The command that Abraham had to carry out was an impossible one. “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you.” That’s what God had told Abraham and I can’t even imagine what was going through his head. It’s particularly fascinating, then, that we aren’t told. What did Abraham think? What did Abraham say? No. Abraham did just as God had said.
First thing in the morning Abraham got up and set out with Isaac and two servants. On the third day they reached the mountain. Abraham built the altar, he bound his son Isaac and took the knife to slay him. And every part of us screams, “No, don’t do it” but the only thing that stopped Abraham was when God said it. The Angel of the Lord called from heaven and said, “[Abraham!] Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
God was not being fickle here and changing his mind. Nor was he unsure about whether or not Abraham would really listen to him. This was a test of Abraham’s faith. All Abraham could see was death, but he held on to God’s word and trusted him and God gave him life.
I don’t know if I could do what Abraham did. Sometimes carrying out God’s commands is a hard thing to do. Sometimes my faith is pretty weak, and I don’t trust God like I should. Sometimes I look around and everything is gloomy; all I see is death. But Jesus today reassures us. Truth and righteousness and salvation isn’t in ourselves. But holding to Jesus’ word, you have life.
Our Gospel for today comes from John 8, where Jesus was confronted by the Jewish leaders while teaching in the temple courts. They wanted to silence him by any means, but Jesus responded to them boldly for the sake of all who, by God’s grace, would listen. And in so doing we see a great contrast between those who reject Jesus and only know death, and those who hold to Jesus and to his word and in him have life.
The conversation there in the temple really centered around the question of “Who is Jesus?” People today still ask that question, and we can see that it is by no means a new question. During Jesus’ ministry the Jewish leaders hated Jesus and accused him of a lot of things. Where our text begins, Jesus asked them, “Who of you can convict me of sin?”
That is a bold question to ask. I don’t think any of us would invite that kind of scrutiny on our lives. We all know that we have sinned. And the people Jesus was speaking to were experts in the law. This would be like inviting the IRS to audit your taxes. But Jesus has a point to go with this. If he is not a sinner, a liar, a charlatan, then why do they treat his word as such? But Jesus knows the answer. “Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you do not listen is that you do not belong to God.”
The whole conversation that follows demonstrates exactly what Jesus is saying. They accuse Jesus of being a Samaritan and having a demon. They may have meant that literally, or they might have been saying that just like the Samaritans, he twists God’s Word, and just like a demon he deceives people. Jesus told them that whoever holds to his word will not see death. They replied by asking, “Who do you think you are? Abraham died. The prophets died. Do you think you’re greater than them?”
And you can see how stubborn their unbelief was. People were asking, “Could this man be the Christ?” All the Old Testament prophets looked forward to the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. But they sneer and say, “Who do you think you are?” Who was the Messiah the prophets longed for? He’s the one who conquers death!
And it wasn’t just the prophets who longed for this promised Messiah. It was Abraham too, the father of Israel. Jesus said, “Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day. He saw it and rejoiced.” Jesus here is speaking of Abraham’s faith. Abraham held to God’s Word. He trusted God’s promise. Genesis says that he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham was the complete opposite of these men, his descendants, who were now opposing the heir Abraham was promised. They said, “You aren’t even fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?”
And Jesus said, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Before Abraham was born, I am.”
They knew exactly what he was saying here. “I am” is the name for God that was given to Moses at the burning bush. “Who should I say is sending me?” Moses asked. And God said, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them that: I AM is sending me to you.” This is a perfect name for God. Not I was. Not I will be. God doesn’t change over time. He’s always, “I AM” Before the creation of the world, his name is “I AM” In the days of Abraham, the days of Moses, the days of King David, “I AM.” At now, our present time, I AM, and for all eternity, I AM. And Jesus is the one who claims this name for himself. Here’s this wonderful mystery. Jesus is not fifty years old, closer to thirty actually. And yet he’s also the eternal I AM. A man, born in time from his mother Mary. And God, one with the Father from eternity.
At this the Jews were so outraged that they picked up rocks to stone him to death, but he was hidden from them and left the temple area. This was certainly a miracle. He would not have so easily escaped them otherwise. It wasn’t his time yet. He wasn’t going to die in this way. He came for the cross, and that is where he would go.
This account in John is all about contrasts. We have the most glorious truths about Jesus, next to the most vile hatred and unbelief of the very people he came to save. They were proud to be sons of Abraham, but their faith was nothing like Abraham’s. Abraham listened to God even to the extent that he was ready to put away all human reason and all human doubt and slay his own son if God desired it. Does not all life belong to God? He held to God’s word even when all he saw was death, and God gave him life. And by faith he rejoiced to see Jesus’ day.
What a work of God’s grace it is, then, that you are here. See, by nature none of us trusts God. We’re all his enemies because of sin. The Jews should have been the first to welcome the Messiah and worship him. Instead, their unbelief filled them with rage and murderous intent. It led to death.
You, though, are here, to listen to the Word of Jesus and to praise and worship him and in him you have life. That’s not because you’re a better person. It’s not because you’re smarter than those Jewish experts in the law. It’s not because you’re more pious and godly. You hold to Jesus’ word because God, in his gracious love that is beyond all understanding, has chosen you. He himself has planted the word in your heart and worked in you such a faith that trusts in Jesus and in the life that you have in him.
The question is not “Could you do what Abraham did, when he willingly went to sacrifice his son?” Rather, the question is, “Do you know what Jesus has done for you?” Isaac was not sacrificed because Jesus is the true sacrifice for sin. There’s no one else like him. No one who can say he is without sin. No one who knows the Father and shares his glory. No one who can declare, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” And no one else who faced the hatred of his own people, and who bore a cross for the sin of all people, even for you, to give you life.
Like Abraham, we also rejoice to see Jesus’ day. We see it by faith. We’re baptized into Jesus death and resurrection, events that happened long ago but sustain our lives every single day. And our faith looks ahead on the basis of God’s promise, so that when all we see is death, like Abraham trudging with Isaac towards that mountain, we still know that the outcome will be life. Jesus rose from death, and in him life is yours forever. You’re a part of Christ’s body, of him who conquered death. How could you die? Death itself is emptied for you so that Jesus can truly say, “Whoever holds to my word will certainly never see death.”
Holding to Jesus’ word, you have life. Life now. Life forever. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson