seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 8:48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
This bit about the Samaritan just came out of left field! So, I had to go to the commentaries again. Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon? The enemies of Jesus were frustrated and exasperated. They were unable to make Jesus look bad, and even more had believed on Him (John 8:30). So they launched their last attack: name-calling.
- You are a Samaritan (one of the most despised races to the Jews).
- And have a demon (saying that Jesus was demon possessed).
I wonder... Did Jesus and God talk about the visit to earth way back in the beginning or did they start the conversation when the first fist got shaken at the heavens? When Jesus and God were watching Abraham and Isaac, did they discuss the proper timing to get things back in order? When the boys put Joseph in the pit, and bloodied up his coat in order to lie about his death, did Jesus say anything to His Dad?
Now when I got to Verse 57, I totally understood where the Pharisees thought they were going. They weren't just calling Jesus a liar, they were calling Him inexperienced and ignorant. I'm 73 now. When some whippersnapper, barely in their 30's tries to "correct" me, I have to stop myself from giggling. I know one young man, who's in his 20's who thinks he's smarter than everyone. I remember the days, when we didn't trust anyone over 30!
The concept of life after death is hard to understand. I've been trying since I was in my early teens. Will I have wings? Will I have to live in a tent? I've had lots of questions like that over the years. Will I really be shocked at who I see in Heaven? I'm afraid of heights, and Heaven is really, really high up.... will I have to look down? Those are the questions I've had over the years. I know I'm going to Heaven [in spite of myself] but I have so many questions, which I am sure will seem extremely ignorant when I get there. Heck, some of them seem ignorant now!!
It's a good thing I don't have to understand.
Now look at the last verse. He hid! Is this another mind bender thing? Did He leave all those Pharisees bent over, as if they were looking for bugs on the ground? Did He wipe their minds so they would forget who they were looking for? Did He leave them all looking up, as if you spot a dove on the roof? I just love it when He sneaks out! Or did He just make them forget they were going to stone someone?!?
A lot of people still Believed, even though the Pharisees, Sadducees, Elders, and Teachers of the Law lied about Him.
The Pharisees started "fake news"!
