The True Origin of the Jews (Their Father)

I'll take your Bible this morning. Turn with me to John chapter 8. John chapter 8, we're going to be in verses 37 through 47. 10 verses. John chapter 8 verses 37 through 47. Should be a familiar place in your Bible. We're still in that series. Christ the Son of God, believe and live. We're seeing Christ come on the scene as the glorious, wonderful Son of God. And of course, He is revealing Himself to the Jewish people, as well as to some Gentiles along the way. Now, last week we took a break from our series in John. I think you remember it was Father's Day. We had just wrapped up Vacation Bible School.

But with Father's Day, celebrating Father's Day, we looked at Noah. If you know what we studied during Vacation Bible School, we studied the life of Noah. I think our children learned a lot. I think even some of you adults learned a lot. I know it blessed me during that week to study on my own, because I wanted to learn right alongside our children. But last Sunday we studied and we learned what a great job that Noah did with his wife and with his sons, with his family. Do we not need men, fathers, who will do a good job with their families today? I think we see that. It's very much needed. I trust that you heard that message.

If you missed that message, we can make that message available to you. If you need the message notes or if you need an audio recording, we can get that to you. We want you to get each message that the Lord brings our way. Now, this morning we are back in our study, back in Chapter 8, the Gospel of John. And we are picking up right where we left off with the last message. Now, the last message was titled, "True Discipleship." And it was "True Discipleship Freedom." I had to put that word "freedom" in that because that was really the theme right along in those passages. True discipleship is freedom in Christ. That was in verses 31 through 36.

Now, verse 31 starts a long discourse between Jesus and the Jews. This is right after Jesus' ministry there at the Feast of the Tabernacles. And we've moved away from that time when Jesus was there at the Temple. And now we're in this long message, this long debate, this long back and forth between Jesus and the disciples. For your notes, you can write this down. Verse 31 to 59 is comprised of that one message. And in verses 33 and verse 34, in our previous message, we saw that Jesus exposed those religious leaders in their false sense of freedom. So, in that last message, Jesus is revealing what true discipleship is.

It's freedom in Christ, but right in the middle, he is revealing to those Jews that they had a false sense of freedom. Now, in continuing with this message, Jesus moves away from this theme of discipleship, and he is really holding in on this group of religious leaders. Really, Jesus continues to expose them. He continues to attack them for who they truly were. And of course, we will see that these Jewish leaders act more aggressively towards Jesus while he continues to expose them in their faulty position. Now, the title of the message is "The True Origin of the Jews." The true origin of the Jews. Now, we're talking about their father.

We're going to get into these verses and we're going to see what Jesus is talking of, this origin of these Jewish leaders. Like I said earlier, we'll be in verses 37 through 47. You see the main truths there on the screens for you. We want you to take notes. We encourage you to take notes so that you can study, you can learn, and become the Christian that God wants you to be, according to the unfolding and the preaching and the declaration of his word. So, let's look at the verses together starting in verse 37. Jesus says to them, "I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you.

I speak to things which I have seen with my father, therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." They answered and they said to him, "Abraham is our father." And Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds or the works of Abraham. But as it is, you are still seeking to kill me. A man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father." And they said to him, "We were not born of fornication or immorality.

We have one father, even God." And Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come on my own initiative, but he who sent me." Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me.

Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? And he who is of God hears the words of God, for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. Now, we are going to see in these verses how Jesus continues to reveal to these Jewish leaders and to us who they really are, the true origin of these leaders. So truth number one, you see it before you, the Jews, their true father. The Jews, their true father. Look at verse 37 again. "I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you.

I speak the things which I have seen with my father, therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." All along, we know that the Jews have been claiming two fathers. You might not have seen it, but all along they've been claiming two fathers. First, they claim Abraham as their father. We saw this earlier in verse 33, as they were making their claim of never having been in slavery. What are they saying there previously in verse 33? "Abraham is our father." Second, they claim God as their father.

As this discourse progresses, and what I mean by discourse, this back and forth, starting in these verses, verse 37, we will see that Jesus exposes who their father truly is. So, let's notice first their physical descent. That's obvious there in verse 37. Jesus says, "I know that you are Abraham's offspring." In other words, you have descended from Abraham. Here, Jesus does acknowledge their true physical descent of Abraham. Jesus never denies that they were physical descendants of Abraham. Now, I want you to get that, because many times when they bring this up, we are descendants of Abraham. Jesus will attack them.

