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We are
still with Yeshua, at Jerusalem, during Sukkot.
Many of the leaders wanted to kill Him, believing
that He was a false prophet, who made blasphemous
claims about Himself that an ordinary human being
shouldn’t make, a Sabbath breaker who worked on
the Sabbath by healing people, a false Messiah
who was leading the people astray. Yeshua shows
tremendous courage under pressure, and holy chutzpah,
as He teaches publicly, right in the Temple, and
confronts the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill
them, clearly declaring that He is the Messiah
and the Son of God and the only Savior, and that
Israel’s leaders were far, far from God.
Let’s
continue with the part of the conversation having
to do with father Abraham, beginning with verse
31:
So
Yeshua was saying to those Jews - Jewish people
- who had believed Him, “If you continue in
My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine
- it’s good that you believe in Me, but starting
down the highway of belief is not enough. Belief
is not a one time event - you must continue believing
in Me, by continuing in My teachings. My true
disciples don't just listen to My words at the
start of their spiritual journey, and then ignore
them. They work My teachings into their lives.
It is consistent application of the words of Yeshua
that brings truth and freedom over sin. and
if you do, you will know the truth, and
the truth will make you free.” I am teaching
you the truth, and these truths can free you from
this world of spiritual darkness that you are
in. You will know that your are far from God,
and you need a spiritual rebirth. You must be
born again. You will know that I am the Messiah
that God sent to make atonement, to reconcile
mankind to God. You will receive the Spirit of
God, you will be transferred from the Kingdom
of Darkness and the dominion of Satan, to My kingdom
of Light. You will be set free from spiritual
ignorance, set free from the powers of sin and
death, set free from the Kingdom of Satan.
But again,
many didn’t understand Him. They answered Him,
“We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet
been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say,
'You will become free'?”
Yeshua
answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, listen
carefully to what I am saying, because I’m telling
you the absolute truth, with the utmost sincerity,
I’m not talking about physical slavery - being
enslaved to another nation - I’m talking about
spiritual slavery. Everyone who commits sin
is the slave of sin. And all of you have sinned,
and so each and every one of you is enslaved to
sin. You are under its power. It controls you
- your thinking, your actions. You may not realize
it, since you believe in God, and do many religious
observances, but the truth is that you are like
the frog slowly but surely being cooked in a pot
filled with evil, but you can’t tell that you
are being cooked!
The
slave does not remain in the house forever; the
son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you
free, you will be free indeed. If you remain
a slave to sin, even though I am offering you
freedom, you will not be able to live in God’s
eternal home, since slaves are only welcome in
a person’s home for a limited time, while they
are useful.
But if
you become a son of God, by allowing Me to liberate
you, when you trust in Me, then you will be a
son - a son of God, not a slave to sin, and you
will be set free to truly love God, and you will
remain in God’s home, My home, forever and ever!
I know
that you are Abraham's descendants - that’s
so obvious you should have known that’s not what
I was talking about; yet you seek to kill Me,
because My word has no place in you. You still
are intent to find a way to kill Me? Why? You
don’t like what I am saying. You dislike My claims
about Myself, and My declarations about the awful
state of your true spiritual condition. But, I
speak the things which I have seen with My Father
- You reject My word, and want to kill Me,
but everything I am telling you comes directly
from God. I am in the closest, most intimate contact
with God. I see what He is doing, and I hear what
He is telling Me, and that is exactly what I am
communicating to you. So, to reject My word is
to reject God and His word. Yes, I am faithful
to My Father; therefore you also do the things
which you heard from your father.”
They
answered and said to Him, “Avraham avinu - Abraham
is our father.” We Jews are proud that we
descend from our father Abraham.
Yeshua
said to them, “If you are Abraham's children,
do the deeds of Abraham. You claim to be sons
of Abraham. Well, children generally are like
their parents. You claim to descend from Abraham?
Then, you should be like him. But as it is,
you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told
you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham
did not do. No, the truth is that you are
not true sons of Abraham. O, you may be physically,
but you are not spiritually, and that is even
more important than the physical. No - Abraham
is not your true spiritual father. But, You
are doing the deeds of your father.”
They
said to Him, “We were not born of fornication
like we heard You may have been, Yeshua. Oh, we’ve
heard rumors about your unusual birth.
