A Case of Mistaken Identity

Talk about mistaken identity that can really ruin your day as it did a few years ago for a former NBA basketball star Eddie Johnson. Eddie Johnson had a great career 18 years in the NBA over 20,000 points. Most of his career, the best part of his career, spent with the Phoenix Suns and he retired 6'8", scoring machine and landed a job as a TV commentator there in Phoenix and was well respected in the community for all of his philanthropic work, his work with children, his public speaking, motivational speeches and so forth. Until one day it was reported that Eddie Johnson was arrested for battery and burglary. Problem was this was another Eddie Johnson who had also played in the NBA by the way but was only six foot two different guy and so the real good Eddie Johnson started getting all these phone calls, shocked friends and people who knew him and Phoenix started calling him expressing outrage at his deception and his double life and all of that and here's what he said he said the thing that disappointed me the most is some people were overzealous enough to think it was me and attack me with a ferocity I can't comprehend. That's the part that didn't allow me to sleep last night. That's the part that forced me to reach out to as many people as I could and say shame on you. That's not me. He spent the next several days trying to get the word out about who he is and that he wasn't the guy being reported on in the news outlets as someone who had committed those crimes. He said my name is everything. I don't fault the other Eddie Johnson for having that name I think it's a great name. He just doesn't happen to be a great guy. Case of mistaken identity it can really ruin you. What we're looking at today in John chapter 8 is a case of mistaken identity. It is really the height of this battle, this long ongoing battle between the religious leaders in Jerusalem and Jesus over who he was. It is the purpose of John's gospel as we have been seeing to identify who Jesus is. And there's a reason for that. John chapter 20 and verse 31 John tells us here's the reason I wrote this book. I wrote it. I included the miracles that Jesus did in this book. I included the sayings and preaching that Jesus did in this book for this reason so that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Son of God. And because of that believing that you might have a life through his name. So John says the reason I wrote this book is so that you'd get clear Jesus identity who he was and so that believing in who he was you could have life in his name. So it's no surprise that John centers his book around the great controversies about who Jesus was, Jesus person. Time and time again we've already seen that as far back as chapter 5 which doesn't seem that far back in chapters but is actually a couple of years before where we are in chapter 8. As far back as chapter 5 and verse 18 they sought to killing why because he was calling God his own father making himself equal with God. It was an issue of his identity over who he was in chapter 6 and verse 14 the crowd that saw the feeding of the 5,000 wanted to take and make him king by force. The question was who are you? We think you're a political deliverer. We want to make you our king in chapter 6 verses 41 and 42 some of the Jews were saying they're grumbling about him because he says I'm the bread that came down from heaven. He says is they say is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how can he now say I came down from heaven a question over who he was. Who are you? What is your identity in chapter 7? We saw it several times in verse 12 some of the crowd at the feast were whispering he's a good man. Others said no he deceives the people. The question is his identity. Who is he in verses 25 to 27 of chapter 7 some of the people are saying isn't this the man they're trying to kill? Here he is speaking publicly they're not doing anything about him. Have they concluded that he's the Messiah? Have they come to that conclusion about his identity but they go on to say we know where this man is from when Messiah comes no one will always from question of his identity again chapter 7 verses 40 to 43 some people are saying surely this man is the prophet others say he's the Messiah some are saying how can the Messiah come from Galilee questions about his identity over and over and over again that reaches its peak in chapter 8 in chapter 8 the intensity of Christ's claims as to who he is reach a peak in this book and the intensity of the rejection of the religious leaders reaches a peak in this book as well or in this chapter as well and it all centers around two questions in this chapter look at verse 25 chapter 8 verse 25 who are you they asked now skip down to verse 53 are you greater than our father Abraham he died and so did the prophets who do you think you are who are you who do you think you are around those questions John reaches the mountain peak of this controversy with the religious leaders over the identity of Jesus it is a case of mistaken identity they do not understand who he is and in response to those questions who are you who do you think you are Jesus made three clear claims as to his identity three very clear claims as to who he was the first one is Jesus says I am the light of the world now we're going to cover a lot of ground this morning so we have to summarize some things we're going to cover verses 12 through 59 and some of you to wake up the person beside you that fainted over there we're going to try to cover a lot of verses this morning but what I want to do notice that Jesus says in verse 12 Jesus when Jesus spoke into the people he said I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life and then enters the Pharisees talking in controversy with him over who he is in the next number