid it and one way is to remove ourselves from tempting situations. Remember, in telling us how to pray, Jesus suggests we say, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:18). So, for example, if you have an addictive personality, then avoid addictive behaviors altogether. One might say Jesus is exaggerating and speaking metaphorically in telling us to cut off our hands or feet if they cause us to sin. Granted, but is there a better way to illustrate the gravity of sin that leads to death? Would it be hyperbole to advise someone to sacrifice everything he has in this life if it would preclude him from receiving eternal life?
Jesus is issuing a stern warning to those who lure people into temptation and away from Him. In this parable, children represent innocent people who might avoid temptation or unbelief but for the malicious influence of those enticing them to sin—those who drag others down into the pit with themselves. Such behavior is egregious because luring people from belief to disbelief is to lead them from life to death.
Jesus says not to despise children because their angels see the Father’s face. This implies God cares so much for children that He uses guardian angels to watch over them (and perhaps all believers), and these angels have a direct line of communication with the Father. Jesus explains that if just one of a man’s hundred sheep were lost he would leave the ninety-nine to search for the one, and if he finds it he’d rejoice over it more than the ninety-nine. “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
He then teaches His disciples how to handle a sinning brother. First you confront him directly. If he doesn’t listen, you take one or two with you and confront him. If he still resists, take it to the Church, and if he still refuses to listen, “Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”—that is, treat him as an outsider. Jesus continues, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” meaning the Church will have authority over such disciplinary matters. “Again I say to you,” Jesus adds, “if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Some take this to mean God will grant any prayer requests when two or more pray together. Most commentators, however, believe this promise is limited by the preceding context and applies only to joint prayers concerning Church disciplinary matters, where two or three witnesses are required to render a decision.13 Even so, Christians rightly believe that prayer strengthens the Christian community and that with prayer there is power in numbers. Few things exhibit the spirit of Christ like congregations of believers lovingly praying for one another.
John informs Jesus that the disciples tried to prevent someone from casting out demons in His name because the man isn’t a follower. Jesus commands, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” The man apparently did not misuse Jesus’ name. He’s a believer, just not one of the apostles, and this upsets the apostles, who are more concerned with defending their own turf than with Jesus’ work being accomplished.14
FORGIVENESS AND MERCY (MATT. 18:21–35; LUKE 17:3–4)
Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus replies, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who wants his servants to settle their debts to him. He threatens to sell one servant who cannot pay his debt of ten thousand talents, along with his wife and children and all his property. The servant begs for mercy and more time to pay. Out of pity, the king forgives his debt. But the servant later refuses to show similar compassion for a fellow servant who owes him a hundred denarii, even when he begs. Instead he puts him in prison, and other servants report the matter to the king, who severely chastises and imprisons him for failing to extend to the other servant the same sympathy the king had shown him. Jesus warns, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Jesus forgives terrible sins of those who trust in Him, and He expects us to reflect His behavior in our dealings with others. “This is not because God is unwilling to forgive,” Larry Richards observes. “It is because forgiveness is like a coin: it has two sides. We cannot have ‘heads’ (receive forgiveness) without having ‘tails’ (extend forgiveness) too.”15 Those who are unforgiving can’t expect God to forgive them. “Blessed are the merciful,” Jesus says, “for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7). He also includes forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). James expresses the same sentiment, writing, “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).
In this parable, just as with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents a higher ethic than the world would ever see. Rabbinic teaching held that a person must forgive another three times—not seven times, much less seventy-seven times.16 But we should be heartened that in the parable, the servant holds the key to his jail cell. He will only be imprisoned until he pays his debt, which is a testament to Jesus’ forgiving spirit and gracious mercy.
A larger point in this parable is that God forgives us infinitely more than seventy-seven times—more than we could ever repay. Based on our thoughts and behavior none of us deserve salvation on our own and yet, by appropriating the blood of Christ, we are forgiven. Indeed, our sinful nature even resists our efforts to nurture a forgiving spirit, but Christlikeness demands that we adopt that attitude, and so does our spiritual and mental balance. Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, puts it well: “I am constrained to express my adoration of the Author of my existence for His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state.”17
WOE TO UNREPENTANT CITIES; THE SEVENTY-TWO MESSENGERS; JESUS REJOICES IN THE FATHER’S WILL (MATT. 11:20–24; LUKE 10:1–24)
Jesus denounces the cities where most of His works have been done because they don’t repent despite seeing Him and witnessing His works in the flesh. “But I tell you,” Jesus warns, “that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Jesus appoints seventy-two disciples and sends them ahead of him, two by two, into every town where He is to go, saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Many need to hear the Gospel, but precious few evangelists are available to take the message to them.18 Reiterating that they’ll be lambs in the midst of wolves, He instructs them to go house to house, heal the sick, and tell them that “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” But as for those who won’t receive them, have nothing further to do with them.
The seventy-two return joyfully, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name,” and Jesus confirms He has given them such authority. He cautions them, however, not to rejoice about this delegated authority, but that their names are written in heaven—in other words, don’t gloat over your power, but cherish that you have been given the gift of eternal life. Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit and thanks the Father for hiding things from the wise and revealing them to little children: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus is directly proclaiming His divinity and asserting that the Father has given Him total authority to do His work.
