Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus Is the Greatest of All!

The Gospel of John

John 8:46-56

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - January 25, 2017

(Revised September 18, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*Most of you know that here in John 8, the important Feast of the Tabernacles had just ended in Jerusalem.

And Jesus was still in the city preaching before a crowd of people in the Temple.

Part of the people believed in the Lord, but Jesus was also preaching to Jewish rulers who hated the Lord.

*Some of them hated the Lord so much they had been trying to kill Him for months, maybe over a year.

But Jesus was there, preaching to them all, and warning the unbelievers that they were lost without Him.

*As we would expect, those hard-hearted rulers began to argue with Jesus, and part of their argument went back to the great patriarch Abraham.

This Old Testament hero of the faith lived 2,000 years before Jesus was born.

And the Bible calls Abraham "the Friend of God" because by faith, he left his home and followed the Lord to the land that would eventually become Israel.

*Genesis 12:1-3 says:

1.

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.

2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.

3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.''

*Those last words were a prophecy and a promise from God that one of Abraham's descendants would be the Savior of everyone on earth who believes in the Lord.

Jesus is that promised Messiah, the Christ, the only possible Savior of the world.

*Well, the scribes and Pharisees who argued with Jesus held Abraham in high regard, so they sort of "pulled the Abraham card" on Jesus.

It started in vs. 31-33, where Jesus was talking about the freedom only He can give:

31.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

32.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.''

33.

They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.

How can you say, 'You will be made free'?''

*Then in vs. 37-42, Jesus said:

37. "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

38.

I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.''

39.

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father.''

Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.

40.

But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

41.

You do the deeds of your father.''

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father God.''

42.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me."

*In vs. 51, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.''

*And in vs. 52-53, those hate-filled unbelievers replied:

52. . .

"Now we know that You have a demon!

Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'

53.

Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?

And the prophets are dead.

Whom do You make Yourself out to be?''

*With this background in let's read vs. 46-56, thinking about the answer to their question: "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?

MESSAGE:

*Down through the centuries of human history, it would be hard to name a man who was greater than Abraham.

John Phillips gave this brief summary of why Abraham was a great believer:

"About one quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to the story of Abraham.

Although Abraham was born and raised a pagan idolater, when God’s word came to him, he obeyed it.

He turned his back on his old way of life and became a pilgrim and stranger on earth -- and a citizen of heaven.

He learned to trust and obey.

His spiritual pilgrimage began with a great demand on Abraham's faith, that he give up his earthly father, and it climaxed with an even greater demand on his faith, that he give up his promised son, Isaac.

Abraham staked everything on the dependability of God and the reliability of his word."

(1)

*Every Christian today is reaping the benefits of Abraham's faith.

And Galatians 3 tells us that all Christians are spiritual descendants of Abraham.

But as great as he was, Abraham was a dim candle compared to the shining sun of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the greatest of all!

And tonight's Scripture shows us why.

1. FIRST: JESUS IS THE GREATEST BECAUSE OF HIS HOLINESS.

*How horrible the universe would be if the Lord who has infinite power wasn't infinitely good!

We could only count on the most miserable existence.

But thank God, Jesus is infinitely good!

That's why in vs. 46, the Lord could ask these questions to the unbelieving Pharisees, "Which of you convicts Me of sin? -- And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?"

*John Phillips explained that Jesus "challenged them to point the finger at a single sin in His life.

He dared them to take the entire Mosaic Law in all its 613 commandments and test His life by its letter and spirit.

He challenged them to take the prophets and writings as well, the whole Old Testament, and to lay that infallible plumb line alongside His life to see if they could detect the slightest deviation from the upright and the true.

*He challenged them to go to His home, to cross-examine those who had lived with Him: His mother, His brothers and His sisters to see if He had ever been anything less than perfect. . .

*Had He ever done anything He ought not to have done?

Had He ever failed to do something He ought to have done?

Had He ever behaved lustfully or spoken covetously?

Could they find any sin in His public or private life?" (1)

*Of course, the answer is NO! Jesus Christ is the spotless, sinless Lamb of God who came to die for our sins.

That's why in John 1:29, John the Baptist saw Jesus, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

2. JESUS IS THE GREATEST OF ALL BECAUSE OF HIS HOLINESS, AND BECAUSE OF HIS HOPE.

*The only real hope for the world is Jesus Christ!

God's Word reminds us of this truth in vs. 47-51, where Jesus said:

47. "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.''

48.

Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?''

49.

Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

50.

And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

51.

Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.''

*Here in vs. 51, Jesus said this to everyone who believes in Him, to everyone who receives Him as Lord and Savior: "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone KEEPS MY WORD, he shall never see death.''

*Remember that the original word for "keeps" has the idea of guarding something, watching over it carefully, and that's how we treat God's Word if we believe it.

We will treasure His Word, love it, trust it, and try our best to follow it.

*Again, Jesus said, "If anyone keeps My word, HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH.''

But we must understand that the Lord was talking about spiritual death, the everlasting death in the horrible place called hell.

The Bible calls that death "the second death" And in Revelation 2:11, our glorified Lord said, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.''

*Jesus was talking about the second death here in John 8, but Christians, the Lord rescued us from the second death when He died on the cross for our sins!

What great hope we have in our risen Savior Jesus Christ!

We have the sure hope of everlasting life.

We have the only eternal hope the world will ever see.

*Paul talked about our hope in Titus 3:3-7, and there Paul said:

3. we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

4. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,

5. not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

6. whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7. that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

*Believers now see death in the whole new light of hope, and we can echo what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:55: "O Death, where is your sting?"

We also know the truth of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."