of verses verses 13 through 29 you find what it means to be in darkness looking at the Pharisees you see what it's like to be in darkness so we're going to look first at man's darkness in verses 13 to 29 because you cannot appreciate the light that Christ offers unless you first of all understand the darkness that we are in the Pharisees symbolize illustrate or a clear picture of the three kinds of darkness spiritual darkness that we are in without Christ if you do not know Christ you are in spiritual darkness and that means three things first of all it means you are without God you're without God look at verse 13 the Pharisees challenged him here you are appearing as your own witness your testimony is not valid Jesus answered even if I testify on my own behalf my testimony is valid for I know where I came and where I'm going but you have no idea where I came from where I come from or where I'm going you judge by human standards I pass judgment on no one pause for just a moment he's not saying that he would never judge or wasn't judging in that instance he's just saying I'm not judging like you you use human standards that's not the way I judge he goes on to explain verse 16 but if I do judge my decisions are true because I'm not alone I stand with the father who sent me in your own law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true I am one who testifies for myself my other witnesses the father who sent me then they ask him where is your father let me pause just a moment to really get at what was happening here a couple of three times in this controversy in this chapter they will question who Jesus father is and they will make a claim as to who their father is it is very possible I think probable that they are casting accusations at who is your father anyway you don't have a father do you it was assumed of course in that day that Joseph may have been Jesus father by the regular populace but most people just felt many people felt that Mary had an illegitimate son and that's what they're getting at here when they question his parentage they're literally making an accusation about him notice his response they asked him where is your father and Jesus says you do not know me or my father Jesus replied if you knew me you would know my father also here's the point if you are without Christ you are without God Jesus says it plainly if you knew me you would know my father but you don't know me so you don't know my father very clearly part of being in spiritual darkness if you do not know Christ then you don't know God either we've seen that before back in chapter five I want to make that point very clear I don't care how religious you are I don't care how many times you've been baptized catacombs you the eyes or whatever you've been eyes it doesn't matter it doesn't matter how religious you are if you don't have Christ you don't have God you don't have the father either every major world religion that denies Jesus Christ as the Savior is without God don't let people tell you Allah and God are the same they are not don't let people tell you that the Hindus or the Buddhists they're sincere surely they're good people surely they'll be in heaven if you don't know Christ you don't know God that is very plain in this passage if you don't receive Christ you don't know God now are we thus condemning people to hell callously of course not that very truth ought to motivate us with a passion to reach people who don't know Christ so that they can know God so that they can be in heaven with us someday but if you are without Christ you are without God if you don't know him you don't know the father Jesus makes that clear so to be in spiritual darkness means that you are without God secondly it means you are without hope verse 20 simply tells us that Jesus spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put yet no one seized him because his hour had not yet come now look at verses 21 to 24 these describe what it means to be without hope in spiritual darkness once more Jesus said to them I am going away and you will look for me and you will die in your sin where I go you cannot come this made the Jews ask will it kill himself is that why he says where I go you cannot come but he continued you are from below I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he you will indeed die in your sins notice three times in these four verses Jesus says you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he if you do not believe that I'm who I claim to be the son of God who came to this world to be the savior if you do not believe that you will die in your sins and my friend that is hopeless that's what it means to be without hope because when you die in your sins it means you die without God's forgiveness it means that you die facing an eternity of paying yourself for every one of your sins in an eternity in hell when you die without your sins being forgiven it means that you face a christless hopeless eternity it means that you cannot go to heaven that's why Jesus said you cannot come where I'm going I'm from above I'm that's where I'm going back to but you cannot come there you will die in your sins my friend to be without Christ means that you die in your sins having to pay for your own sins do you see that do you recognize how hopeless that is there is no hope in eternity if you don't come to Christ you will spend all eternity paying for your own sins you will die in your sins so to be in spiritual darkness without the light of Christ means to be without God it means to be without hope thirdly it means to be without understanding and here's the problem you may not even understand that you may not see it you don't grasp where you are notice how Jesus describes this in verses 25 to 29 verse 25 who are you they asked just what I've been telling you from the beginning Jesus