“God the Son and God the Father know each other perfectly in the intimacy of the Trinity,” writes L. A. Barbieri.19 There are no secrets between them.20 That the Father gives the Son authority does not mean Jesus is inferior to the Father, but that within the Trinity the Father has authority over such things.21 “The Son was willing to be the suffering servant of the Father,” declares Kenneth Daughters. “He was willing to submit to the Father and carry out the Father’s will. This kind of subordination is a function of order, office, and operation, not of essence or being. Difference in function does not imply inferiority of nature. Roles distinguish service and function, not value or worth.”22 R. C. Sproul expounds, “When we speak of the subordination of Christ, we must do so with great care. Our culture equates subordination with inequality. But in the Trinity all members are equal in nature, in honor, and in glory. All three members are eternal, self-existent; they partake of all aspects of deity. In God’s plan of redemption . . . the Son voluntarily takes on a subordinate role to the Father.”23
Jesus turns to His disciples and privately tells them, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” They are privileged to be living at this time—the coming of the Son, Who is inaugurating a new era in redemptive history. The prophets only distantly wrote and dreamed about this era, but they always earnestly longed for it.24
“COME TO ME . . . AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST” (MATT. 11:25–30)
Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” He is offering relief to those burdened by the weight of strict religious requirements and encumbered by their own sinfulness. He’s inviting the weary to come to Him for solace. Jesus doesn’t require less from believers than the Law requires. “In some ways,” explains Michael Green, His standard is “more demanding. But it is the yoke of love, not of duty. It is the response of the liberated, not the duty of the obligated. And that makes all the difference.”25 Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2). Through His sacrificial death on the cross Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the Law on our behalf (Romans 8:4).
Note that Jesus imposes no conditions, but simply tells us to come to Him as we are, with all our sins and problems, and He will give us rest and peace. Few passages are more comforting, for we know we can lay all our problems, no matter how great or small, at the foot of Jesus. He in turn will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philip. 4:6–7)—though we may not understand how this peace comes about because it’s a supernatural occurrence. Referencing Paul’s ministering to other prisoners rather than dwelling on his own plight while in prison, Charles Stanley notes, “The one foundational truth he knew was that God’s peace, though mysterious and impossible to comprehend rationally, is able to see anyone through the journey of life—on a routine day or in the midst of any trial.”26
THE GOOD SAMARITAN (LUKE 10:25–37)
When a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asks him what is written in the Law. The lawyer responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says his answer is correct. The lawyer asks who his neighbor is, and Jesus relates the story of a priest and a Levite who both refuse to stop and help a man robbed, beaten, and left half dead on the road. But a Samaritan comes along and treats the man’s wounds, takes him to an inn, and pays the expenses. Jesus asks which of the three—the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan—was a neighbor to the injured man, and the man answers that it’s the one who had shown mercy. Jesus says, “You go, and do likewise.”
This summarizes the Law’s requirements as contained in the first two commandments. However, Jesus isn’t upholding salvation by works. As Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). Only through the love of Christ can we exhibit the kind of love the Law requires, and we can only achieve the love of Christ through faith in Him. “The answer given in Luke 10:27 involves a faith consisting of love for God and one’s neighbor,” writes Robert Stein, “for it is inconceivable to love God apart from faith. Furthermore, a faith that does not produce love of one’s neighbor is dead (James 2:17). It is no faith; it never was faith.”27
“The law,” says Paul, “was our guardian until Christ came. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Gal. 3:24–25). John MacArthur explains, “Since no sinner can obey perfectly, the impossible demands of the law are meant to drive us to seek divine mercy.”28
The Good Samaritan, notes John Butler, resembles the reviled Jesus in many ways—he is scorned (like all Samaritans), seeking, sympathetic, steadfast, saving, sacrificing, sheltering, and sagacious.29 He not only has compassion for the traveler but acts on it. He persists despite obstacles and inconvenience, and he sacrifices his time and money in the process. He saves the man’s life, dresses his wounds, and provides him shelter. He also demonstrates wisdom in the use of his own resources by leaving some money with the innkeeper and promising to pay any related charges later. Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24), and in Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:2).
MARY AND MARTHA; THE LORD’S PRAYER (LUKE 10:38–11:13; MATT. 6:9–13)
A woman named Martha invites Jesus to her home. Her sister Mary sits at Jesus’ feet enraptured by His teaching while Martha busies herself serving Him. Martha asks Jesus to have Mary help her “serve.” Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Jesus is teaching Martha about priorities. Household chores are important, but we must focus our hearts and minds on Him. The word “portion” has scriptural significance, for many Old Testament passages teach that our greatest possession is fellowship with God—that is our portion in life (Psalms 16:5; 27:4; 73:26; 119:57; 142:5; Joshua 18:7).30 Mary is safeguarding her portion, and Martha is neglecting hers. “When Jesus expects us to follow him all the way,” writes Michael Wilcock, “he means not a frenzy of religious activity undertaken in our own strength, but the total abandonment of ourselves to him, for him to work in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”31 As Paul declares, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philip. 2:13).
