This week a lot of people have been talking about the news that Chuck Norris died. It seems like he was a pretty great guy. Most people know him, though, from playing tough guys on TV, and probably even more so for all the jokes about just how tough Chuck Norris was. Things like, “Chuck Norris has a grizzly bear rug in his bedroom. It’s not dead, it’s just too scared to move.” Or “Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until they give him all the information he needs.” Or even, “Death once had a ‘near Chuck Norris’ experience.” It’s all in good fun, pretty silly stuff because of how purposefully over-the-top it is. So people were sad to hear that he had died at the age of 86, but I don’t think anyone was terribly surprised. “The length of our days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength.” Chuck Norris might have been strong for a man. The characters he played might have been even stronger. But despite the jokes, no one actually thought he was stronger than death.
Going back many many years the Jews held up Abraham in a sort of similar way. Not so much with the jokes, but among them he had a sort of super-human reputation. There are many great men in the world, but there is nobody so great as Father Abraham. They could trace their ancestry to Abraham, and that was a major point of pride. But it wasn’t just that. The Jews thought of heaven as being with Abraham – held in his bosom. Some Rabbis even taught that Abraham was so great that he never sinned.
Of course that is not true. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And it’s pretty clear from reading Genesis that there were times when Abraham lied and didn’t trust God as much as he should have. But we shouldn’t dismiss Abraham either. He truly is one of the great heroes of Scripture, and we could definitely call him one of the greatest men in the history of the world. He left his father’s house behind forever to go and move somewhere far away that he had never seen just because God told him to. He believed that God would give him a son even when he was old and childless and it seemed totally impossible. He took that son to the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice, with no questions asked, when God gave the command. No wonder he’s considered a hero of faith!
But he still wasn’t great enough to overcome death. That’s actually a good proof that he wasn’t perfect and did, in fact, sin. “The wages of sin is death,” Paul says. We die because we sin, just as God told Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. If we never sinned, then we wouldn’t die.
Our gospel for today tells us of a discussion between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. They were attacking Jesus and trying to discredit him. They were offended by Jesus and everything he had to say. But their lies and their ridicule and their hatred could not stop Jesus. Jesus is great enough to overcome death.
We find this in John 8, where our text starts at verse 46, which is sort of right in the middle of things. Jesus had been teaching at the temple in Jerusalem as he so often did, and here he calls out the Jews for their stubborn unbelief. Over and over again they asked him to explain himself, but no matter what he said they would not listen. So Jesus said,
46Who of you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you do not listen is that you do not belong to God.”
With each of Jesus’ statements he points us to something about himself, something great, and not in a boastful way, but because these are things that are important for us to know about him for our faith. It’s not enough to believe that Jesus was a good man who lived in Israel 2000 years ago. No, you need to know that Jesus was without sin, was perfect and holy.
One way to highlight just how great these claims of Jesus are is to imagine if someone else were to say them. Imagine if I were to say, “Who of you can convict me of sin?” I think if I said that you could all raise your hand. Most especially my family, who live with me all the time. And that’s true of everyone you know. The better you know them the better you know their failings and their sins. Not so with Jesus. They couldn’t convict him of any sin. And remember that the Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus included Jesus’ own brothers, and still they couldn’t think of even one sin he had committed.
In response they accused Jesus of being a Samaritan and having a demon. I’m not sure which one of those they would have considered worse. But Jesus simply said,
I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51Amen, Amen, I tell you: If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never see death.”
Certainly no demon would seek to honor God. But the way that Jesus speaks here also points to how he and the Father are one. Whoever honors the Son honors the Father. Whoever rejects the Son rejects the Father. There are many people who believe that all religions are ultimately the same, just different paths to God. But if you don’t have Jesus you don’t have God. The Father seeks Jesus’ glory, and he is the judge.
Look at how Jesus keeps directing this to us. It’s for us and for our salvation that he is so great. He said, “If anyone holds on to my word, he will certainly never see death.”?
The Jews themselves recognized how big this claim was. And because they didn’t believe in him they thought it was completely ridiculous, as ridiculous as all those Chuck Norris jokes. They brought up the greatest man they knew. Abraham died. You don’t think you’re greater than him, do you?
Except because they refused to hear God’s Word, they had no idea just how much greater Jesus was. Jesus said,
Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day. He saw it and rejoiced.”
57The Jews replied, “You aren’t even fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?”
58Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Before Abraham was born, I am.”
Jesus made a lot of great claims, each greater than the last. This is the knock-out punch, and it shows in the fact that after this they were too angry to even talk any more.
Yes, Jesus is greater than Abraham. He’s the promised Savior, the son that Abraham looked forward to. And he’s also true God, who is the eternal “I am.”
How is it that Abraham saw Jesus’ day? He saw it by faith. Faith is a wonderful thing that grasps the reality of God’s promises even before those things take place in our time. God never changes and he never lies. His word is always sure. So when God told Abraham that he would have a son, Abraham knew without a doubt that he would. When God told Abraham that through that one son Isaac his descendants would number like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, Abraham was certain that it was so. When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Hebrews 11 tells us that Abraham reasoned that God could surely raise Isaac from the dead. And when God told Abraham that through him would come the seed by which all the nations of the earth would be blessed, Abraham didn’t say, “I sure hope so.” or “I guess we’ll see,” but his response was faith’s “Amen” – Yes, it shall be so.
But Abraham still died, didn’t he? And what about us? I’m no giant of faith like Abraham. No one would even think to claim that I’ve never sinned. No one would even joke that I could defy death. Jesus says, “Whoever holds to my word will never see death,” but I know that the grave is lurking just around the corner waiting for me.
But it’s just like with Abraham’s faith, isn’t it? Faith grasps the reality of God’s promises even before we see them take place. And in Jesus we have the promise of new life. We have the promise of resurrection. We have the promise of heaven. We live in those promises now, with hearts of faith that rejoice to see Jesus’ day.
Abraham is great, a hero of faith. By all means, study what Scripture says about him, hold him up as an example, and honor him for his faith. Because his faith was in someone greater than him. Abraham didn’t have to see Jesus’ cross to know that his sins would be paid for. He didn’t have to see the empty tomb to know that death would be overcome. All he needed was the sure word of the eternal, unchanging, and merciful God.
None of us are great enough to deal with sin, or to take on the devil, or to overcome death. But we have a mighty God and Savior who is. In his grace he has called us out of stubborn unbelief and spiritual death. He has made us his own, declared it so in our baptism. Continue to listen to what God says. Hold on to the word of Jesus. Rejoice to see his day. Amen.