replied I have much to say in judgment of you but he who sent me is trustworthy and what I have heard from him I tell the world now look at verse 27 they did not understand that he was telling them about his father so Jesus said 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 but speak just what the father has taught me the one who sent me is with me he has not left me alone for I always do what pleases him they did not understand first of all in verse 25 they didn't understand who Jesus was who are you they said in Jesus and I'm the one I've been telling you about all all along from the beginning you don't understand and then they don't understand the father either they don't understand verse 27 that he was telling them about his father they are clueless spiritually they have no spiritual understanding here's the dangerous thing about being outside of Christ here's the dangerous thing about not knowing Christ and that is that you may not even grasp where you are you may not even understand where you are in fact you do not have the capacity to understand the gravity of your situation even what it means to die in your sins to be without God you don't grasp that here's what Paul said about the mind of an unbeliever in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 18 he said they unbelievers Gentiles in the passage but speaking of all unbelievers they are darkened in their understanding see the absence of light there no light darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them do that a hardening of their hearts when you harden your heart against Christ when you refuse to receive him it introduces into your very thought processes an ignorance of spiritual things and you are literally blinded darkened in your understanding to where you cannot grasp spiritual things and that's dangerous that's why your neighbor that's why your friend your coworker maybe even your family member who does not know Christ doesn't understand you why are spiritual things so important to you why do you always want to go to church why do you why in the world do you believe that old book of fairy tales as being God's word why do you believe the cultural issues of the day like you do how anyone in the right mind believe the homosexuality is a sin how would anybody in the right mind think that abortion is wrong come on get up the date get up with speed that's people don't understand they cannot understand their understanding is darkened why because they're without Christ and to be without Christ is to be without understanding and to have the mind totally confused and on a different plane completely Jesus says you don't know who I am you don't know who the father is you're in darkness so you see my friend spiritual darkness to be without Christ is your savior means that you are without God you don't have God you are without hope you have no hope of eternity with Christ because your sins are not forgiven and you have no understanding spiritually of really what life is all about that's why you need the life that's why you need to come to Christ and back to verse 12 Christ says I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life Jesus Christ is the light and the power that would have had when Jesus spoke it in the setting where he was remember we're at the Feast of Tabernacles it's just finished Jesus is still teaching in the temple the crowds who are still there but they've just gone through seven days and then an eighth day which is a kind of a feast of dedication of Sabbath feast after the Feast of Tabernacles they've gone through eight days of these observances we've seen some of them the sacrifices the offering of the water reminding them of the water coming out of the rot to meet Israel's needs and the wilderness but there was also a ceremony of lights in the ceremony of the Feast of Tabernacles as well in the temple and we have a picture of it for you so you can kind of see where this would be verse 20 tells us that Jesus is one the part of the temple teaching where the money was given where the people gave their money the treasury that's this this area right here it's also called the port of the women the area around these kind of collinated porch areas around is where people would give their their money and there were these trumpet shaped bowls that people would drop different sized coins into but on the Feast of Tabernacles something else would be put in this area I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it I wish I could get one it's amazing to think of there would be four candle labyrinths have you ever seen a Jewish menorah kind of a candle stick that has eight prongs to it one in the middle three on each side that's seven isn't it seven prongs to it um anyway it's got a bunch of you ever seen one of those well really big ones would be put in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles four of them one at each corner right here right here right here and right here and they were as tall as the the highest roof line would be huge structures each of the bowls at the top and there would be at least seven of them on each one each of the bowls on top would hold 65 liters of oil and every day young healthy priests would climb up a ladder make sure they were full and light the wicks that were coming out of those bowls made of the old worn out garments of the priests and the Jewish mission of which is the recorded part of Jewish oral tradition tells us that it would light up the whole temple just with blazing light and in fact the whole city of Jerusalem would come alive with light and priests would dance and play music and they would pray and worship god all night long in remembrance of the pillar of fire at night the light that god gave them to show his presence among them and Jesus is saying I'm the light with those candelabra still standing