Abraham Is Our Father
Scripture: John 8:37-41
We ended the previous lesson in the middle of the response Jesus was making to the Jews about their comment of being free and not a slave to anything or anyone. Jesus continues his response by saying, Jn 8:37 “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.”
Jesus does acknowledge their physical descent from Abraham, but shortly he will refuse to acknowledge that they are Abraham’s children because of their behavior. If they were Abraham’s children, they would believe in God as Abraham did, and since Jesus is God, they should believe in him, but they don’t as they seek to kill him. It is the heart that determines if they are truly Abraham’s children: 28 “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God” (Romans 2:28 – 29 ESV).
Another text found in Romans that should be considered is 6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6 – 8 ESV).
Jesus continues: Jn 8:38 “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Many lessons ago we covered the fact that God took on the flesh of man. As the Son of God, Jesus has been with the Father and he speaks of what he has seen while being with his Father. Likewise, these Jews are doing what they have heard from their father, implying that their father is the devil as we will see in verse 44.
Jn 8:39 “They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”’ to which Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 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. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”
This discussion is becoming very intense as these Jews attempt to defend their position before God, who is standing before them in the flesh. Jesus is very clear that they are not doing the works that Abraham did, which was to believe in God and obey him, but instead they do not accept who Jesus is and do not believe in what he says. Instead, in their hatred and anger toward Jesus, they seek to kill him; the One who speaks the truth that he heard from God. They are doing the works of their father, but their father is not Abraham.
The Jews are really outraged and respond with slander, but that will have to wait until our next lesson.
Conclusion
If Jesus were to stand before you and describe your kind of living, as he is doing to these Jews, how would you feel and respond? Would you be convicted and seek forgiveness, or would you respond in anger as the Jews were?
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