OVERVIEW:
The conflict over Moses (7:1-8:11); the conflict over Abraham (8:12-59); the conflict over Christ’s Sonship (9:1-10:42).
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
As we continue seeking to get our bearings in John’s Gospel, and seeing how it relates to the other Gospel accounts, there is plenty to glean just by observing the introductory genealogy in each of the books.
Because Matthew presents Christ as the King of the Jews, Christ’s genealogy in this Gospel runs through David, back to Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)
Because Mark presents Christ as the Servant of the Lord, the significant thing about Mark’s genealogy is that there is none! A servant’s genealogy is insignificant! His significance is determined by what he does (i.e. His work).
Because Luke presents Christ as the Son of Man, His genealogy is traced in his Gospel through His human mother back to the first man.
Because John presents Christ as the Son of God, Christ’s genealogy in this Gospel takes us back to the very “beginning” (John 1:1; Genesis 1:1), to show Christ’s deity (that He is, in fact, God and very God), and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has always eternally existed in the Godhead. There has never been a time that Christ didn’t exist, and there has never been a time that He wasn’t God and completely co-equal with the Father. (Hebrews 1:8; Philippians 2:6)
Today’s reading is absolutely jam-packed with irrefutable biblical evidence that Jesus Christ is God. One of the key arguments Jehovah’s False Witnesses assert is that Jesus never actually claimed to be God. All I can say is, how do you spell “BLIND”?!!! (1st Corinthians 4:4)
Familiarize yourself with John 8:12-57 before we take just a second to comment on Jesus’ statement in verse 58: “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Do you understand what is actually happening here? Jesus was declaring to the Pharisees (and to the whole world!) that He is God, using the same name for HIMSELF that Jehovah Himself used when He revealed HIMSELF to Moses in Exodus 3:14! Jesus is claiming here that He is none other than the Great “I AM”!!! Listen, there is absolutely nothing that Jesus could have said that would have been a stronger claim of deity than that! Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Before Abraham was, I WAS.” Jesus is not simply claiming here that He existed before His physical birth. He uses the term “I AM” to show that He was not only “A god”, but “THE God”, “JEHOVAH GOD”!!!
Be it known, that this is not simply “my interpretation”, or “one way of interpreting the meaning of the verse”! That this verse is specifically teaching that Christ is, in fact, Jehovah God is made abundantly clear by the response of the Pharisees in the very next verse (verse 59)! They understood exactly what Jesus was claiming! That’s why they “took up stones to cast at him.” Stoning, according to Leviticus 24:16, was the penalty for blasphemy! They wanted to stone Him because He claimed to be God!
The same exact thing happens in chapter 10, verses 22-33. Jesus makes His absolute claim of deity in verse 30 (again, how totally ludicrous to say that Jesus never claimed to be God!), stating, “I and my Father are one.” The Jehovah’s False Witnesses can claim all they want that Jesus’ statement here doesn’t mean that He was claiming deity, but the passage teaches otherwise! Again, those who were listening to Jesus in John 10 understood exactly what Jesus meant by what He said, evidenced by their reaction to it! In verse 31, they “took up stones again to stone him,” because that was the Old Testament penalty for blasphemy! Jesus even forced them to identify exactly why they were responding in such a manner so there would never ever be a question about His claim: “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (10:32-33)
There is no doubt about it, Jesus Christ IS God, and clearly CLAIMED to be God!