At the request of one of His disciples Jesus shows them how to pray, teaching them the Lord’s Prayer. He next relates the story about a man who goes to his friend’s house at midnight and asks for bread. The friend refuses at that hour, but when the visitor persists, the friend gives him whatever he needs. “I tell you,” teaches Jesus, “ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. . . . What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Matt. 6:9–13; Luke 11:1–13).
God is infinitely more merciful and loving than we are, even to our own children, but we should still ceaselessly go to Him in prayer and petition Him. This doesn’t mean God will give us anything we request. As noted earlier, it often wouldn’t be in our best interests if He did, for we lack His wisdom. Further, can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if the inevitably conflicting and sometimes destructive prayer requests of every believer were granted? Paul writes, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28; cf. 1 Cor. 2:9). Jesus promises that God will give a far more important gift to His children—the Holy Spirit, Who will indwell believers, give them joy (Acts 13:52; Romans 14:17; 1 Thess. 1:6),32 and empower them to resist and defeat sin (Romans 6:6).
JESUS AND THE PHARISEES (MATT. 12:22–45; MARK 3:22–30; LUKE 11:14–16; 17–54; 12:1–12)
When Jesus heals a blind and mute demon-possessed man, the amazed people ask if He is “the Son of David”—the expected Messiah. The Pharisees defiantly claim that Jesus is not working through God’s power but Satan’s. Jesus points out the absurdity of Satan casting out demons—it would be dividing his house against itself. Jesus castigates the Pharisees for blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which He decries as an unforgivable sin.
Some commentators say this sin can’t be reproduced today because it presupposes that Jesus is on earth performing miracles through the Holy Spirit’s power.33 The ESV Study Bible, however, advises, “If a person persistently attributes to Satan what is accomplished by the power of God—that is, if one makes a flagrant, willful, decisive judgment that the Spirit’s testimony about Jesus is satanic—then such a person never has forgiveness.”34 This describes someone who persists in hardening his own heart against God and puts himself outside the reach of God’s provision for forgiveness and salvation. Christians worried about this, by definition, do not fall into this category, for they have not hardened their hearts to that extent.35 Michael Wilcock explains that just as it’s impossible for God to lie, “It is impossible . . . for God to forgive one who says, ‘I will not listen to the Spirit when he brings me the message of forgiveness.’ . . . ‘I will not follow the Spirit when he points me to the Savior.’ The man who is determined to go to hell will certainly get there.”36
The Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus for a sign, as the Pharisees and Sadducees did elsewhere (Matt. 16:1–4). Once again, He refuses to perform a gratuitous miracle on demand and says they shall only get the sign of the prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the fish’s belly three days and three nights, Jesus would be in the heart of the earth.
Jesus teaches that when an unclean spirit exits a person, it returns with seven more evil spirits, comparing that with this evil generation. If this generation continues to deny Jesus after witnessing His works and ministry, their condition might be worse than if they’d never seen Him.37 Alternately, He could be inferring that Israel benefitted from the moral reformation John the Baptist and Jesus ushered in—but if the nation backslides into unbelief and hardness of heart after such a privilege, it could be left worse than it was before those ministries.38 Bruce Barton observes, “God’s people, this evil generation, privileged with prophecy and promises, would be faced with horrible judgment for rejecting their Messiah.”39 John Butler states that when a person is tempted, he must not just resist but seek positive reformation, otherwise the temptation will return with a vengeance. “Therefore, when turning from evil, do not stop there, but fill your life with the Word of God, with holy things so you do not have room for the return of evil.”40 As Paul implores, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).
Jesus accepts an invitation to eat with a Pharisee, who is aghast that Jesus does not wash before eating. Jesus says the Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and dish but are full of greed and wickedness on the inside. God made both the inside and the outside. “But woe to you Pharisees,” says Jesus, “for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. . . . For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. . . . For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
When one of the lawyers complains of being insulted, Jesus responds, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. . . . For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.” He warns them that the blood of the prophets may be charged against this generation, from Abel to Zechariah. “Woe to the lawyers,” He says, “for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” Unlike the milquetoast Jesus often portrayed in our culture, Jesus made bold judgments and called people to account for their sins, especially—as we’ve seen—those who led people away from a true relationship with God.
As Jesus leaves, the scribes and Pharisees try to provoke Him to speak of many things, hoping to catch Him in blasphemy. The Pharisees are filled with pride in wanting the best seats in the synagogues. Once again, their outward piousness masks internal impurity. They are preoccupied with rules but neglect the transformation of their hearts and the true spirit of the laws, which require justice and love for God. In comparing them to hidden graves, Jesus is condemning them as phony paragons of purity.41 His message to the lawyers—who are experts in the Torah (the Law of Moses)42—is that they, too, are placing a heavy burden on the people but are not helping them get closer to God. While they had built and maintained the tombs of the prophets, they had dishonored their message and would be judged for doing so. By distorting the true teachings of the Old Testament, they are keeping people from true knowledge and entering the kingdom.