It's not that he is attacking their physical descent from Abraham. Second, notice their rejection of Jesus. Look at the second portion of verse 37. "I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you." What is he saying? "You are descendants of Abraham, but yet you are rejecting me." Here, we see that they rejected Jesus on two levels. Now, the first should be obvious to all of us. They were seeking to kill him. We've seen this progression all along, have we not? They've been rejecting Jesus, rejecting Jesus, and it has escalated. In John 5, verse 16, the Jews began to persecute Jesus.

Then it moved on, it digressed, it progressed. Later in John 7, verse 32, they sought to arrest him. And now openly in John 8, we see that they want to kill him. So, they were rejecting Jesus. And then a second manner in which they were rejecting Jesus is they were rejecting his word. Go back to the text. "Yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you." Now, I'm reading from the New American Standard. The English Standard Version says, "finds no place in you." Now, the original phrase here means to advance, to make progress, or to go forward. I want you to get that.

In the original, this phrase, it means to advance, to progress, to go forward. Now, this goes along with verse 30. Go back up to verse 30. "As he spoke," that's Jesus, "these things many came to believe in him." Now, what do we see here? We see that in verse 30, the word that Jesus was speaking, as he spoke, we see that that word advanced, and it made progress in those who were listening. His word found a place in them. See, go back to verse 37.

"I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you are seeking to kill me, because my word has no place in you." "My word has not advanced in you." "My word has not progressed in you." But here, Jesus' words did not make progress. We need to see that. So, this is a rejection. They're rejecting Jesus, but they are rejecting His teaching, His word. Third, Jesus revealed their true Father. Verse 38, "I speak the things which I have seen with my Father, therefore you also do the things which you heard from your Father." Here, Jesus differentiates between His Father and their Father. It's obvious, His Father is God the Father, the one true God.

And their Father is the devil. Now, He does not name their Father the devil, but that is coming. It's more of an insinuation. They should have been able to read between the lines if I can use that language. But, what I want us to see is that right here, Jesus is debunking their claim. All along, they claimed God as their Father. And here, as they are following Jesus, and as we look at how Jesus attacks them, Jesus attacks and tears down their claim. And it is important for us to see what is Jesus' proof that they did not have God as their Father. What is their proof? Right in the middle, the Word of God. What does He say?

Yes, I know you're Abraham's offspring, but what does He say? "Yet, you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you." And He goes on to say, "I speak to things which I have seen with my Father." In other words, He's saying, "What I speak, I've gotten from God the Father. You claim that He is your Father, but yet you reject Me." So, it is very important for us to see that the proof that what Jesus is saying is true is that they reject the Word of God. The Word of God would not advance in them, it could not progress in them, it could not find its place in them, because why?

They were rejecting Christ and rejecting the Word, therefore they proved who their Father was. Jesus is just saying, "If God was your Father, you would accept what I have to say." But proof is how you react to Me. And listen, we must learn this. You might not realize how relevant this is for us today. Now, chances are we don't deal with Jews. Chances are we don't deal with people that come from the same cultural background, but we must learn this if we are going to effectively deal with people today. Because listen, in the life of the Church, when the Word of God is proclaimed, it will prove people for who they are.

Many times, as the minister of the Word of God, even people in the life of the Church, as they begin to preach and teach and proclaim the Word, many times we will see that the Word of God will not make progress in someone's life, it will find no place in them, they will reject it, they will not let it advance in their life, and they will become stiff-necked and hard-hearted towards the declaration of the Word of God. And what happens is, if we have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand, it shows us that they do not have God as their Father. I'm not saying Christians don't wrestle or struggle over the Word of God.

Many times, truth can be difficult for us to digest. But listen, when the Spirit of God dwells within us, and by the power and the work of the Spirit in our life, when the Word of God is proclaimed accurately and truthfully, we will receive it. Now, it might be difficult. But, notice, we need to see that this will help us identify people who are Christian in name, in name only. That's why in a lot of weak churches, where the pulpit is weak and the declaration of the Word of God is weak, no one ever gets proven, no one ever gets divided. And you know, it can hurt people.

It can be difficult for people sometimes in the life of the church when people are offended or they're hurt and they leave. Now, I'm not for offending people. I'm not for pushing people out. But listen, my job and our job is to declare and preach the Word of God. And if someone will not receive the Word, if they will not let the Word advance in their life, if they will not let the Word of God progress in their life, and let it form them into who God wants them to be, ultimately you have to come to the point where we have to question who their Father is. The Word proved them. Their Father was the devil, and He was showing them that truth.

Let's move on. Let's notice the Jews, they're practicing the deeds of their Father. The Jews, they were practicing the deeds of their Father. Look at verse 39. We'll go down to the beginning of verse 41. "And they answered," this is their rebuttal, "they said to Him, 'Abraham is our Father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are still seeking to kill me. A man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your Father.'" Now, what we see here is a continuation.

Jesus is revealing that they're practicing the deeds of their Father. Here we will see that the Jews did not immediately understand all that Jesus was telling them. It took them a while to get it. It will take them, it will take Jesus being more bold, it will take Him being more direct, even repetitive for them to get what He is saying. Three things out of these verses. First, they continued their claim. Go back to verse 39. "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our Father.'" This is a continuation of what they've been saying. They immediately jumped up and they claimed Abraham as their physical Father. This is a rebuttal to verse 38.

This is a rebuttal to what Jesus is saying. They did not understand what Jesus was saying. He was indicating that their Father was, that He was indicating who their Father was without coming straight out. But we will see later that He does come straight out. So this is a continuation of that claim. Second, notice, Jesus calls them to the works of Abraham. Jesus calls them to the works or the deeds of Abraham. Look at the last part of verse 39. "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our Father.' And Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.'" Now, a question.

Many of you might not be familiar with Abraham. What were the deeds or the works of Abraham? What's he speaking of here? We learn that Noah was a man of faith. And in learning that Noah was a man of faith, we learn that Abraham was a man of faith. Abraham was a man of faith, and the Scriptures tell us that. Genesis 15, 6 says, "And he, being Abraham, believed the Lord, and it was credited or counted to him as righteousness." All through the Scripture, Abraham is noted as a man who was a man of faith. That is, those are the works that Jesus was speaking of. The deeds, the works were his faith.

We see this in Old Testament and New Testament alike. Romans 4 is all about the faith of Abraham. He lived a life of faith. Galatians 3, verse 16 through 14, all about the deeds and the faith of Abraham. Hebrews 11, that great hall of fame of those in the faith. Verse 8 through 12, and then later in verse 17 through 19, all of these show us that Abraham was a man of faith. Abraham's works were in his life. A man of faith. Faith was in his life. He was in the faith, and the deeds that he did were deeds of faith.

Jesus is saying here, "If you were true children of Abraham, do the works that he did which were living a life of faith." Instead, they lived a life made up of traditions, rules, and external behavior. They could not understand, nor could they live that life of faith. So what is he saying? "Right, if you claim to be a descendant of Abraham, do the works of the deeds of Abraham." Third, Jesus reveals their works. He reveals their works. Look at verse 40, on down to the beginning of verse 41. "But as it is, you were seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do.

You are doing the deeds of your father." See, Jesus was revealing their works. We've already seen that Jesus exposed their desire to kill him, and here he exposes it again. This is an ongoing plan. But this is not all of their deeds, or all of their works. They also did not treat him as Abraham treated others. Now, let's look at how Abraham acted. Let's look at how Abraham treated people. Abraham never acted out in malice. Abraham never acted out in hate. Abraham never acted out in murder. Abraham was the opposite of the Jewish leaders.

I ran across a list that a commentator gave me during the week, and listen to this list, talking about the life of Abraham. Abraham liberated the captives in Genesis 14, starting in verse 14. You remember that story? Remember, not Lot and his nephew was taken captive in that regional war. So what did Abraham do? In great generosity and risk of life, he went and liberated those who were wrongly imprisoned. Abraham also distinguished himself with hospitality with strangers. In Genesis 18, starting in verse 1, remember that story? Remember the three strangers came to him, and what did he do? He fed them. He entertained them with hospitality.

He received revelations of God to him, however mysterious they were. And listen, however he received them, he tried to observe them and receive them and live by them. Genesis 12, verses 1 through 4, Genesis 15, starting in verse 4 and over in verse 22. It was for these things that he was so much commended in the New Testament. Why? By receiving what God had given him and the life that he lived. Now, what am I trying to show you? This is an incomplete list. Jesus revealed their works. He says, "You're a murderer. You're killers. You're liars." And Abraham never lived like that.

