Jesus claims to be greater than Abraham
Jesus told the Jews who rejected Jesus that He was greater than Abraham because He existed before Abraham. He claimed deity by calling Himself the sacred name God.
Jesus responded to the Pharisee’s criticism that He couldn’t possibly be who He claimed to be since He was just a man. He made it crystal clear that He was more than just a man. The Lord came from God, and God sent Him here. He further aroused their anger when He claimed to be God by saying, “before Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58)
Jesus claims to be the remedy to the enslavement of sin
Jesus made a claim about Himself that shocked the Pharisees who heard Him. He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31).
The Jewish leaders took great pride in their ancestral roots. They were the physical descendants of the great patriarch, Abraham. Therefore, they were convinced they already had a special relationship with God and were in bondage to no one. So, why should Jesus say they will be set free when they are already free?
Jesus told them that everyone who sins is a slave to sin and a slave has no permanent place in God’s family. But a son belongs to it forever. So if Jesus (who is the Son) sets you free, you will truly be free.
Man is free to do what he desires, but only what he desires most
Not many people will argue that man doesn’t have free will. So if we do have free will, does it have its limits? Does our free will spring out of a neutral position, which is not influenced by any bias or predisposition? The problem lies with the nature of what we desire, even though we are completely free to choose whatever we desire the most. We all have a sinful nature. So, our desires are limited to satisfying that nature. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
What mankind naturally lacks is not free will, but the liberty to choose to do what is right for the right reasons. Therefore, if anyone would choose to believe and follow Jesus Christ, God must first place it in his or her heart to desire it (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is integral to what Jesus calls the “new birth” in His dialogue with Nicodemus (John 3:3). This happens when Jesus sets us free from our enslavement to sin.
We do the things our father does, whether he is the devil or God
We are by nature children of the devil until God adopts us into His own family. Jesus’ adversaries first claimed that Abraham was their father. But, Jesus objected to that claim by saying they weren’t doing what Abraham did. They were trying to kill Jesus, but He said Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing His day, Abraham saw it and was glad.
His adversaries protested and said, “The only Father we have is God himself.” Then, Jesus told them plainly that they belonged to their father, the devil, and they wanted to carry out his desire. He was a murderer from the beginning and is the father of lies. The reason they don’t believe Him and don’t listen to Him is that they don’t belong to God.
Jesus explained that He was honoring the Father and they were dishonoring Him. But if anyone keeps His word, he will never see death. These Jews were enraged by this, and they claimed He was demon-possessed. They said Abraham and the prophets died, and yet Jesus made the audacious claim that if anyone keeps His word, they would never taste death. In disbelief they asked, “Are you greater than Abraham? Who do you think you are?” The Jews said, “you are not fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham!” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
By saying this, Jesus was making Himself out to be equal with God, and His adversaries knew it. So, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus slipped away from them because it was not yet His time to die.
Are you keeping Jesus’ word?
There is an inseparable link between God the Father and God the Son. You cannot know the Father without knowing the Son, and you cannot honor the Father without honoring the Son. Likewise, you cannot love the Father without loving the Son. There is only one way to the Father and that is by way of the Son.
The world would like you to believe that there’s many different paths which lead to God, but that goes against Jesus’ teaching in sacred Scripture. It’s a lie straight from the pit of hell. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
And for crystal clear YouTube presentations of the gospel message from several trusted sources, click here.