When a crowd of thousands gathers, Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, meaning their hypocrisy. He says nothing is covered up that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be known. Everything and everyone will be exposed in time, either in this life or on the day of judgment.43 No one can hide his misdeeds from God, Who will ultimately judge everyone. They shouldn’t worry about people, who can merely kill their body, but only about God, Who has authority over their soul. God even cares about sparrows; how much more does He care about people! Jesus declares that whoever acknowledges Him before men, He will acknowledge before the angels of God, and He will deny those who deny Him.
To acknowledge Him means to accept Him as the Messiah and place faith in Him. If we vouch for Him, He will vouch for us. “This is,” says Leon Morris, “warm encouragement for judgment day.”44 Indeed, for as Warren Wiersbe observes, “How can we fear men when we know Jesus Christ is confessing us before the Father in heaven?”45 Jesus repeats His warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit and His assurance that in the future the Holy Spirit would provide them words to defend themselves against their accusers and persecutors.
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL AND LESSONS ON PRIORITIES AND WORRY (LUKE 12:13–34)
When a man asks Jesus to tell his brother to share his inheritance with him, Jesus warns him against covetousness, advising that material possessions are not the only things that matter. Covetousness is a strong desire to possess material things (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5; Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10; Matt. 6:20). It’s an aggravated form of avarice involving a cold-hearted worldliness.46 The Greek word translated in the New Testament as covetousness means, literally, an “inordinate desire to have more.”47
To illustrate the point, Jesus shares the story of a rich man’s abundant grain produce. The man says he will build larger barns to store his grain and goods, and he will relax, eat, drink, and be merry. God tells him he’s a fool because he would lose his soul that night and his possessions won’t help him. Jesus tells His disciples not to worry about their possessions, food, and clothing because life involves more than these things. They must consider the ravens, which have much less value than human beings and have no barns or storehouses, yet God feeds them. No one can add an hour to his life by worrying. God’s lilies are more beautiful than Solomon in his glorious clothing. “But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,” Jesus proclaims, “how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”
The disciples shouldn’t worry about these things because the Father knows what they need. “Instead, seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you.” The Father wants to give them the kingdom, so they should sell their possessions, give to the needy, and pursue the “treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Worrying is destructive and keeps us preoccupied with worldly things, keeping us from our true purpose—glorifying God and having a relationship with Him. Corrie ten Boom writes, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”48 To be anxious demonstrates insufficient trust in God, Who promises He will provide for “all these things” (Matt. 6:33).49 God wants us to keep our eyes on spiritual things because they’re steady, dependable, and secure. Our circumstances can shift on a moment’s notice, but if we are grounded in faith we’ll be anchored and fulfilled. We cannot achieve true security through material possessions—only God can provide it. “Those who know God as Father,” writes Joel Green, “will know God as the one capable of and committed to providing for his people. Knowing this, they are liberated from the consuming concerns of self-security.”50
Promising the disciples “these things will be added to you” if they seek God’s kingdom does not mean believers are guaranteed an abundance of riches. But they will receive a wealth of spiritual blessings and usually enjoy the basic necessities.51 That said, it cannot be denied that some Christians starve and face terrible hardships. What God ultimately guarantees here is that from an eternal perspective, everything will be made right for those who believe in Christ. To believe that God knows our needs is a comfort for all believers. Secure in that knowledge, we can turn our attention to His kingdom.52 Our ultimate destiny, eternal life with God, is what matters most.
YOU MUST BE READY FOR THE SON OF MAN’S RETURN (LUKE 12:35–48)
Jesus tells His disciples they must be spiritually prepared and always ready for His return, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding feast. “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes,” says Jesus. “But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The servant who wisely manages his master’s household is blessed, and the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. But the one who abuses his fellow servants while his master is away and neglects the household will be surprised by the unexpected return of his master, who will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. The servant who intentionally disobeys his master will be punished more severely than one who disobeys him while ignorant of his will. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required,” teaches Jesus, “and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
Christ will return but no one knows when (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32), so we must always be ready. I don’t think this just applies to Christ’s Second Coming, but also to our spiritual condition now. None of us knows how much time we have on this planet and our life could end at any moment, so we mustn’t delay in accepting God’s offer of salvation through trust in Jesus Christ. In the meantime, we must keep a heavenly focus53 and work for the kingdom of God as if today is our last day.
Just as with the parable of the talents, we must be good stewards of God’s gifts to us, and the greater the gifts, the more stewardship is required. “Those placed in positions where they will guide, influence and care for others have been entrusted with much,” writes Bruce Barton, “and therefore God has high expectations for their moral, spiritual, and ethical lives.”54 Arthur Pink extends the principle to compare our obligations, as believers, to those of the Old Testament saints. Our duties are much greater because our privileges and blessings are greater.55
NOT PEACE, BUT DIVISION (LUKE 12:49–53)
Jesus announces, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus has come to bring judgment. But first He must be baptized by being crucified. He will bring peace, but not until His Second Coming when He will permanently destroy evil and reign forever. Until then conflict, not peace, will abound. He preaches Truth, He is Truth, and in the end, no one can avoid making a decision about Him. Some will accept and receive Him, and others will reject Him, which will cause bitter conflict, even among family members, as we noted in Chapter 7.
