Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: John 8,46-59. Judica

Saturday, April 9, 2022

John 8,46-59. Judica

John 8,46-59 2022

Judica 29

Agape, Chionia, Irene, Virgins, Martyrs at Thessalonica, 304

3. April 2022

1. ℣ Mine eyes are ever toward Yahweh:

℟ for He shall pluck my feet out of the net (Psalm 25,15).

O our Lord Jesus Christ, when our sins make us sick, let us well remember how You died upon the tree of the holy cross and have taken upon Yourself all of our debts and paid them in full. Amen. (Wenn meine Sünd’ mich kränken selk 404,2 Justus Gesenius 1646).

2. »„Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.“ The Jews answered Him: „Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?“ Jesus answered: „I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. Yet I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the Judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.“ The Jews said to Him: „Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say: ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?“ Jesus answered: „If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say: ‘He is our God.’But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.“ So the Jews said to Him: „You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?“Jesus said to them: „Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.“ So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.«

3. John 8,58 is the cornerstone of Jesus’ debate with the Jews (read: the scribes and Pharisees): »I tell you the absolute truth, before Abraham was, I am.« Jesus is referring them back to the Burning Bush: »When Yahweh saw that Moses turned aside to see the Angel of Yahweh appearing in the flame of the bush, God called to him out of the bush … „I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob“ …. Then Moses said to God: „If I go to the people of Israel, … and they ask me: ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?“ God replied: „Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’“« (Exodus 3,2.4.6.13.14).

4. God’s name that He gives to Moses is: Yahweh; it translates into English as I am who I am or I will cause to be. God’s personal name highlights His omnipotence (Hummel 71). The name God gives Moses is His personal Name, and this focuses on the Biblical accent often found in creation and incarnation narratives in the Bible (Hummel 71).

5. When Jesus tells the Jews: »Before Abraham was, I am« it was understood by every one that Jesus is claiming to have the Name God gave to Moses at the Burning Bush. I am spoke to Moses at the bush, and now I am spoke to the Jews in the person of Jesus. Every one understands the connection: Jesus is claiming to be Yahweh who spoke to Moses 1000s of years earlier. This declaration by Jesus can mean only 1 of 2 things: Either Jesus is indeed Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who redeemed Israel from Egypt by Moses, or Jesus is blaspheming, that is, He is claiming to be God even though He is not. The Jews, that is, the Pharisees, hear Jesus’ statement and judge Him guilty of blasphemy and death — that is why they pick up stones; they want to kill Him for taking God’s Name for His own.

6. As difficult as it may be to accept that Jesus is indeed Yahweh, it is the only answer that affirms what He has thus far done and said in John’s Gospel. By chapter 8, Jesus has already performed 5 signs as proof of His Divinity (2,9; 4,54;5,8; 6,13; 6,19) and He has claimed to be the Messiah (4,26) and the He has Divine authority from His Father (5,19). The eyes and ears of the crowds attest to this Divine nature of Jesus, but the scribes and Pharisees refuse to believe. They accuse Him of being a Samaritan and possessed by a demon. Hence, they must kill Jesus for His supposed blasphemy.

7. Jesus very deliberately takes the Jews back to the Exodus event. The Exodus is the great act of redemption by Yahweh in their history God performs more and more powerful signs through Moses in the plagues. God delivers them from death to life. God visibly and physically appears to Israel at Sinai. God speaks in their midst. As great as Exodus is: Jesus proclaims that He has arrived in their midst to perform an even greater redemptive act. Jesus proclaimed: »I came from God and I am here, for He sent Me« (John 8,42).

8. Early in His ministry, Jesus said: »And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life« (John 3,14-15). In His lifting up on the cross, Jesus adjudicated our cause before God the Father. Jesus was judged in our place whereby He vindicated us of God’s wrath and delivered us from His punishment upon sin. He has opened up the promised land of heaven to us, and He leads us into our eternal home.

9. This lamb is Christ, the soul’s great friend,

The Lamb of God, our Savior,

Whom God the Father chose to send

To gain for us His favor.

„Go forth, My Son,“ the Father said:

„And free My hidden from their dread

Of guilt and condemnation.

The wrath and stripes are hard to bear,

But by Your passion they will share

The fruit of Your salvation.“ (A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth lsb 438,2 Paul Gerhardt 1607-76)

This is most certainly true.

9. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, just as the adversary continually afflicts us and as a roaring lion walks about, seeking to devour us, for the sake of the suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, help us by the grace of the holy Spirit and strengthen our hearts by Your Word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may always abide in Your grace, and be preserved to eternal life. Amen. (Veit Dietrich, Summaria christlicher lehr, Lent 1, 1548; Stratman 36).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, April 9, 2022

John 8,46-59. Judica

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