Your Father the Devil

Lesson #146

With this lesson we begin the section defined by John 8:39 – 47, in which Jesus makes it very clear to the Jews that their father is the devil. “They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to 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” (John 8:39 – 40 ESV). The Jews insisted that Abraham was their father. They would not acknowledge any other possibility and in their minds to do so they would be guilty of slander. Abraham was an honorable man who gave them status, whereas the devil could not even be considered a possibility; pride would not allow that. Jesus responds by pointing out that their works did not correspond to the works of Abraham, which was belief in God. If they truly believed God with the spirit Abraham had, they would understand that Jesus came from God and is speaking the very words of God, but they see him as an impostor to be killed for blasphemy. Jesus makes it clear that this is not how Abraham would respond.

“You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God” (John 8:41 ESV). Again, Jesus is referring back to his claim that their father is the devil and their desire to kill him is proof that they doing the works of this father. The Jews come back to discredit Jesus by stating that he was not virgin born, but was born of sexual immorality. The Jews then identify with God as their father. If God adopted the family of Abraham, then as his offspring they conclude that they must be God’s children. As offspring of the seed of Abraham they assumed that their holiness was secure from birth, but it is not. Because of original sin, every person, Jew included, is born spiritually dead and part of the devil’s family. The Jews, standing before Jesus, simply did not understand that Jesus was the only way to God. Their connection to Abraham, or their relationship to the law, or their animal sacrifices in themselves would not satisfy the justice of God. Only Jesus as the perfect sacrifice and belief in his work on the cross was sufficient.

“Jesus said to them, “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.”” (John 8: 42 ESV). If God was their father, then Jesus claims that they should know and love his Son, who was standing before them. Whoever is a child of God, Jesus claims, will acknowledge the Son of God, but since you hate me you have no reason to claim that you are God’s children. When Jesus Christ is rejected, there is no fear of God or piety and one is carried off by their sin. Jesus was sent from heaven by his Father and stands before them as their means of salvation. Without him they will continue along the road of deception into the everlasting wrath of God into the depth of a burning hell.

Prayer

Father, I think of the powerful effect the world has had on me and in many ways still has. After 79 years of life, there is still tension between my desire to love and worship the Lord and the draw I feel from the world. My time in China and other parts of the world amplified my struggle by demonstrating the freedom and peace that came with simple living, which seems so hard to secure. Father, draw me deeper into your will for me and that I would abide more deeply in the Lord.