INTERPRETING THE TIME (LUKE 12:54–56)
Jesus admonishes, “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” At the time, people are closely watching the weather because it affects farming, their primary livelihood. But they ignore spiritual matters, which are far more important. They are ignoring the present aspects of God’s kingdom—that Christ had come to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies and provide salvation for all who place their faith in Him. He is now with them, offering them the kingdom of God, but they are too preoccupied to grasp His message and accept His offer. Surely we can all agree on the timelessness of this message and its applicability to us today.
SETTLE WITH YOUR ACCUSER (LUKE 12:57–59)
Jesus rebukes the people for turning to judges rather than settling disputes among themselves. They must exercise their own good judgment. Through another parable, Jesus teaches they mustn’t vacillate too long in making peace with Christ because judgment will come, as noted above. J. C. Ryle writes, “This passage teaches us . . . the immense importance of seeking reconciliation with God before it [is] too late. . . . Peace with God is by far the first thing in religion.”56
REPENT OR PERISH (LUKE 13:1–5)
Informing Jesus about certain Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were making sacrifices, some people ask Jesus whether the Galileans’ unusual suffering meant they were particularly egregious sinners. Jesus clarifies that their physical suffering is not necessarily related to their spiritual state. All people are sinners and will die, so what’s most important is that all repent and come to Jesus in faith to receive the gift of eternal life.
THE PARABLE OF THE BARREN FIG TREE (LUKE 13:6–9)
Jesus relates a parable involving a man whose fig tree hasn’t produced fruit for three years, so he instructs his vinedresser to cut it down. The vinedresser orders him to leave it for another year while he digs around it and spreads manure. It will hopefully bear fruit the next year, but if not, he may cut it down then. The vinedresser is Jesus, our great Intercessor,57 who appeals to the Father to give people, or the nation of Israel, another chance. God is patient and merciful, and gives people chance after chance while withholding His judgment. But they must repent before judgment comes upon them, and their faith must be genuine so as to produce fruit in their lives (James 2:14–26). What is this fruit? Paul answers the question: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:22–24).
JESUS HEALS A DISABLED WOMAN (LUKE 13:10–17)
When Jesus is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath He notices a woman who is doubled over from an eighteen-year disability. Jesus calls her and says, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” When He lays His hands on her she is immediately healed and glorifies God. The ruler of the synagogue furiously scolds the people for this Sabbath healing—even though the people had nothing to do with it—because he isn’t brave enough to confront Jesus. Jesus calls the ruler and his supporters hypocrites—they lead their oxen and donkeys to water on the Sabbath, so why can’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham, be shown compassion and be healed on the holy day? The ruler is shamed but the people rejoice.
Earlier Jesus had established that He is Lord of the Sabbath, but now He demonstrates the meaning of the Sabbath.58 The ruler is interested only in the rules of the Sabbath and misunderstands that God provided the Sabbath for man’s benefit, not to further burden him. The ruler is actually in worse bondage than the woman was, for his self-enslavement is spiritual—a matter of the heart and mind.59 Though Satan possesses her, he only enslaves her body, not her spirit, as evidenced by her attendance at this service. Her affliction is caused by demonic possession, and the Sabbath, of all days, should not be a day when Satan gets a pass.
THE UNBELIEF OF JESUS’ BROTHERS (JOHN 7:1–9)
Jesus is in Galilee and will not go to the Jews’ Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) in Judea, knowing they’re seeking to kill Him. This is one of the most important Jewish feasts, in which Jews thank God for His past and present provision, and contemplate their wilderness wanderings when He protected them.60 Jesus’ brothers (his actual brothers, who are still not believers) chide Him for not going, claiming no one works in secret if he seeks to be known publicly and that He should show Himself to the world. They’re arguing that Jesus could gain more converts by going where the crowds are—in Judea. They don’t understand that He is preparing to show Himself to the world, though not in the way they anticipate—not strictly through more miraculous signs, but through His humiliation and death on the cross.
Jesus says His time has not yet come. A recurring theme in John (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20) is that Jesus cannot allow Himself to be captured and crucified until He completes His earthly ministry, and His brothers obviously don’t yet recognize this danger. The world hates Him because He exposes man’s evil. Jesus is the light of the world Who shines brightly on man’s evil deeds, and evildoers hate the light (John 3:19–21; 5:37–38, 41–45).61 But the world cannot hate the brothers because, as unbelievers, they are part of the world that rejects Jesus, so they should go on to the feast. Jesus’ brothers show they are of the world by second-guessing Him and presuming to know how to run His ministry better than He does.