Their works, lies, hatred, rejection, and we will see, even trying to take the life of Jesus. Here Jesus is revealing their true hearts through their works. Let me repeat that. Jesus is revealing truly the condition of their heart through their works. They claim one with Abraham, yet they did the very opposite, indeed, and works. The opposite. Now this leads me to a question, an application. Can someone today be a true Christian and never live a life of obedience to the Word of God? No.

I mean habitually, consistently, as a pattern of life, can one, a man or a woman, young person, can they habitually, consistently live a pattern of life in disobedience to the Word of God? The answer to that is no. That's exactly what Jesus is saying to them. You claim to be the true descendant of Abraham, yet you do not live like Abraham. And what we learn is, those who are true Christians, who truly know Christ, they live in obedience to Christ. They live a life of being in Christ. If we go back to verse 31, what does he say? "If you abide in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine." What is he saying?

"If you abide in me, if you abide in the Word that I give, if you abide in me and I abide in you, then you're a true disciple." We need to see this. Because there are countless hundreds of people in the life of our churches, they're in our communities and they're in our families, and what do they say? They say they're Christian, but yet they do not live according to the Word of God. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's the truth. If you have a mother or a father, if you have a brother or a sister, if you have a son or a daughter or a neighbor or a friend, it does not matter what they say.

If they consistently and habitually, by the pattern of their life, live outside of the claims and the promises and the truths and the commandments of the Word of God, they are exactly like these religious leaders. God's not their father. They're children of the devil. They're liars. And this is what Jesus is teaching. See, their deeds, the practices of their deeds prove who their father was. So you see how this is progressing? He reveals their true father. He reveals that their deeds, their practices, they're the deeds of their father. And then truth number three, notice their claim that God is their father.

They still claim that God is their father. We're going to take quite a bit of scripture here, starting at the end of verse 41, all the way down to verse 47. They said to him, "We were not born of immorality or fornication. We have one father, even God." See, they finally clued into what he was saying. Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me. For I proceed forth and have come forth from God. For I have not even come of my own initiative, but he sent me." Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whatever he speaks is a lie. He speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God. Obviously, Jesus is getting more bold and more direct. But here we will see that these Jews are infuriated. They are infuriated.

And we will begin to see them strike out against him by declaring that he was conceived in immorality. Go back to the beginning. This is when they clue in. They said to him, "We were not born of immorality or fornication. We have one father, even God." See, this was a controversy that followed Jesus, because many Jews claim that he was born out of immorality. Of course, we know the difference. We know that's not true. So, they are going to claim that God is their father. Now, we're going to notice five things out of these verses. First, Jesus reveals their illegitimacy. Jesus reveals their illegitimacy.

This is found in two verses, the beginning of verse 42 and verse 43. Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me." And then over in verse 43, "Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear my word." What is he doing? Here, Jesus reveals that they were illegitimate, but they were illegitimate in two ways. First, by stating that they do not love him. Because they did not love Jesus, they were illegitimate. Their refusal to love and follow Jesus proves it. Second, by showing that they would not and could not hear his word. Remember, the word found no place in them.

They could not advance in the word. They rejected it. So, this proves their illegitimacy, and Jesus is revealing that. They claim he is illegitimate, but he says no, you are illegitimate. Second, Jesus reveals his true origin. Jesus reveals his true origin. Verse 42, "For I proceed forth and have come from God, for I have not come on my own initiative, but he who sent me." Now, notice this word, "I proceed forth." Go back to the text, "The New American, for I proceed forth." The English Standard reads, "I came from." Now, this phrase right here in the original, it communicates a lot. This communicates the idea of separation.

Jesus is going from God. He is leaving God. He is separating from God, and he was going to return. Also, in this "from God," there is this implication of personal intimacy. So, with that in mind, go back to the verse. Jesus says, "For I proceeded forth and have come from God." I've come from God, and I've going back to God. "For I have not even come on my own initiative, but he who sent me." What do we see? This is the origin of Jesus. He's come from God, and he's going back to God. Third, Jesus reveals that they were of the devil. Verse 44, "You were of your father the devil." This is very direct.

Whereas in verse 38, Jesus implies who their father was. Now, he boldly and directly states that their father was the devil. Now, remember that their habit was to claim two fathers, Abraham and God. Jesus acknowledged Abraham as their physical father, and we saw that earlier. But now he is telling them that spiritually, Satan is their follower. And we need to understand that. Jesus also reveals that their actions were one and the same with Satan. Satan was a murderer, and they are murderers. So he reveals that they were of the devil, although they were descendants, physical descendants of Abraham.