Virgin birth? Maybe there is some more common
explanation... like fornication. You want to talk
spiritual fathers? We have one Father: God.”
Yeshua
said to them, Wrong again! Good and true children
are like their parents, and love what they love.
“If God were your Father, you would love Me,
for I proceeded forth and have come from God,
for I have not even come on My own initiative,
but He sent Me. God loves Me. I came from
Heaven, from the very presence of God, with His
blessing, at His specific request. It was His
idea to send Me to you to tell you these things.
That’s the reality of the situation. If God was
truly your Father, you would have to love and
accept Me.
But in
spite of the Son of God Himself, the Lord of Glory,
the One through whom the universe came into being,
standing in Person before them and speaking the
truth to them, they wouldn’t believe Him or accept
what He was saying.
So, Yeshua
continued: Why do you not understand what I
am saying? It is because you cannot hear
My word. It is because each one of us acts
from our nature. Our nature influences what we
respond to, and the choices we make. You want
Me to make it crystal clear? You are of your
father the devil - Satan, the head of the
evil, fallen angels, who have rebelled against
God, and oppose and defy the Almighty, is your
spiritual father. You share his nature. And, this
is not just a “Jewish problem” but the same situation
holds true for all of mankind.
If this
is true of the Chosen People, how much more so
those who are in the world! And you want to
do the desires of your father. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the
truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever
he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature,
for he is a liar and the father of lies. And,
the sad reality is that you have the same nature,
and therefore the same desires as HaSatan - the
Adversary. You want to murder Me, you don’t operate
in the truth, and your life is filled with lies
- especially lies about your true spiritual status.
But
because I speak the truth, you do not believe
Me. It’s not that I am unclear in My teaching,
or My credentials as the Messiah are inadequate.
It’s not that I haven’t offered enough proofs
and evidences that I am the Messiah. It’s not
that I haven’t done miracles like no one else.
No, those aren’t the reasons you don’t believe
Me. No, the very reason why you don’t believe
Me is because I do speak the truth, and you are
allergic to truth.
Which
one of you convicts Me of sin? OK, let’s get
specific. Give me a specific sin I am guilty of,
a crime that I have committed, one of God’s commands
that I have broken. I’m waiting... Nothing? You
can’t answer because My life is sinless. Then,
since I am of good character, and if I
also speak truth, why do you not believe Me?
You should
believe someone of good character, who speaks
the truth, who does miracles in Israel the like
of which haven’t been done in 700 years. He
who is of God hears the words of God; there
will be some who will listen to Me, speaking God’s
words - those few who truly belong to God, whose
Father is God, who themselves are like God. For
this reason you do not hear them, because you
are not of God.”
Ouch!
Talk about being blunt. Talk about not being politically
correct! Talk about being intolerant! Yeshua would
have been accused of all of these things. But,
the things He said were the truth, and needed
to be said to these leaders who were terribly
deceived, deceiving others, and headed to Gehenna.
Blunt, true talk was called for. And, may I suggest
that there will be times when we also need to
employ blunt, but true talk, especially to those
who are religiously deceived.
The
Jewish leaders answered and said to Him, “Do we
not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have
a demon?” Yeshua, you’re crazy, and you may
come from a very questionable background, like
the Samaritans - again implying that His birth
may have been something less than “virgin.”
Yeshua
answered, “I do not have a demon; I sm not
crazy, or demon-possessed - but I honor My
Father - My behavior is appropriate; My actions
and words bring glory to God, and you dishonor
Me. So, if I honor God, and you dishonor Me,
then you dishonor God. But I do not seek My
glory - I am seeking God’s glory, putting
God’s interests, God’s will, first, therefore
what I am saying is not motivated by self-interest,
and any desire for prestige, therefore it is the
truth; there is One who seeks and judges. A
time is coming when God will judge everyone, and
then all will know that I am right, and you are
very, very wrong. Truly, truly, I say
to you, I’m speaking to you with the utmost
truthfulness and reliability, if anyone keeps
My word he will never see death.” To be accepted
by God, and to live forever, you must follow My
teaching. My teaching gives the true meaning of
the Torah, is true Judaism, and will enable you
to be atoned for, and have peace with God. To
ignore Me and my Torah, is to forfeit your soul
and die.