JESUS REJECTED AT A SAMARITAN VILLAGE; THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP (LUKE 9:51–62)
Jesus’ ministry is at a turning point. He is ready to go to Jerusalem toward the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension.62 As He is preparing to go, He sends messengers ahead of Him, and they enter a Samaritan village on the way to Jerusalem to make preparations for Him. The people, however, will not receive Him there because He is set on going to Jerusalem—Samaritans despise the city and view His traveling there as a rejection of Samaritan worship, which is centered on Mount Gerizim, not in the Temple in Jerusalem. James and John ask if He wants them to summon fire from heaven to consume those rejecting Him. He rebukes them for the suggestion, and they go on to another village. The Samaritans’ rejection of Jesus is wrong, but He wants His disciples to focus on the mission—Jerusalem.63
When back on the road, someone promises Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” He has no time for a home or creature comforts because He’s on His way to die for mankind’s redemption. “This is an incidental glimpse of the cost of the incarnation,” writes Leon Morris. “And it shows that the disciples must not reckon on luxurious living.”64 If they want to put their words into action and truly follow Christ, they must be homeless like He is and give up the shelter and security of a home.65
Jesus commands another person to “follow me,” but the person says, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus replies, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another person asks Jesus permission to first say goodbye to his family, and Jesus replies, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
While these exchanges may sound harsh, the point is that loyalty to Christ must take precedence over all other concerns. Jesus is not disrespecting the dead but emphasizing that His followers have the urgent task of spreading the good news of life in Him. There would be no procrastination.66 In forbidding the other man to say farewell to his family, Jesus is not lecturing on Christian backsliding. Instead, he’s stressing that people must not be half-hearted in their discipleship67 but singularly focused on their work.68
JESUS TEACHES IN JERUSALEM (JOHN 7:10–8:11)
Though Jesus tells His disciples He won’t go to the Feast of Booths, He later goes privately. The Jews are looking for Him, and many are talking about Him, some positively and some negatively. But people don’t speak openly of Him for fear of the religious hierarchy, which can excommunicate them.69
About midway through the feast Jesus goes into the Temple and astounds with His teaching. “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied” people ask, betraying their arrogance about their exclusive expertise and their ignorance of Jesus’ identity. Jesus replies, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”
Christ’s knowledge and discernment is superior to theirs despite His having no formal rabbinic training. He deftly turns their accusation on them, noting that while boasting of their expertise in the Law, they continually break it and worst of all, plot to kill Him—the very Giver of the Law. Though Jesus’ charges are mainly directed at the authorities—the Sanhedrin—the people are hardly innocent, for many of them will eventually clamor, “Crucify Him.”70
The crowd accuses Jesus of having a demon. He points out their hypocrisy in judging Him for healing on the Sabbath when they perform circumcisions on the Sabbath if it happens to fall on the eighth day after the child’s birth, the day on which the Law requires circumcision. If technically violating the Sabbath to perfect one part of the body is permissible, how much more so to heal a sick person? “Do not judge by appearances,” cautions Jesus, “but judge with right judgment.” Right judgment is wise judgment, which involves far more than mechanically following rules. While they are fastidiously obsessed with every syllable of the Law, they obscure their own vision and blind themselves from recognizing the Messiah. Jesus denounces sanctimonious legalism and demands moral and theological discernment.71
Some people ask if Jesus is the One the authorities are seeking to kill. They wonder if they’re leaving Him alone because they actually know He’s the Messiah. But the people say Jesus can’t be the Messiah because they know where He comes from, and no one will know where the Messiah comes from. This is based on their mistaken belief that the Messiah would appear out of nowhere.72 Though the prophet Micah predicted the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, some rabbis taught that the Messiah would be completely unknown until He appeared on the scene to deliver them from their oppressors.73
Their attitude validates, again, Jesus’ declaration that a prophet has no honor in his hometown. They know this lowly Jesus, who comes from ordinary people, so how can He be the Messiah? This exemplifies the widespread human traits of jealousy and arrogance. Jesus responds, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” Just as they expected the Messiah to be a military deliverer, they didn’t know He would make Himself lowly and experience life like all other human beings do. They didn’t realize the Messiah “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philip. 4:6–8). Though they want to arrest Him, they don’t “because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him.” God is sovereign and He will not allow Jesus’ work to be terminated prematurely.
When the Pharisees hear the crowd talking about Jesus, they send officers to arrest Him. Jesus says, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” This confounds the Jews, who wonder where He could go that they wouldn’t find Him—to the Gentiles, perhaps? Furthermore, as His audience has no idea who sent Him—the Father—they don’t understand Jesus will return to Him when He is taken up to a place they can scarcely imagine, much less identify. It’s interesting to contrast this with Jesus’ teaching that those who seek Him will find Him. Here, those seeking Him will not find Him because they are seeking Him not as their Savior, but to arrest and kill Him.74
On the last day of the feast—the most important day—Jesus stands up and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” In standing up and speaking loudly, when rabbis normally teach while seated, Jesus is making an emphatic statement.75 The water He’ll provide is the Holy Spirit, Who will indwell believers after He has ascended and infuse them with life. This is consistent with Jesus’ teaching to the Samaritan woman that whoever drinks the water He provides will become a spring that bubbles up to everlasting life. Upon hearing this, the people argue among themselves whether Jesus truly is the Messiah. Some want to arrest Him, but no one lays a hand on Him.