in the temple with the wicks still darkened with the remembrance fresh in their minds of the whole city of glow at night with that light Jesus says I am the light I am God's provision for you I am God's presence among you I am the light of the world I light up not only Jerusalem not only the temple I light up the world I came to get my life for everyone and my light to everyone my friend it is only as you know Jesus Christ is your savior that your darkness can be shattered that the light of Christ can invade your life and dispel the darkness Jesus deals with all three forms of darkness if you are without God he says in verse 19 if you knew me you would know the Father so he deals with that form of darkness if you are without hope he says in verse 24 I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he you will indeed die in your sins the implication is if you receive me you get forgiveness of your sins he gives you light instead of the darkness he says it this way in verse 28 when you've lifted up the son of man then you will know that I am he that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the fathers taught me then you will know then you will have understanding if you're without understanding Christ meets that need he shatters all of the spiritual darkness because he is the light he's the light I can remember when I was a kid they used to bring a carnival to Princeton some of you who've been here a while can remember that it was down in what we used to call Stumpy Bottom and they'd fill that place up with Saul Dust back where some of the shopping centers are now it was just a swamp and they would bring a carnival every year and set that up there and I can remember one of the things they had was a spookhouse and I don't think my parents ever knew I went in that but I did I was this little kid and I can remember going in that spookhouse and I was scared to death because one of the parts of that spookhouse and I wanted to get out so bad when I got to that part was a narrow dark hallway absolutely dark there were sounds you didn't know what was going to jump out at you you didn't know where you were going to step or what you were going to step into or off of you know as you're walking through and you're just kind of feeling your way along the wall trying to get through that hallway it was for kid it was it was scary because it was so dark and I remember you kind of rounded a corner and then you saw the light of the door I never was so glad to see the light in all my life as when I saw that light and I rushed toward the light because the darkness was horrible darkness is horrible my friend to be without God is horrible to die in your sins is horrible to be without the life that Christ gives and without the understanding that you even need that that's horrible to be so deceived that's horrible and yet Jesus offers you the light run to the light rush to the light come to Jesus he is the light of the world that dispels all the darkness and hopelessness of being without him Jesus says I am the light of the world but he makes a second claim and that second claim is I am the liberator from bondage not only am I the light of the world I am the liberator from bondage look at verse 30 even as he spoke many many believed in him to the Jews who had believed him Jesus said if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples and Jesus is kind of giving them a test of whether or not they are true believers or whether or not they're just kind of being swayed in their minds again by the crowd by the popularity of a public figure whatever so he's kind of giving them that test you know if you really follow my teachings then you prove that you're my my disciple look at verse 32 then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free his very words that you will be set free indicate that you're not free that you're in bondage and the Pharisees don't like that they don't like that at all and so they answered in verse 33 we are Abraham's descendants that have never been slaves of anyone how can you say that we shall be set free kind of ironic they would say that under the yoke of Roman bondage right but they're very proud of the fact that they've Abraham's children and they have never been in bondage they say to anybody they resist the idea that they're in bondage but Jesus points out two kinds of bondage they're in and they're the same two kinds of bondage that put people in slavery today first of all there's the bondage to sin notice it verse 34 Jesus replied very truly I tell you everyone who sins is a slave to sin now let that sink in for a moment please understand what he's saying everyone who sins is a slave to sin that's the kind of bondage he's talking about it's spiritual bondage it's bondage to sin and please notice he says everyone who sins is a slave to sin now don't raise your hand answer in your heart how many people in this room have ever sinned that you don't have to raise your hand I think I'd be pretty safe in saying 100% everyone who has sinned is a slave to sin you see outside of Christ we're all in bondage you say well I understand people who have addictions yeah they're in but no no no everyone who sins Jesus says if you've ever sinned one time you're in bondage to sin you know why because it just demonstrates your nature we are all born with a sinful nature we come into this world with a nature that inevitably drags us in that way and so although it may not be addictions it may be deceit and lying and lust or whatever else it could be there's not a person in this room exempt from this statement because Jesus says if you have ever sinned anyone who sins is a slave to sin because it just demonstrates your nature which is a fallen sinful nature and inevitably drags you into bondage that direction towards sin you say well yeah I understand