The
Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a
demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and
You say, 'If anyone keeps My word, he will never
taste of death.' Surely You are not greater than
our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died
too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”
Yeshua
answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing;
it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you
say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to
know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I
do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but
I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was
glad.”
So
the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years
old, and have You seen Abraham?”
Yeshua
said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before
Abraham was born, I am.” This is the greatest
of the “I am” statements.
I am Bread
of Life (6:35). If we believe in Him, we will
be forever nourished.
I am Light
of the World (8:12). If we believe in Him, we
will have the knowledge that leads to salvation.
I am the
Door (10:9). If we have confidence in Him, God
and Heaven will be opened to us.
I am the
Good Shepherd (10:11, 14). If we trust Yeshua,
we will be safe and protected. I am the Resurrection
and the Life (11:25). If we believe in Him, we
will be raised from death and live forever.
I am the
Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6). If we believe
in Him, we will find our way back to God, we will
know the truth that saves us and sets us free,
and we will live forever.
I am the
True Vine (15:1). If we confidently trust in Yeshua,
we will be fruitful and our lives will be eternally
meaningful.
And here,
we have the greatest of the “I Am statements,”
before Abraham was, I am (8:58). If we
believe in Yeshua, we will know God and be forever
accepted by God.
Am I greater
than Abraham? Yes. I am God. Abraham himself saw
me, in Person, when I manifested Myself to Him
2000 years ago. Abraham acknowledged that I am
far, far greater.
Is there
any question that Yeshua is claiming to be God?
No. This can mean nothing else because the reaction
of the Jewish leaders tells us they understood
what He was claiming.
Therefore
they picked up stones to throw at Him for
blasphemy, that a man should claim to be God,
but Yeshua hid Himself and went out of the Temple.
Also remember
that at Sukkot, while the Second Temple existed,
Jerusalem was lit with four huge menorahs, that
were 75 feet high. The wicks were made from the
old priestly garments that burned huge amounts
of oil, and lit up all of Jerusalem. The men of
Israel danced with torches all night, singing
songs of praise to God. The Levitical musicians
played spirited music with harps, lyres, cymbals
and trumpets with other instruments without number.
I believe that the Talmud records that one has
not seen joy unless he has experienced the Torch
dance of Sukkot at Jerusalem.
As
He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
We know that God blesses righteousness, and He
punishes sin. If bad consequences are the result
of sin, then a child that is born blind raises
a theological question: And His disciples asked
Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he would be born blind?"
Rabbi Yeshua, who is at fault here? We know the
Torah teaches that the Lord our God is a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, on the third and the fourth generations
of those who hate Him. Is that what happened here?
Yeshua
answered, “It was neither that this man sinned,
nor his parents; but it was so that the works
of God might be displayed in him. When bad
things happen to the young or the innocent, it
is not necessarily due to their sins, or their
parent’s sins, or because of someone else's sins.
The answer may be found in the mysterious and
unknowable will of God. God may allow difficult
circumstances to happen, so that He may bring
an even greater good out of it that will accomplish
His purposes. And, I am going to do one of the
works of God - a powerful miracle that will point
you to God and to Myself, right now. I won’t always
be able to be with you in Person to do these kinds
of things. We must work the works of Him who
sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming
when no one can work. I will be arrested,
be treated cruelly, and will die, and I will be
powerless. But, while I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world." So, look
to Me while I am here. Believe in Me, trust Me,
learn from Me, and you will have light - the light
of God's Presence, and truth, wisdom, revelation,
understanding, knowledge, victory, salvation,
life
When
He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made
clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his
eyes - clay may have been considered a remedy
for healing, so this may have been a tangible
action that Yeshua took to strengthen, to aid
the man's faith. He couldn't see, so He did something
the blind man knew about and could feel - and
said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Shiloach"
(and, John gives us a short Hebrew lesson
- Shiloach which is translated, Sent).
Yeshua
sent the blind man to do something, just as Elisha
sent Namaan, the General of the Syrian army, and
a leper, to wash seven times in the Jordan river
before he was healed; just as Elijah sent the
widow to go get her last bit of food and give
it to him, before her remaining food was miraculously
multiplied. Sometimes God will send us to do something,
to test us, before additional blessing is added.