When the Pharisees and chief priests ask the officers why they did not arrest Jesus as commanded, they say, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees tell them they’ve been deceived, noting that neither the authorities nor the Pharisees believe in Him. Nicodemus, one of their own who had gone to Jesus before, asks, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They reply, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” The authorities are accusing Nicodemus of being as ignorant as the Galileans—otherwise he would know the Messiah could not be Galilean.76
The exclamation, “No one ever spoke like this man!” has always been one of my favorite passages of Scripture. The officers don’t arrest Jesus because He is, self-evidently, the Messiah, though they don’t see it. It confirms that the Gospels present Jesus as such a unique individual—such a transcendent figure—that no one, even the most gifted author in history, could have fabricated Him. His actions and words make it clear to anyone with an open heart that He is the Son of God. Not only is He sinless, not only does He speak with unparalleled authority, He simply exudes sublime, divine perfection in every aspect of His being. “After reading the doctrine of Plato, Socrates, or Aristotle,” says Joseph Parker, “we feel that the specific difference between their words and Christ’s is the difference between an inquiry and a revelation.”77
Arriving at the Temple early in the morning, Jesus sits down and teaches the people. Planning to trip Him up, the scribes and Pharisees bring an adulterous woman before Him and say, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” Jesus bends down and writes with His finger on the ground. When they persist, He stands up and says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He bends down again and writes on the ground. The scribes and Pharisees leave, one by one, and Jesus remains alone with the woman. “Woman, where are they?” he asks. “Has no one condemned you?” She says, “No one, Lord.” And He says, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
One striking aspect of this story is that the authorities don’t actually care about the woman’s sin—they’re exploiting her solely to entrap Jesus. Just as He refuses to be ensnared by the Pharisees and Herodians when they ask about the legality of Caesar’s taxes, however, He gives them an unexpected answer that penetrates to their souls, forcing them to consider their own motives and hearts, and exposing their hypocrisy and malice. Zealous to condemn the sins of others and to discredit the Savior, they are blind to their own sin. In the face of the Living God, they have no choice but to walk away in shame.
It should be noted that many scholars deny this story was part of John’s original Gospel because it was not in the oldest manuscripts.78 Nevertheless, even if that’s true the event still likely occurred, with the story about it circulating as part of the Church’s oral tradition.79 To be sure, it certainly fits with other events where Jesus sees right through the Pharisees’ sinister motives and leaves them speechless.
JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (JOHN 8:12–30)
Tensions continue to rise between Jesus and the Pharisees. From this point, says Dr. Joel Willitts, “the ink has all but been dried on Jesus’ crucifixion. The religious leaders have had enough of this guy, and they’re ready to deal swiftly and violently with him.”80 Jesus repeats that He is the light of the world and that those who follow Him will have the light of life. The Bible reveals God’s radiant light, as with the transfiguration, but, as noted, also presents “light” as symbolic of God and His holiness (Psalms 36:9; 1 John 1:5) and Jesus as the light (John 1:4, 9) Who will bring those who believe in Him out of sin and darkness.
The Pharisees accuse Jesus of lying and of bearing witness about Himself, which is anathema according to Rabbinic tradition.81 After all, Jesus had conceded earlier, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true” (John 5:31). Their charge gives Jesus an opportunity to define Himself as divinely authoritative and to further describe His relationship with the Father, demonstrating He’s not merely self-authenticating. Jesus replies, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”
While Jesus acknowledges that ordinary men cannot vouch for themselves, He is no ordinary man. He is also God and knows things they cannot fathom. He is the light of the world, and light needs no corroborative witnesses. It shows its reality by its radiance.82 Their perspective, however, is of the flesh, of the world. They are in no position to judge Him because they are ignorant of the two fundamental issues He raises: where He came from and where He’s going.83
My friend Pastor Donald Fortner, a prolific author who specializes in the Christ-centeredness of Scripture, tells me that in reading the Bible we must focus on six major questions about Jesus Christ:
1. Who is He?
2. Why did He come?
3. What did He accomplish?
4. Why did He die?
5. Where is He now?
6. What is He doing?
Many of these are the same issues Jesus is raising with the Pharisees. They have no idea where He came from because they don’t know Who He is. They don’t know why He has come because they don’t know what He’s going to accomplish. They don’t know the real reason He will die, though they have their own reasons for plotting to kill Him. And they certainly don’t know where He will be in the future or what He’ll be doing.
While Jesus shows He can vouch for Himself, He doesn’t need to because the Father sent Him and bears witness about Him. The Pharisees say, “Where is your Father?” and Jesus answers, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” Their question proves they don’t know God like they think they do. Yet they are proud because they believe they have special knowledge of Him, and they’re surely offended by Jesus’ claims.84 But they don’t arrest Him “because his hour had not yet come.”
Jesus says He’s going away to a place they cannot come and warns they will die in their sins unless they believe in Him. The Jews then wonder whether He means He will kill Himself. They simply don’t get it, though they accidentally brush up against a partial truth: Jesus will not kill Himself directly but will voluntarily lay down His life so that we can live (John 10:11, 18).
