WHAT ‘UNBELIEF’ REVEALS – John 8:31-47

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 23, 2013 under PM Bible Study |

PM Home Bible Study Group; January 23, 2013

John 8:12-30

Theme: A hard-hearted refusal to believe on Jesus reveals certain things about the unbeliever.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

Someone once said that warfare has a way of clarifying things. Certainly, in the conflict that the Lord Jesus is shown to have with the disbelieving Jewish leaders in John 8, we can see how the conflict clarified who was who. In verses 13-30, we saw how the response of the Jews to Jesus—after He had forgiven the woman caught in adultery—showed who He is. Already, we saw in this conflict that He declared that He is the light of the world (v. 12), that He knew who He was and where He was going (vv. 13-14), that He was with the Father who had sent Him (vv. 15-20), that He was going away back to the Father (v. 21), that He was “from above” (vv. 22-24), that He spoke the things that He heard from the Father (vv. 25-27), and—in a very bold declaration—that He was the promised Messiah (vv. 28-30). The battle certainly clarified who He is!

And now, in verses 31-47, we see that the battle lines further clarify the true nature of those who did not believe on Him. They had thought certain things about themselves. They believed, for example that they were “free” and were the slaves of no one. But their unbelief in Jesus showed that they were—in fact—slaves of sin who needed desperately to be set free by Him. They also believed that they had honorable standing as children of their great father Abraham. But their unbelief in Jesus shows that they were not true children of Abraham—since they did not believe God’s testimony or obey Him as their professed father Abraham had done. Finally, they believed that they had God as their Father. But Jesus shows that, by their commitment to untruth and by their murderous nature, they were actually of their father the devil.

This passage reveals the truth about even the most outwardly ‘religious’ people who are hard-hearted in their unwillingness to come to Jesus to receive life from Him (see John 5:39-40). It shows that . . .

I. THAT THEY ARE SLAVES TO SIN (vv. 31-36).

A. After Jesus had shared truth about Himself, we’re told that “As He spoke these words, many believed on Him” (v. 30). Whether that belief would be a permanent condition of their heart, or was only the superficial kind of belief that we have seen referenced elsewhere in this Gospel (see John 2:23-25; 6:15) isn’t made clear to us. In either case, of course, what Jesus said in response to them is always true: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’” (vv. 31-32). The mark of a true disciple of Jesus is that they continue in His word and “abide” or “remain” in it as a rule of life. It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t call His true disciples “Christians”. He calls them “followers”. His call isn’t to become a Christian, but rather to “Follow Me”.

B. The “they” that we read of next was most likely those Jews who did not believe on Him. They were still hardened in their resistance to Him and unbelief in Him. They took offense at the idea that if they didn’t abide in His teaching and believe on Him as He was presenting Himself to them, that they were somehow in the bondage of slavery. And so, in great pride, “They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’” (v. 33). They were apparently only thinking of things in a political sense. And in this case, they were somewhat mistaken. They were, at that time, under the bondage of Rome. But there was also a sense in which—politically speaking—their words were true. They had indeed served under bondage to Egypt before the time of Moses; and they had indeed suffered captivity in Babylon for seventy years. But these were only temporary periods in their history. For the most part, they were politically a free people.

C. But Jesus wasn’t speaking ‘politically’. Even the most politically free people in the world (such as ourselves) can suffer under a state of horrible spiritual slavery; and it was of such spiritual slavery that Jesus was speaking. “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin’” (v. 34). As the apostle Peter later put it, some of the false teachers that would afflict God’s people would themselves be unwitting slaves to sin; “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (2 Peter 2:19). The apostle Paul described in detail the personal anguish of someone who knew that they were slaves of sin in Romans 7; and ended it by crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”—and then, very quickly added, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). The person who sins is a slave to sin; because, as Paul explained in Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” The Lord Jesus sets free the helpless slaves of sin who come to Him. These who opposed Him, however, would not come to Him; and by their refusal to do so, they demonstrated themselves to still be in the bondage of slavery to sin.

D. Jesus further shows that He truly had the authority to set free those who are spiritual slaves to sin. He said, “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (vv. 35-36). A slave—even if he serves in a great household—is not a son. He is, at best, only temporary in the household. But Jesus, as the true Son of the Father—and true Lord of the household—is the only one who has the authority to set a slave free and make them permanent members of the household. Whoever He sets free is “free indeed”—free in every respect. He is, you might say, free in the same way that a train on the tracks is free. A train, when it derails from the tracks is not free. It is stuck and can go nowhere. But when it is on the track—as it was designed to be—it runs freely. And the same is true for us. When Jesus sets us free from our slavery to sin, we become those who ‘abide in His word’. We live in conformity to the One who made us for Himself; and follow His instructions and commands for our good. We become truly “free” when we obey Him from the heart.

