A Study of John 8:48-59

“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.”

John 8:48–59 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

After Jesus told a certain group of Jews that they were not of God, they asked if Jesus was a Samaritan and had a demon. To this Jesus replied that He did not have a demon, but that He honored His Father while they dishonored Him. Next Jesus said He does not seek His own glory but there is one who seeks it and He is the judge. Also, everyone who keeps His word will never see death. At this point the Jews vehemently told Jesus they knew He had a demon because even Abraham and all of the prophets died. So, they asked, “who do you make yourself out to be?”.

To this Jesus answered that if He glorified Himself, then His glory is nothing, but it is the Father who glorifies them, the very God these Jews claimed to worship. But, Jesus also said, they did not know God, while He does know God. If Jesus were to say He did not know God, then He would be a liar like them. However, because Jesus truly knows God, He keeps His word. Furthermore, Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus’ incarnation. Abraham saw and was glad.

When they heard this the Jews asked, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”. To which Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So, because of this, they picked up stones to kill Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple.

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

At this point in the discourse the opponents of Jesus were very frustrated. Jesus had already explained that they must believe in Him to have a right relationship with God and receive eternal life. Jesus also told them their ethnicity does not save them, and the fact that they dispute His teaching proves they are children of the devil who cannot bear to hear the truth because they are so at one with deceit. Jesus even invited them to bring forth any evidence of sin on His part, because He knew He had never sinned and they continued to falsely accuse Him. Now, completely exasperated by Jesus’ indisputable words and undeniable authority, they resorted to name calling and insults as they asked Jesus, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”.

In verse 49 Jesus responded by saying He does not have a demon, but instead, that He honors His Father and they dishonor Him with these false accusations and unbelief. Jesus’ perfect life, masterful teaching, and miraculous works, all things these unbelieving people had witnessed, bore evidence to the fact that Jesus came from God and honors the Father in everything He does. He could not possibly be demon possessed. Demons live and act with the same characteristics of the devil, who does everything in his feeble power to dishonor God. But Jesus, living and acting in the power of God Himself, for He is God incarnate, perfectly honors God in all things. Conversely, the people listening to Jesus and refusing to accept His teaching, dishonor God because Jesus is God and they have rejected him.

Continuing on, Jesus also said that He does not seek His own glory, but there is one who seeks it and He is the judge. Jesus honors the Father, and this is seen in the fact that He does not seek glory for Himself that comes from man. Jesus is concerned with the glory that comes from God. He cared infinitely more about God’s approval because He is the judge. God is the ultimate authority we will all answer to. His opinion matters infinitely more than anyone else’s.

Next, in verse 51, Jesus said if anyone keeps His word they will never see death. This is very similar to Jesus’ statement in verse 31 where He said true disciples of Him abide in His word. Overall though, this is why Jesus came, to save people from death. To “keep” Jesus’ word means to obey His word and live by it. Jesus can say this because He is God. If we listen to His word, which commands us to believe in and submit to Him as Lord and God, we will have eternal life. This is the glorious promise. Those who believe in Jesus will merely pass through the thin veil of death into eternal life, rest and pleasure forever.

In response to this, the unbelieving Jews said that they knew Jesus had a demon because Abraham and the prophets died but now Jesus was saying that anyone who kept His word would never taste death. While Jesus said “see death” and they said “taste death”, both are phrases that mean to experience death. The difference is, the Jews were only thinking of literal, physical death of the body. They figured that Abraham heard God’s word and obeyed, as did the prophets, yet they all still died. So, they now conclude that for Jesus to claim the word He preaches is superior in some way to the word of the prophets and leads to eternal life is so incredulous that for Him to say so must mean He has a demon.

Following on from this they finish their statement by asking, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”. The form of this question expects a negative answer. However, by its inclusion we see another example of Johannine irony as the reader will know the correct answer is actually in the positive. Yes, Jesus is greater than Abraham and all the prophets who died. Jesus is God in the flesh. However, even though Jesus is God incarnate, He also came and proclaimed His identity by living and acting with humility, never exalting Himself even though He is worthy of all blessing and honor and glory. Everything He did on this earth, He did with perfect humility and obedience to the will of God the Father.