murderers and thieves and lawless people no no Jesus doesn't say if you've ever committed a crime he says anyone who sins everyone who sins is a slave to sin so we are all in bondage to sin and just like the Pharisees people don't like to admit that I'm not in bondage to sin well let's try to nail this down just a little bit more then look at these passages Titus chapter 3 in verse 3 Paul says at one time we too speaking to the church in the Titus is battering in creed we too we believers we too were fully disobedient deceived notice and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures we too we who are now saved we were at one time enslaved we were in slavery to sin Paul makes it clear again in Colossians 1 verse 13 when he says for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness we were in a kingdom of darkness it was Satan's kingdom and Jesus we couldn't get ourselves out we were in bondage that so Jesus had to come rescue us he rescued us from the dominion of darkness brought us into the kingdom of the Son he left look at his description and Ephesians if you still doubt whether or not all of us were once in bondage to sin Paul says at this way says ask for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air that Satan you were his follower the spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient all of us no exceptions all of us Paul says writing to the Ephesian church all of us also lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts what he's saying is we all had the sinful nature and it pulled us in bondage we were in bondage to it it pulled us towards sin all the time and that's the way we lived so we lived before we came to Christ so there is a bondage to sin and you can call it what you want you can call it mistakes you can call it emotional weaknesses you can call it temperament flaws you can call it whatever you want you can call it a personality court what God says is if there's any disobedience to his word or failing to live up to his character it is sin it's sin and so we're all in the same boat we have all sin Paul says in Romans 3 and we fall short of the glory of God so there's a bondage to sin these people didn't realize they were in bondage to sin maybe you don't realize you are in bondage to sin you're in slavery to your own sinful nature and while it may not lead you or you may not at least give in to doing the worst kinds of publicly humiliating sins if you're honest you know that they're sin in your heart in your mind in your attitudes in your actions they're sin so we're in bondage to sin but that's not the only kind of bondage that he points out they're also in bondage to religion to religious systems look at verse 37 I know that your Abraham's descendants that's what they've claimed back in verse 33 Jesus says I know that your Abraham's descendants yet you are looking for a way to kill me because you have no room for my word I'm telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence and you are doing what you've heard from your father Abraham is our father they answered again a little bit of uh dagger in the side of Jesus we know who our Father is if you were Abraham's children said Jesus then you would do what Abraham did as it is you're looking for a way to kill me a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God Abraham did not do such things you are doing the works of your own father now notice their response again we are not illegitimate children they protested the only Father we have is God himself Jesus said to them if God were your Father you would love me for I have come here from God I have not come on my own God sent me why is my language not clear to you because you are unable to hear what I say you belong to your Father Jesus is going to identify who their Father is not Abraham not God you are of your Father the devil and you want to carry out your Father's desires he was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth for there is no truth anyone he lies he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the Father of lies yet because I tell you the truth you do not believe me can any of you prove me guilty of sin if I am telling the truth why don't you believe me whoever belongs to God here is what God says the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God now Jesus just unwound their whole religious system there's a lot in these verses let me see if I can just summarize them quickly first of all they put their hope of being related to God in their religion notice in verse 33 they said we are Abraham's descendants notice in verse 39 they say Abraham is our Father notice in verse 41 they say the only Father we have is God himself you see the connection there you see the connection they made in their mind if we are Abraham's children if we are Jews in the right religion then we are God's children it's a fatal error and it's a fatal error that a lot of people today make if I am in church if I am in a religious system if if I go to church and I do the right things and go through the right rituals and have whatever sprinkled on me or given to me or taken from me or whatever if I go through all the religious rituals then I am in God's family I'm God's child it's a fatal error you do not get into God's family through religion you get into God's family through a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Jesus points out three reasons why they were not in God's family they were not God's children even though they claim to be because they were Abraham's children Abraham's descendants Jesus pointed out three reasons why that's wrong first of all they didn't have faith Jesus will admit in verse 37 that they are Abraham's descendants but in verse 39 he says you're not Abraham's children now the key distinction there yes you may be Abraham's descendants but you're