II. THAT THEY ARE NOT TRUE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM (vv. 37-40).

A. Well; these were not willing to be set free in that way. They insisted that they are the sons of Abraham and were—therefore—no one’s slave. Jesus responds to that claim by saying, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants”—that is, physically, they were the descendants of Abraham as Jews—”but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father” (vv. 37-38). And note how He eludes to the question of who their true father was—which is something He will take up very soon. But for now, He is questioning their claim to be true children of their professed father Abraham. Just being a descendant of Abraham didn’t make someone a true Jew. As Paul—himself a Jew—once wrote, ” For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Romans 2:28-29). They, of course, took even greater offense at the suggestion of Jesus that they were not truly children of Abraham. “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father’” (v. 39a). And here, they were speaking simply of physical descendancy. “Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this’” (v. 39b-40).

B. Abraham was a man characterized by two great qualities. First, he was a man who believed the promise of God. God had promised him that, even though he was childless at the time God called him, he would nevertheless become a great nation; and that through him the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). This was a promise that the Savior—the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15)—would be born from him. Genesis 15 tells us of a time of great struggle in Abraham’s heart over this. One night, God called him to go outside and look up at the stars in the sky. The Bible tells us that He told him, “‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:5-6). Abraham, in Romans 4, is held up to us as the great example of being declared righteous in the sight of God on the basis of faith in God’s promise. And as a second quality, having been declared righteous by faith, Abraham lived in faithful obedience to God. As God declared in Genesis 26:5; “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” But these unbelieving Jews were not behaving like Abraham in any respect. They neither believed the testimony of God concerning His Son—who was right there before them; nor would they do the one great work that God required of them—that they believe on Him whom He sent (John 6:29). The old saying, ‘like father—like son’ applies here. They were not behaving at all like their professed ‘father’ Abraham. They were proving by their unbelief that they were not really children of Abraham at all.

III. THAT THEY ARE OF THEIR FATHER THE DEVIL (vv. 41-47).

A. Then comes the great shocker. Jesus tells them, “You do the deeds of your father” (v. 41)—implying that their true ‘father’ was someone altogether ‘other’ than Abraham. They responded in a very insulting way, “Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God’” (v. 41b). This was certainly a declaration that they professed God to be their Father; but it was also a reference of profound disbelief in the stories that are told to us in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 of the virgin birth of Jesus. They were saying that His birth was illegitimate. It’s terrible the depths to which unbelief will go!

B. Jesus didn’t respond to their insult directly. Instead, He responded to their claim—and in doing so, reinforced the truth of His virgin birth. “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me’” (v. 42). He was saying what He has said elsewhere—that if they truly were God’s children, they would believe on the One that God had sent. In verse 19, He had told them, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” And again, this was proving something of who they truly belonged to. In 7:16-17, He said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”

C. Jesus then makes the matter very clear. He says, “‘Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word’” (v. 43). It wasn’t because His words were confusing; but rather because they were—by nature of who they were—unable to listen to them. And then, He declares, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it’” (v. 44). The name “devil” means “accuser” or “slanderer”. And Jesus literally puts it, was a “man-slayer”. He slew mankind by tempting the first man and the first woman to sin—resulting in the spread of the curse of death throughout humanity. He is also a liar. He didn’t merely call God into question in the garden; but flatly lied to Eve and said, “You shall not die.” He has been speaking “the lie” ever since. In that respect, then, they were behaving—not like Abraham—but like the devil in respect to their response to Jesus. Jesus then goes on to say, “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (vv. 45-47). There are really only two ‘families’—those who are the children of God, and those who are the children of the devil. And what someone does with Jesus definitely shows them which family they truly belong to.

* * * * * * * * * *

The great question—the question that everyone must answer—is, “What will you do with Jesus?” What we do with Him shows who we really are. If someone says that they are free, but refuse to come to Him, they show that they are actually slaves to sin. If they say that they are sons of Abraham, but refuse to believe on Him who Abraham looked to, or obey His word, they show that their claim is false. If they say that they have God as their Father, but they reject His Son, they show—terrible is it is to say—that they are actually sons of the devil.

May God help us to show, by our response to Jesus, what our true pedigree is. And praise God—no one has to stay in the family that they are! They can—by faith in Christ—be “born again”.