In verse 54, Jesus answers their accusations of demon possession and blasphemous self-promotion by telling them if He were to glorify Himself, His glory would be nothing, but rather, it is His Father who glorifies Him, the very one whom they claimed was their God. With this Jesus returned to the topic of spiritual parentage. Jesus is completely confident in the knowledge that God is His Father. With this He also denied any accusations that He was promoting Himself. Here we learn again from Jesus that self-praise independent of God is worthless. With that said, Jesus also asserted that God the Father does and will glorify Him, although, as we will see, He will be glorified and lifted up in a very unexpected way on the cross, before returning to Heaven to the place of glory He has occupied for eternity. Lastly for this verse Jesus also informed them that the God they claim to follow is His Father, and it is the commitment of the Father to glorify His unique Son.

Next, while Jesus has had a personal relationship with God the Father from eternity past, He goes on to say that these disbelieving religious Jewish leaders do not know God as they claim to. If He were to say He did not know God, then He would be a liar like them, but He does know God and keeps His word. Jesus’ intimate, personal knowledge of God is seen in His perfect, humble obedience, while their lack of knowledge of God is seen in their rebellious rejection of Jesus, God incarnate. Next, to finish this statement Jesus tells them that Abraham rejoiced to see His day. Exactly what is meant by Jesus when He said Abraham rejoiced to see His day is debated by theologians in regard to specific details, but what is clear is that overall, Jesus is claiming to be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the earth through his offspring.

In verse 57, these Jewish leaders responded by saying, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”. When they looked at Jesus they saw a relatively young man, so they wondered, how can Abraham, who lived around 2,000 years earlier, have seen Jesus and rejoiced? This is another question that expects a negative response, but of course, Jesus never lies, and He will tell them the truth of the matter shortly.

The tension has been building up to this point in the discourse. One can almost imagine the angry, Jewish leaders coiled like snakes ready to launch an attack, waiting to hear Jesus’ response, almost daring Him to claim He is better than Abraham and the prophets. But Jesus was not afraid. In response to their question Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Make no mistake, this is a clear claim from Jesus to be God. But He claimed to be God in the way a 1st century Jewish person would understand. By saying this, Jesus claimed to not only pre-exist Abraham, but also to be the eternally existent, all-creating God of the universe. He claimed to be the great “I Am”; the same God who revealed Himself as such to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus 3:13-14. “I Am” is a divine title that belongs to Yahweh, our Creator, and Jesus could hardly make a clearer claim to deity than this.

While a 21st century person reading this might not immediately recognize this as a claim to be God, it was, and the 1st century Jewish people He spoke to understood Him clearly. For this reason, believing Him to have just made a blasphemous claim to be God, they picked up stones to throw at Him to kill Him, but as the text tells us, Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Stoning was the punishment under the law for blasphemy, but typically it should only have taken place after proper legal proceedings instead of as a result of mob violence as we see here. However, despite their intention to kill Him, Jesus again, as at other times, escapes because His hour had not yet come. John repeatedly recounts scenarios where Jesus should have been arrested or killed, but He walks away somehow because He could not be arrested to be killed until the time God appointed.

In this passage Jesus made yet another claim to be God. This must be reckoned with. No good, moral teacher and prophet who falsely claims to be God can still be good. Yet, Jesus is a good moral teacher and prophet, and He did claim to be God. Not only that but He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, walked on water, healed the sick, fed thousands of people by miraculously multiplying food, raised the dead and then rose from the dead Himself. What more does He have to do to prove He is God? Surely Jesus of Nazareth is God incarnate who died for our sin and rose again.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to respond to Jesus’ claim to be God. There can be no neutrality. While we live in the fallen kingdom of this world, Jesus came to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are either with Him or against Him and we all must choose. We will either run to meet Him at His coming with joy and excitement, or flee in terror. All those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Savior will be saved and will know the joy and rest of our Lord for eternity. But all who harden their hearts and reject Jesus, like the people in this passage, will know only darkness and anguish for eternity.

The good news is salvation, restored relationship with God, and citizenship in His kingdom is available to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ:

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 ESV

Self Reflection:

1. Am I more concerned with the glory that comes from people or the glory of God?
2. How have I responded to Jesus’ claim to be God with worship and adoration, or with rejection?
3. How does the eternal hope I have in Jesus as my Lord God and Savior give me joy and purpose now in the middle of difficult circumstances?