John
8:51-59
Jesus
said to the Jews: ‘I tell you most solemnly, whoever keeps my word will never
see death.’ The Jews said, ‘Now we know for certain that you are possessed.
Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, “Whoever keeps my
word will never know the taste of death.” Are you greater than our father
Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?’
Jesus answered: ‘If I were to seek my own glory that would be no glory at all;
my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, “He is our
God” although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say: I do
not know him, I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves. But I do know
him, and I faithfully keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that
he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews then said, ‘You are not fifty
yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly,
before Abraham ever was, I Am.’
At
this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the
Temple.
Food
for thought! He lives for ever and ever!
Jesus
is making revelation after revelation, each more tremendous than the one
preceding it. Here he makes it known that if anyone keeps his words, he will
never know death. It is not physical life nor physical death of which Jesus is
thinking. He means that, for the man who fully accepts him, physical death has
lost its finality; he has entered into a relationship with God which neither
time nor eternity can destroy. Jesus is saying that a person who follows him
goes, not from life to death, but from life to life; physical death is only the
introduction to the nearer presence of God.
When
we were in the womb of our mother, we were limited in space and movement. Then
we came out to a more expansive life with more freedom. Jesus is saying that
those who accept him die, they go into even a more expansive life. Jesus is
saying that there is more to life than meets the eyes.
Then
Jesus makes these revelations which are the very foundation of his life.
(i)
He has unique knowledge of God. Jesus knows God as no one else ever has known
him or ever will. Nor will he lower that claim, for to do so would be a lie.
The only way to full knowledge of the heart and mind of God is through Jesus
Christ. With our own minds we can reach fragments of knowledge about God; but only
in Jesus Christ is the fullness of truth, for only in him do we see what God is
like.
(ii)
He has unique obedience to God. To look at Jesus is to be able to say;
"This is how God wishes me to live." To look at his life is to say:
"This is serving God." In Jesus alone we see what God wants us to
know and what God wants us to be.
(iii)
He is God. This is what he means by these words: "Before Abraham was born,
I AM." Here Jesus was making a revelation that He is timeless, that He is
God. We must note carefully that Jesus did not say: "Before Abraham was
born, I was," but, "Before Abraham was born, I am." Here is the
revelation that Jesus is timeless. There never was a time when he came into
being; there never will be a time when he is not in being.
What
did he mean? Obviously he did not mean that he, the man Jesus, had always existed.
We know that the man Jesus was born into this world at Bethlehem; there is more
than that here. Think of it this way. There is only one person in the universe
who is timeless; and that one person is God. What Jesus is saying here is
nothing less than that the life in him is the life of God; he is saying, as the
writer of the letter to the Hebrews put it more simply, that he is the same
yesterday, today and forever. In Jesus we see, not simply a man who came and
lived and died; we see the timeless God, who was before time and who will be
after time, who always is. In Jesus the immortal God showed himself to mortal
men. To him be glory and honour and praise. Amen
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