So
he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
See how simply the miracle is recorded.
Therefore
the neighbors, and those who previously saw him
as a beggar, were saying, "Is not this the
one who used to sit and beg?" Others were
saying, "This is he," still others were
saying, "No, but he is like him." He
kept saying, "I am the one."
So
they were saying to him, "How then were your
eyes opened?" He answered, "The man
who is called Yeshua made clay, and anointed my
eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Shiloach and wash';
so I went away and washed, and I received sight."
They said to him, "Where is He?" He
said, "I do not know."
They
brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly
blind. Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Yeshua
made the clay and opened his eyes. Uh-oh,
there goes Yeshua again, healing a man on the
Sabbath, and therefore working on the Sabbath,
and therefore breaking the Sabbath, and therefore
He must be a false prophet, and a Sabbath breaker,
and He must die. Then the Pharisees also were
asking him again how he received his sight. And
he said to them, "He applied clay to my eyes,
and I washed, and I see."
Therefore
some of the Pharisees were saying, "This
man is not from God, because He does not keep
the Sabbath." But others were saying, “How
can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?"
No, ordinary sinners normally don’t do extraordinary
miracles like Yeshua has been doing. Yeshua isn’t
a sinner. These Pharisees were experiencing a
theological dilemma: normally, a sinner can't
do miracles, only holy prophets can. Yet Yeshua
is claiming to be God and violating the Shabbat.
Is Yeshua a great sinner or a holy prophet? And
there was a division among them. The majority
thought He was a sinner, and a false prophet,
but a minority were willing to think positively
about Him and give Him some consideration.
So
they said to the blind man again, "What do
you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?"
We are not unified. Maybe you have some insight.
And he said, “He is a navee - a prophet."
God is working through Yeshua. The Lord God of
Israel is allowing Yeshua to perform these miracles,
just as He worked through Moses and Joshua, Elijah
and Elisha.
Well,
the majority of the Jewish leaders, who did not
believe in Yeshua, and wanted Him dead, did not
like this man’s answer. They could tell that he
was favorably disposed toward Yeshua. In fact,
he might even be one of Yeshua’s disciples, a
shill, trying to build up Yeshua’s following!
Maybe a miracle never happened at all! The
Jews (meaning the Jewish leaders) then
did not believe it of him, that he had been blind
and had received sight, until they called the
parents of the very one who had received his sight,
and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son,
who you say was born blind? Then how does he now
see?"
His
parents answered them and said, "We know
that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened
his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age,
he will speak for himself." John tells
us the reason why the man’s parents were being
so careful, so cautious, in the way they answered.
His parents said this because they were afraid
of the Jewish leaders; for the Jewish leaders
had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him
to be Messiah, he was to be put out of the synagogue.
For this reason his parents said, “He is of age;
ask him." And sadly enough, in spite
of the fact that Yeshua has done so much good
to the world, for 2,000 years now, and tens of
millions from many other nations have embraced
Israel’s greatest Rabbi, it’s still this same
way in the Jewish world - that if anyone
confesses Yeshua to be Messiah, he is put out
of the synagogue. It’s the fear of the Jewish
community leaders, and the pressure that they
still place against faith in Yeshua, that intimidates
the majority of the Jewish people from considering
Yeshua ben David - the Son of David. The fear
of man is a powerful force, and it works, but
we must not yield to it. Like Yeshua, we must
be brave and courageous, and fear God rather than
men. Following Yeshua can costs us our membership
in our old religious systems: the synagogues,
the mosques, the Catholics Churches, but we must
be willing to give them up in order to gain Yeshua.
So
a second time they called the man who had been
blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God
- by confessing your sins, by admitting that you
are part of a scam, and that what you say happened
never really happened. Admit that Yeshua is a
Sabbath breaker, a sinner, and that His power
comes from Satan, since we know that this man
is a sinner."
He
then answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I
do not know - I’m not a theologian. I’ve never
been able to read or study! But, one thing
I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."
But at least I know the facts.
So
they said to him, "What did He do to you?
