"So [they] said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area. - John 8: 57-59
I am not a Scripture Scholar, and I don't play one on TV, but taking a quick glance at the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, I can say with some sense of surety that one could entitle this chapter, "And Christ Did Push Their Button!"
There are four distinct sections or moments in this chapter, "The Woman Caught in Adultery", "The Light of the World", "Jesus, the Father's Ambassador", and "Jesus and Abraham". Three of the four sections end with "THEM" wanting to STOP him from being Jesus, if you know what I mean.
I AM CALLING YOU OUT! "The Woman Caught in Adultery": The story of the woman ends with Christ telling "THEM" to go ahead and own up to their own sinfulness. (v. 11) They departed the grounds outside the Temple with a grumble. (John 8: 1-11)
WE'RE CALLING THE COPS! "The Light of the World": Christ then visits the treasury area in the temple area, and reminds us of his place in the world as being light to dispel the darkness. (v. 12) You can almost hear "THEM" saying, "Wait a second! Are you telling us that this area is the "darkness" that you are dispelling?" Needless to say, THEY weren't happy. He wasn't arrested, but it sure sounds as if someone had the phone in THEIR hand ready to call "the cops"! (John 8: 12-20)
WHERE DID YOU GO TO DIPLOMAT SCHOOL? "Jesus, the Father's Ambassador": Christ's opening line as "Ambassador" would not gain him a degree in most of today's Schools of Diplomacy. He opened with, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” Ouch! But of the four sections, this third interaction with "THEM" had a somewhat nice ending in that "many [of THEM] came to believe in him." This is a chance to highlight the reality that all Jesus was trying to do was talk straight to THEM, letting the world know that he was truly sent by the Father, to do the Father's will, making him the "I AM" (v. 28) that THEY all have been seeking since the days of Abraham. (John 8: 21-30)
I AM! "Jesus and Abraham": This final section continues his conversation with "those who believed in him", with Jesus affirming that they have been "set free", (v. 31-32) but THEY seemed to resent being called SLAVES. They probed, and Jesus answered back, probing even deeper! The idea that Christ could come to THEM and proclaim himself "I AM" was getting too much to handle. One more time, Jesus tries to connect the reality that he has come from God, the Father who sent him, but then notices that THEY just can't understand, prompting one of the harshest responses that most "diplomats" learn never to use: "You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies." (v. 44) Can you hear THEM? THEY yelled back, “Now we are sure that you are possessed." (v. 52) Jesus tried to continue his line of Truth, but the logic was just too much, "so they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area." (v. 59) (John 8: 31-59)
Things are gonna get a little dicey this coming week! Jerusalem, New York, Hong Kong, Toronto, Moscow, Brisbane, Buenos Aries, Birmingham, L.A., London, Afghanistan, Rome, Siagon, and