not his children Paul will later flesh this out more in Romans 2 and in Galatians 3 when Paul says only those who are of faith are Abraham's children you see Abraham had literal physical biological descendants he also had spiritual descendants people who are of faith are Abraham's children real children spiritual children and so while you may have descended from him biologically you are not just children because you have not expressed faith in Christ if you've not trusted Christ you are not in God's family you are not one of his children so because they didn't have faith secondly because they did not obey the word several times in this passage he says you're not able to hear me you're not obeying what the Father says you're not obedient to the word obedience to the word of God a desire to obey the word of God is one of the characteristics of true believers in the book of 1 John which is written to give us the assurance of our salvation one of the assurances one of the marks of a believer in 1 John chapter 2 is that we obey his word we show the family characteristic of wanting to do what God says sure we all fail sure sometimes there are extended times in our lives when we're failing but there's always that desire that that longing to know we know what's right and we want to obey God's word third reason he said you're not really saved as an unchanged life your life has not been changed verses 39 to 42 you claim to be Abraham's descendants descendants you want to kill me you want to kill me your deeds your actions the anger and murder in your heart shows that your heart has never really been changed your life has never been transformed you've never really been given new life and so yes you're religious but you're not saved you see religion is a form of bondage it will keep you from Christ and so Jesus comes to the only conclusion that is possible I'll tell you who your father is he says your father is the devil it's not Abraham and it's not God it's the devil and he said that to the most religious people on planet earth at that time you've got the devil for your father it's pretty strong but you see it takes that kind of strong statement to sometimes wake people up to realize that just because I've been in religion just because I've been in church just because I've got this religious ceremony that I go through doesn't mean I'm in the family of God doesn't mean that I'm saved doesn't mean that I really know the Lord and so religion is simply another form of bondage it's all it is two kinds of bondage bondage to sin bondage to religion but there's only one kind of freedom only one kind of freedom and that's in Jesus that's in Christ go back to verse 31 if you hold them by teaching you are really my disciples then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free verse 36 so if the sun sets you free you will be free indeed Christ is the only form of freedom if you trust Christ as your Savior your shackles will be broken he will set you free he will set you free from the condemnation of sin God's judgment on your sin is broken and then he will help you structure your life grow to be more like him so that you increasingly get victory over sin in your life Jesus breaks the bondage to sin Jesus breaks the bondage to religion he gets you out of all the systems and brings you into the family of God so he will break the shackles of your bondage to sin he will break the shackles of the power of Satan he will break the shackles of condemnation on you because of your sin he will break the shackles of a meaningless round of religious rituals that have got you in bondage Jesus blasts through all of that and gives you freedom freedom from all of that freedom to be God's child freedom to be in God's family freedom to know personally the Savior from your sin Jesus Christ he is the liberator from bondage if you know the sun if he sets you free then you're really free you're really free you're free indeed the liberator from bondage but Jesus still isn't done he's got one more claim to make in this controversy over who he is he will make it clear not only am I the light of the world not only am I the liberator from bondage but I want you to know Jesus will say I am the life giving God I'm the life giving God now the Pharisees are still pretty upset with him and so their response in verse 48 the Jews answered him aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon possessed they just threw at him the two worst characterizations they possibly kid good by saying he was a Samaritan they basically said you're an enemy to our nation you're not really even a Jew by saying he was a demon possessed they're saying you're of the devil that's where you get your power from that's where you come from absolutely the worst things that could have said about him and Jesus counters that statement with three strong claims notice the first one is this I have power to save from eternal death I have power to save from eternal death verse 49 I am not possessed by a demon said Jesus but I honor my father and you dishonor me I'm not seeking glory for myself but there is one who seeks it and he is the judge very truly I tell you here it is whoever obeys my word will never see death I have the power to save from eternal death that is a clear claim to who he is that I can give you life I will deliver you from eternal death I am the life giving God they completely misunderstood it look at their response verse 52 at this they exclaimed now we know that your demon possessed Abraham died and so did the prophets yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death are you greater than our father Abraham he died and so did the prophets who do you think you are they misunderstood completely his claim so Jesus moves on to a second claim and he's building here he's building towards something the second