Fourth, Jesus reveals their refusal to believe truth. Verse 45 and 46, "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? Why do you not believe me?" Here, Jesus confronts them on their refusal to believe his words. Jesus is saying that he has been truthful in all claims and all teaching, yet they refuse to believe him. And then fifth, the last thing, Jesus repeats their origin.

Look at verse 47, "He who is of God hears the words of God, for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." Jesus repeats or reiterates who their father was, again, by using the word of God. He simply says, "Those who are from God hear his words, while those who are of the devil do not accept the words of God." And here we really need to see that Jesus is repeating what he has been saying all along. Jesus is going back and forth proving who they were. Jesus is exposing them as frauds. Now, an application, what must we see here?

We must see that those friends and those neighbors, those family members that we do love, who are not in Christ, who do not live a pattern of life according to the word of God, they are a Christian in name only. We must understand that not only are they not true Christians, but their father is the devil. You might say, "Pastor, how can you say that so boldly?" Jesus is claiming that God is his father, but in that he is exposing these Jews all the more. He is saying, "But your father is the devil." And we must see that our moms and our dads, our brothers and our sisters, those who are in Christian in name only, they are not good people.

They are liars, they are murderers, they are thieves, and they are rebels against God. And listen, they deserve the wrath of God exactly like these Jews. See, a mistake we will make is in our minds and hearts we will differentiate between these Jews and the people we know. We look at these Jews, we lay blame at their feet. Yes, they arrested Christ, they persecuted Christ, and they wanted to take Christ's life. They didn't take it. Jesus laid it down. But somehow, someway, those that we know who are outside of Christ, we have a hard time seeing that they are exactly like these Jews. It's a brutal truth. It's ugly.

No one wants to dwell on that. But if we're not careful, we will gloss over the truth. Now, as we begin to conclude and move away from the text, I don't want us to overlook how this can help us today. Some of what Jesus is teaching, it seems stretched out for us. It even seems repetitive. But I want us to see that this can help us in two specific ways. First, in self-examination. I don't know if you realize it, but spiritual examination is good. Remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church? Remember the Corinthian church? I had all sorts of problems. Now, I'm not saying here that we are much like the Corinthian church. We're not.

But at the end of those two letters, what did Paul say? Paul called those Corinthians to examine themselves to see that they were in the faith. He called them to examine their life, to examine their profession, to examine their Christianity in light of what he was teaching them. And he says, "I hope and I trust that you're in the faith." What is Paul talking about? Self-examination. Spiritual examination is good. Many times, people that come to know Christ go through periods, months, even years of self-examination.

If you're here and you're outside of Christ, you don't now have peace about your standing before God, I would beg you, I would call you, I would implore you to go to God through his grace and mercy, to go to God in his word and examine yourself in light of the word. And listen, if you study a passage like this, and you study it with self-examination with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, God will show you that you are exactly like these Jews. A liar, a murderer, a thief, a rebel against God. You're no different. You're a child of the devil. So self-examination, this helps us. Because see what happens in our own little nice world.

You know, there are people that tell us, you know, you're a good man, you're a good woman, you're a good young boy, you're a good girl. And according to the Scriptures and according to what we're learning here, no one outside of Christ is good. And those of us who are in Christ, the only goodness we have is acquired from Christ. Self-examination. But the other way that it can help us is properly dealing with others. We must see that people who are outside of Christ are not good people.

I don't like to think about it, but I've got to believe, according to what the Scripture says, that if I was alive in that day outside of Christ, I would have been in the crowd screaming, "Crucify." Why? Because outside of Christ, the devil is my father, and I would be a liar and a murderer. It should help us deal with others better, accurately, truthfully. Because listen, no one ever needs to be placated in their sin. So, what are we looking at this morning as we are progressing through the Gospel of John? The true origin of the Jews. I know in the title, in the end, it says, "Their father." Their father, the devil.

Children of the devil, but so religious. Descendants of Abraham. So, as we close, I want to ask you, is your father the devil? Or have you been redeemed, born again, and because you've been adopted by his good grace? God's your father. It's the truth we all need to examine, the question we all need to ask and answer. Let's pray. Father, I pray for all of us this morning that we would digest these truths, learn them, and let you apply them accordingly.