How did He open your eyes?" Here’s a
good example of, “If you don’t get the answer
you are looking for when you ask the first couple
of times, keep on asking until you get the answer
you want!”
He
answered them, "I told you already and you
did not listen; why do you want to hear it again?
By now the man was frustrated, and could tell
that they had an anti-Yeshua agenda, and didn’t
want to be confused by the facts. You do not
want to become His disciples too, do you?"
Ah, maybe
that’s the real reason why you keep asking me
the same thing after I’ve already told you - snicker,
snicker!
Oh, that
got them angry! They reviled him and said,
"You are His disciple, but we are disciples
of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses,
but as for this man, we do not know where He is
from." It sounds logical and spiritual
- we are sure about Moses, but we’re unsure of
Yeshua. But, the truth was that they were sure
about Yeshua - they were sure He was a false prophet.
But if they were true disciples of Moses, they
should have known that Yeshua was a true prophet,
since Moses himself wrote about Yeshua.
The
man answered and said to them, "Well, here is
an amazing thing, that you do not know where He
is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that
God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing
and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning
of time it has never been heard that anyone opened
the eyes of a person born blind. This is a
unique miracle. If this man were not from God,
He could do nothing." Yeshua is God-fearing
a good, and working miracles. God is empowering
Him. Yeshua is from God. This uneducated man has
simple faith, and a greater understanding of the
Scriptures than the far better educated Pharisees.
Isn’t that encouraging? That we don’t need to
be great sages or scholar to have a faith that
saves us, and a good understanding of God and
His word?
The Pharisees
didn’t like this simple man, his simple statement
of the facts, his simple logic, or his child-like
faith in Yeshua.
They
wrongly and arrogantly answered him, "You
were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching
us?" So, the Pharisees have their own
answer to the question first raised by Yeshua’s
disciples at the beginning of this chapter. It’s
true that you were born blind, because you are
a terrible sinner. Your life has been filled with
sin since the time you were born until now. You
know nothing. So they put him out - they
excommunicated him from the Jewish religious life
of the synagogue - maybe the holy Temple too.
But, there
are benefits that come to those who fear God more
than men. Those who stand firm for truth and take
a bold stance and suffer for His sake, Yeshua
will seek them out in a special way, and draw
near to them and give them even more wisdom and
revelation.
Yeshua
heard that they had put him out, and finding him,
He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
Yeshua, I trust You. I believe in You. I know
that whatever you teach me will be important and
true. He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that
I may believe in Him?" Yeshua said to him,
“You have both seen Him, and He is the one who
is talking with you." I, Yeshua of Nazareth,
the One speaking to you, I am the Son of Man,
the Perfect Human. I am what humanity should be,
but isn’t. I am the Second Adam, and the head
of the new humanity, restoring a new humanity
to those who join themselves to Me.
And
he said, "Lord, I believe." I believe
that you are this Son of Man, and the Messiah
sent by God. And, I sense that you are something
even more - the Son of God - fully Man but fully
God. And he worshiped Him. This man who
was born blind is one of the greatest examples
of spiritual vision and understanding truth. The
man worshiped Yeshua, and Yeshua didn’t rebuke
Him - He allowed it, showing that Yeshua received
worship, which means that Yeshua is divine. He
is deity that is worthy or mankind’s worship.
And
Yeshua said, "For judgment I came into this
world, so that those who do not see may see, and
that those who see may become blind."
Here’s the reason why I am here, leaders of My
people. I have came into this world to make clear
those who really know and love God, from those
who don’t. Those who truly know and love God will
know and love Me. Those who are entrapped in false
religion will ignore or dislike Me, or add other
things to simple faith in Me. I am like a litmus
test whose purpose is to separate those who truly
want to see and know God from those who don't.
Those
of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these
things and said to Him, "We are not blind
too, are we?" Yeshua said to
them, "If you were blind, you would have
no sin - I am here to give sight to the blind,
to those who admit that they don’t know God the
way they should. but since you say,
'We see,' your sin remains. If you proudly
and arrogantly and falsely assert that you know
God, and love Him, and are acceptable to Him,
and will be welcomed by Him into His eternal Heaven,
when none of those things are true, then I can’t
help you. You must recognize your true condition,
or you won’t come to Me for atonement. You are
still in your sins.
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