He is from above, not of this world, and they are from below and of this world. They belong to the world, where Satan rules (1 John 5:19).85 Unless they believe in Him they will die in their sins. Can you imagine the affront this is to them? They ask Him, “Who are you?” They are asking Him, essentially, “Who do you think you are?” Jesus answers, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.” Some commentators say Jesus’ answer is unclear.86 Others believe He’s just refusing to answer their question directly because it would result in endless argument. He has already told them Who He is, and they are impervious to it (John 8:43).87 He said He is the bread of life (John 6:35), that He has come from Heaven to do God’s will (John 6:38), that by eating His flesh and drinking His blood one may gain eternal life (John 6:54), that those who come to Him and drink will have living water flowing from their hearts (John 7:37–38), and that He is the light of the world (John 8:12).88 Taken separately, or together, the unmistakable message is that He is the Son of God.
Jesus asserts, “I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” The Pharisees don’t realize He’s been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” Jesus’ authority comes from the Father—a concept foreign to them because it involves the Trinity. They won’t understand Who He is until He’s crucified, resurrected, and ascended—if then. As He teaches, many begin to believe in Him, as difficult as it is for them, which demonstrates the sheer force of Jesus Himself and of His message.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE; YOU ARE OF THE FATHER THE DEVIL (JOHN 8:31–47)
Jesus tells the Jews who believe in Him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They ask why they need to be freed, as they are Abraham’s offspring and have never been slaves. They obviously don’t mean that the Jews, as a people, have never been slaves, given their enslavement by Egypt and other powers. More likely they’re making a religious statement based on their belief that they’re God’s spiritual children and Abraham’s descendants.89
In response Jesus explains, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” This is an interesting paradox because it’s difficult to see how we’ll be freer when Jesus calls us to an even higher standard of living. But when you can’t resist the temptation to sin, you’re not in control, which is a kind of slavery. Christ can release you from that bondage. To be out from under the controlling influence of sin is to be free. “Truth only can set the mind free from its bondage under ignorance and prejudice and evil habit,” writes Rev. H. M. D. Spence. “If the Light of the world shines into the dark places of the heart, the chains [that before were] misunderstood will not only become visible, but will be broken. Godet beautifully says that ‘the empire of sin in a human heart is based upon an illusion, a fascination. Let truth shine, and the spell is broken, the will is disgusted with that which seduced it—‘the bird escapes from the net of the fowler.’”90
Jesus continues, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” It’s odd, but no less true, that they are descendants of Abraham yet seek to kill Jesus, Who is also Abraham’s offspring and the One who fulfills God’s covenantal promises to Abraham. They are Abraham’s physical descendants, but not his spiritual descendants. As Paul declares, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. . . . This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6–8; cf. 2:28–29). He further affirms, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).
Jesus says, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” His words are reinforced by His relationship with the Father, but they listen to a different father—the devil (John 8:44). This “father” is the antithesis of the God of Abraham, the Father of unbounded love.91 Again, would the passive Jesus depicted in our modern culture dare tell a group of people that their father is the devil?
They insist Abraham is their father but Jesus corrects 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.” They continue to protest, saying they aren’t sexually immoral because they follow the one Father. Jesus proclaims,
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.
They are incapable of understanding Him and grasping the truth because they are spiritually dull and follow the devil rather than the true God. William Hendriksen explains that the term “the truth” is far reaching here. It is “used in the sense of that universe of ideas which corresponds with reality as revealed to the Son by the Father.”92 It concerns man’s total depravity, the deathly consequences of that condition, and God’s plan of redemption through the Son.93
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM (JOHN 8:48–59)
Now we turn to another one of my favorite passages of Scripture, in which Jesus asserts His deity so powerfully that only hard-hearted readers deny it. The Jews ask Him if He is a Samaritan and has a demon. Jesus answers, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Indignant, the Jews tell Him they’re now sure He has a demon because He’s engaging in crazy talk. Abraham died, so how will lesser mortals escape death? They say, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus responds, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 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. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” The mortified Jews cry out, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” They pick up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hides himself—perhaps supernaturally94—and leaves the Temple.
It’s as if Jesus is leading them into further revelation, step by step, until they arrive at the inescapable conclusion that He is claiming to be God. When they ask Him how He could have seen Abraham, who lived some two thousand years before, Jesus prefaces His climactic declaration with “Truly, truly,” to signify He is about to make a solemn pronouncement. His declaration is jaw dropping. Notice He doesn’t say, “Before Abraham was, I was,” but “Before Abraham was, I am.” He didn’t just pre-exist Abraham, He pre-existed all of creation. Had He said, “I was,” it could have implied there was a time He didn’t exist. But by saying, “I Am,” He means He has always existed.
Furthermore, “I am” is the short form of the name God used to identify Himself to Moses—“I am Who I Am” (Exodus 3:14; Deut. 32:39; cf. Isaiah 43:10).
Jesus is indisputably identifying Himself as God. Indeed, John begins His Gospel affirming these truths. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1–4). In this context “the Word” (logos) means God, the Son.
The Jews understand Jesus plainly, which is why they want to stone Him. Seventeenth century theologian John Owen writes, “Upon the mentioning of his pre-existence to his incarnation—‘Before Abraham was, I am,’ . . .—they fell into a great rage and madness, and took up stones to cast at him.” They later clearly state the reason: “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33).95 Indeed, if Jesus truly is God, which I believe with all my heart, then His words are the most important ones ever spoken, which is one reason I felt compelled to write this book.