Jesus Demonic?
John 8:46-59
John 8: 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”
48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”
49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
“Who do you claim to be?” This verse is the theme for this sermon. It is one of the most important questions found not only here but is the focus throughout the Gospel of John. For that matter, it is one of the primary questions in all four of the gospel accounts. “Who do you claim to be?” And here in John 8 this issue comes to a head. It’s like they are saying, “Let’s deal with this once and for all. Let’s make it plain who you are.” And that’s what happens.
Your pastor has preached on the claims of Christ many times. And I do so for a number of reasons, some of which I will emphasize toward the end of the sermon. But for now, I simply want you to know one of the reasons to do so is because this is a constant theme in the gospels.
The claims about who Jesus Christ is come from several different sources or witnesses: Jesus is the primary source regarding claims about himself. His followers – his disciples and apostles in the gospels – are another source who make claims about who he is. A third source are what we could call the curious or the “not sure.” A fourth source making claims about who Jesus is are those who reject him. And finally, claims also come from the writers of the gospels themselves (for example, John tells us at both the beginning and the end of his gospel who he says Jesus is, but in between he lets Jesus and others describe who they think Jesus is). So, several sources, several witnesses.
Now the claims about Christ are of two kinds. One is what we can call a “not-so-strange” kind. They are not necessarily outrageous. They are things said by him or about him that are said of other people once in a while. They are not unheard of. They may be a little over the top and we may say, “This person is bragging” or “He’s exaggerating” or something like that. But they are not necessarily outrageous.
For example, John the Baptist says he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoelaces. This could mean that Jesus, as a man of integrity and learning, is worthy of great honor. Many, both his disciples and the curious, either said he was or were wondering if he was the Messiah. This by itself is not outrageous because the Jews knew that someday a man would come as the promised Messiah. So, they would not be all that shocked when somebody would show up claiming to be the Messiah, and they either agreed he was or wondered if he was. Even those who rejected Jesus knew he claimed to be the Messiah; they simply said, “This is not him; it will be someone else, but not him.”
Other “not-so-strange” claims made about Jesus include, “We think he is a prophet, he is a good man, no one has ever preached like him.” Even the claim made by those who rejected him, “Now we know he has a demon,” is not outrageous for it is within the realm of possibility – we know that demon-possessed people do and say strange things. The same thing with those who claimed he was “crazy” or “insane.” Humanly speaking this was possible as they observed and listened to Jesus. “Our conclusion based on his claims and teachings,” they were saying, “is that this man is crazy or insane.”
Even Jesus’ implication in our text that he never sinned – “Who among you can convict me of sin” – is not all that extraordinary for a human being to make. I have had several people tell me that they have not sinned; they were wrong of course (they just did not know their claim was wrong).
So, we have these claims about Jesus – some positive and some negative – that fall within the realm of not-so-strange.
Even Jesus’ implication in our text that he never sinned – “Who among you can convict me of sin” – is not all that extraordinary for a human being to make. I have had several people tell me that they have not sinned; they were wrong of course (they just did not know their claim was wrong).
So, we have these claims about Jesus – some positive and some negative – that fall within the realm of not-so-strange.
But then we have those claims about Jesus – made by Jesus, by the writers of the gospels, by his disciples, and by those who rejected him – that go far beyond the ordinary. I often refer to them as outrageous claims. They would put Jesus into the category of the greatest blasphemer of all times, or the category of lunatic (insane), or the category of demon-possessed, or – almost unimaginably – into that category of being who these claims say he is. So, we have John the Baptist – older than Jesus by several months – saying, “he existed before me.” Jesus said many times that God was his own personal Father, that he (Jesus) was the one and only Son, sent by his Father to planet earth. He said that anybody and everybody that would believe in him would not perish but live forever, that his voice on the last day would raise every single person from the dead, that people are to honor him as they honor the Father. That if people would continue in his word, they would know the truth and be set free. And that, according to our text, “If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.” Again, according to our text he was not only was he greater than Abraham but had seen Abraham. And, most importantly in our text, he said that “before Abraham was, I am.” “I am.” Jesus was saying here his existence could not be measured by time, his existence goes beyond time; he is eternal. And there is only one of whom this can be said. He was taking on a name that God used of himself when he met with Moses in Exodus 3. And so it’s no surprise that some of the Jews who believed in him also worshipped him.
Even those who rejected him clearly understood what Jesus was saying about himself. “They picked up stones” to stone him to death because he was claiming to be the eternal God and, according to them, “No way! Blasphemy!” They understood he was making himself “equal to God” (John 5:18). As the Jews would say in John 10: “We aren’t stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.” (10:33).
There is no evidence from the life of Christ, from his disciples, or even from his enemies, that Jesus considered himself to be a mere man, not even a mere great man. No, he was claiming something that would either make him a great liar, a raving lunatic, demon possessed, or – or! – God in human flesh. And this is what we believe. We believe it because it is true.
So, what does this mean? First of all, this puts Christianity in a class all by itself. You really cannot find any other religion of any time whose human leader, whose human founder, has ever claimed (let alone proven) to be the eternal God, the creator of the entire universe, who sustains the entire universe and every living thing, who claimed to be the Lord of lords who guides and directs every step of human history, and against whom every single sin ever committed was directed toward him. Neither will you find a religion anywhere where a man claiming to be God willingly has heaped upon him the sins of the world. Who is that on the cross? Well, it is a man. But it is also the almighty eternal God, now humbled beyond comprehension. And what is that God-Man doing on that cross? He is paying the ultimate price, the ultimate punishment, that those who rejected him deserved. And that all sinners – you and I – deserved.
Christianity is in a class by itself. No other religion comes close. And the greatest thing about this Christianity of ours is that it is absolutely true. And that means our sins are really forgiven. They are gone. They cannot be anymore gone, because it was God on the cross who dealt with them once and for all. This you must believe and hold to if the forgiveness bought is to be yours.
But here is another reason these claims about Christ are so important. We should not let people we speak to get away with assuming that Jesus did not make these claims about himself. “Oh, Christianity is like other religions.” No, it is not, neighbor. “Oh, Jesus Christ was a great man, a great moral teacher.” No, friend, you are missing the boat if that’s all you believe. When we bring to people the message that Jesus claimed to be God, and we bring to them the message that this claim is true, we are opening the door to true evangelism. For without this claim and without this claim being true, there is no real comfort, there is no forgiveness of sins, and there is no salvation. “My friend, my neighbor, my son, my daughter, my mother, my father, my co-worker, my boss, my stranger, my enemy, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” “Never see death.” He said that only because of who he truly is, and what he truly did.
Amen.
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