claim is I am greater than Abraham they raised the question so he'll answer it I am greater than Abraham look at verse 54 Jesus replied if I glorify myself my glory means nothing so he's basically saying what I'm saying now I'm not doing the glorify myself this is the testimony of my father about me basically he says my father whom you claim as your God is the one who glorifies me though you do not know him I know him if I said I did not I would be a liar like you but I do know him and obey his word now here it is verse 56 your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day he saw it and was glad in other words I am the one Abraham looked to I'm the one the prophets pointed forward to I'm the one that all the Old Testament pointed forward to your father Abraham looked for me he was looking for my day and he saw it by faith Jesus means they'll misunderstand that too he saw it and he was glad he was filled with joy because by faith he could see what was coming and I am the fulfillment of everything Abraham longed for I am greater than Abraham they misunderstood that too look at verse 57 you are not yet 50 years old they said to him and you've seen Abraham when Jesus said Abraham saw saw my glory saw me and rejoiced in it they misunderstand that you mean you and Abraham saw each other who are you yeah you're crazy you're not even 50 years old yet you saw Abraham and that leads to Jesus third claim I have power to say from eternal death I am greater than Abraham and now this one simply I am I am notice verse 58 very truly I tell you whenever you see that very truly or in the old King James very rarely very it means take notice I'm going to say something really really important very truly I tell you Jesus answered before Abraham was born I am now that was not a grammatical error you might think oh wait a second you made an English error here we need to teach me little English before Abraham was I was even if he was claiming pre-existence I don't know he meant to say exactly what he said before Abraham existed before Abraham was I am the name of Jehovah God I am in the Old Testament when Moses is called by God to deliveries people this trail in Exodus 3 Moses says Lord I don't want to go down there they won't believe me who am I going to say sit me and God says tell them I am sent you I am that I am in other words I exist totally within myself I am the self-existence self-sustaining all powerful all knowing God and Jesus is making that same claim they didn't misunderstand that one they got that one look at verse 59 at this they picked up stones to stone him but Jesus hid himself slipping away from the temple grounds high drama here they want to kill him they're ready to stone him right now so they pick up some of the stones from the unfinished building work on the temple and they're ready to stone him to death right in the temple they're incensed because they know he has claimed to be God it's not his time yet in a few months he will die voluntarily giving himself but they can't take him until that time but his claim stands I am the life-giving God I am God who is able to save you from eternal death I am the life-giving God that's his claim and that claim still stands today my friend this is the peak of the controversy with the Jews never where Jesus claims more clear never was the opposition more intense Jesus claims clearly that I am the light of the world I will shatter your darkness I will shatter whatever darkness you have to be without God without hope without understanding even spiritually I will shatter all that I will bring light to you I am the liberator from bondage your bondage to sin your bondage to religion I will break your shackles I will liberate you from that and I can do that because I am the life giving God I have the power to give you life over death I have the power to give you eternal life Jesus claims the strongest and this gospel and yet and yet the opposition continues they will not give in they will not come to the light they crawl back into their darkness they will not come to the liberator they are satisfied with their shackles they will not come to the life-giving God they prefer to stay in their death I want to ask you this morning are you still in darkness are you still in bondage are you still in death please my friend listen to the claims of Christ come to Christ for light for your darkness come to Christ for liberation from your bondage come to Christ for life from your death and he can give you life he can give you life and victory over death he will do that for you today if you will only let him now you've got a choice you can do like the Pharisees in spite of his clear claims you can turn and walk away you can even be angry at him you can refuse all that he offers but you do it at your own eternal peril you will continue in your darkness you will continue in your bondage you will continue in death spiritually won't you come to Christ today if you've never done that won't you come to him as your light liberator and life giver let's pray together Father thank you for the Savior thank you for Jesus our light our liberator our life giver thank you for all that he claims to be and those of us who know him have found it to be true he is who he claims to be father I pray for anyone here this morning who is not sure that they're going to heaven maybe they're trusting in their own good works maybe they're Lord trusting in their religious background maybe they're trusting in the fact that they went forward one time or that they got baptized or they went through some religious ritual Lord help them to see that they need Jesus if they've never trusted you I pray that today it would come to Christ maybe we all leave this place today knowing for sure that we know Jesus that we are in your family because we know him in his name we pray amen