Jesus And Glory
8:48-50
This passage continues and concludes the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews since his statement that he is the light of the world. (8:12)
The Jews have become outraged at Jesus’ claims to be God and his accusation that they do not know God and are, in fact, children of the devil rather than children of God (or Abraham).
Having failed in their theological argument, they now make a personal attack and accuse him of being a Samaritan with a demon. (48)
The Jews hated the Samaritans and considered them to be heretics. This insult was, therefore, both racial and theological. The Jews probably knew Jesus was not a Samaritan. By this time they likely knew who his parents were and what town he was from. Nazareth was not well thought of, and Judeans looked down on Galileans to a degree, also. But to consider him a Samaritan would still be an insult. Jesus, however, chose to ignore this accusation.
If Jesus was possessed by a demon, though, it would justify their attack on him. He really would be the enemy of God and of Israel. It would also explain his supernatural power.
Jesus’ denied having a demon. He honored God, his Father, which a demon would not do. He could not have a demon if he lived to obey and honor the Father.
However, they dishonored him, the Son of God. (49) The implication is that, by dishonoring the Son, they dishonor the Father.
The proof that Jesus honored the Father is that he did not seek his own glory. (50) Anyone who seeks his own glory, as the Jewish leaders did, does not seek to honor and glorify the Father.
Jesus said there is one who seeks glory for him. (50) It is God the Father. This theme will be developed more in chapters 14 and 17. Jesus asked the Father to glorify his Son so that he might glorify the Father. (17:1) The Father did this, as is explained if Philippians 2. The Father exalted the Son so that every knee would bow to him and every tongue confess his Lordship, all to the glory of the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
There is one who has glory, is entitled to glory, and seeks his own glory. That is God. We are to be humble before him and not seek to glorify ourselves. God said “my glory I will not give to another”. (Isaiah 48:11) The Psalmist wrote “not to us, but to your name give glory”. (Psalm 115:1)
Instead, we are to glorify God. We glorify him by speaking of his glory and by living a holy life that brings glory to him. For example, we sing a song written by B. B McKinney called “Glorious Is Thy Name”. The Psalms are full of tributes to God’s glory.
1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us to glorify God in our bodies. 1 Peter 2:12 tells us to do good deeds that will glorify God. We are commanded to be holy, as God is holy - our holiness reflects God’s holy character and glorifies him. (1 Peter 1:16)
God not only seeks his glory, but is the judge. (50) Jesus did not seek approval from anyone but the Father, because only the judgment of the Father really counts. If we live to please and glorify the Father, those who do not will be displeased.
Jesus & Abraham
8:51-58
Seeking the glory of the Father and knowing that the Father will judge all, Jesus offered them eternal life. He said “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death”. (51) We keep his word by believing he is who he said he is, the Son of God. Those who believe in him, receive eternal life. (3:16) They do not see death. (51)
Jesus was not speaking of the death of the body, but of the eternal separation from God and eternal punishment. This is what Revelation 21:8 calls the “second death”.
But the Jews focused on the first death, the death of the body. So, the said Abraham and the prophets died. The implication is, Abraham kept God’s word and he died, so how can you say the one who keeps your word will not die? (52) Are you greater than Abraham?
The Jews could not think of anyone greater than Abraham, the first of their race. Jesus could have simply said “yes, I am the Son of God, so I am greater than Abraham” and that would have been true.
But Jesus again refused to glorify himself. But he knew the Father and he kept the Father’s word, as did Abraham and the prophets. (55) Therefore, he meant that Abraham and the prophets were not greater than he in the keeping of God’s word.
Jesus went on to say that Abraham, who kept God’s word, rejoiced to see Jesus’ day. (56) God told Abraham that his descendant would bless all of the families, or nations, of the earth. (Genesis 12:3) And, in some fashion, God allowed him to see the coming of Jesus, his day. And Abraham, the father of the Jews, rejoiced in the coming of Jesus.
The Jews continued to focus on the physical, reminding Jesus that he was not even 50 years old, so how could he have seen Abraham. And so Jesus told them he was eternal, saying “before Abraham was, I am”. This again is a truth John introduced in the prologue. He said Jesus was in the beginning, before the world was created. (John 1:1)
Not only was Jesus saying he is eternal, as God, but he used the term in Greek for God’s self declaration. The Greek words “ego eimi”: are the words, translated into Greek in the Septuagint, by which God identified himself in Exodus 3:14, the account of God speaking to Moses in the burning bush. We translate them into English as “I Am Who I AM” or “I AM”.
This is Jesus clearly declaring that he is God, that he is deity.
Some people say that Jesus never claimed to be God. For example, Bart Ehrman, who bills himself as a former Christian and present agnostic, said once in an interview about his book “How Jesus Became God:
“Well, what I argue in the book is that during his lifetime, Jesus himself didn't call himself God and didn't consider himself God and that none of his disciples had any inkling at all that he was God.”
That is false. Certainly, Jesus claimed it here. If he had wanted only to say he was eternal somehow, but not God, he would have said “before Abraham was, I was”. Instead, he explicitly applied the sacred name of God to himself, to claim he was indeed superior to Abraham.
But, contrary to Ehrman, the other gospels both quote Jesus’ words and show his actions to claim he is God.
Matthew wrote of Jesus being born of the Holy Spirit (1:21), of fulfilling Isaiah 7:14, that Jesus would be called “God with us”, of the wise men worshipping him (2:11), of telling the devil “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test”. (4:7)
Matthew also portrayed Jesus’ deity via his actions. Jesus identified his appearance with the arrival of the kingdom of God. (4:17) He calmed storms by rebuking the wind and the sea. (8:26) He forgave the paralytic’s sins. (9:2) He raised a man’s daughter from the dead. (9:25) He gave the disciples authority over unclean spirits and the ability to heal every disease.(10:1)
Jesus claimed God as his father. (10:32-33) He claimed to be sent from heaven by God the Father. (10:40) He claimed to be the Son of Man (12:8), the figure from the Book of Daniel who ascends to the Father on the clouds and receives an eternal kingdom. He claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. (10:40)
Jesus walked on water. (14:26) The disciples worshiped him after calming a storm and called hm the Son of God. (14:33) He multiplied loaves and fishes to feed thousands of people. (15:32)
Jesus said he would return with his angels in the glory of his Father. (16:27; 24:30) He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James and John (17:1-8) and God called him his beloved Son. He claimed the temple, the house of God, as his own and cleansed it. (21:13) He cursed a fig tree and made it die immediately. (21:19)
Matthew recorded Jesus claiming to be the Lord mentioned in Psalm 110:1, sitting at the right hand of the Father. (22:44) Jesus claimed the right to judge at the final judgment. (25:31)
Mark and Luke record many of the same events and words of Jesus as Matthew. There are abundant words and actions showing that Jesus is God. The purpose of the Gospels was to show people that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, and the Savior. They would not have forgotten his deity.
Back to the current passage: the Jews were fully aware that Jesus was claiming to be God. So, they sought to stone him for blasphemy. (58)
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