WHO’S YOUR DADDY? A SERMON ON JOHN 8:31-59
by Rev. Russell B. Smith
In this passage, Jesus engages in a conversation with some of his Jewish followers. Let me restate that — in this passage, Jesus is talking with people who professed belief in his teaching. He’s not blasting scribes and pharisees here — he’s blasting people who claim his name, which indicates that we need to sit up and take notice. The whole discussion centers on the question “Who’s your father” — can you really claim God in heaven as your spiritual father? So we see that the previous passage, re-stating Jesus oneness with the Father really helped to set the stage for this discussion: If anyone would be able to identify children of the Father, it would be Jesus who is one with the Father.
Now before we dig into the text, I’ll indulge in one side note. Look down at verse 58. This verse does not further the main thrust of the passage, but it is such an important statement that we cannot ignore it. Jesus here says “Before Abraham was, I AM.” and then the Jews, the people who had been following him, pick up stones to stone him. Jesus statement here is a direct claim to be God. Not only does the statement indicate eternality, but it also picks up the language God has used to reveal himself in the Old Testament. In Exodus 3:13-14, when God appears to Moses in the burning bush, Moses asks what shall I tell them your name is to which God replies “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites. ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Throughout the Old Testament, God reveals himself in terms of “I am.” It is even believed that the name most often used for God, the name that we transliterate into English as Yahweh or Jehovah, is a variant on the Hebrew verb “I am”. Jesus listeners did not miss out on this bold statement, and that is why they try to stone him. The gospel of John has Jesus making a number of “I am” statements — “I am the bread of life”, ”I am the light of the world”, and “I am the good shepherd.” These statements are thematically linked to this one statement of “I AM.”
The point is that some believe Jesus never claimed to be God. That he was just a wandering preacher who taught a good ethical message. But the Gospel of John makes it clear that is not an option. As C.S. Lewis put it, Jesus is either Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. The texts of the gospels give us no other choice. Again, that point was unavoidable in our passage today, but it’s not the main point. The point is that Jesus, as fully God, can rightly discern who true children of the Father are. He starts laying out characteristics of true children of the Father because his listeners, believing they are true children, aren’t really true. That having been said, lets dig into the text.
First, true children live like Jean Valjean. That’s right, I said Jean Valjean. Look at verse 31: “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then look to verses 39-41 — If you were the Father’s children, you would do the things Abraham did. The emphasis here is on hearing God’s word and doing it. Jesus brother, James makes this same point is James 1:22-25. There is a legitimate concern with making sure that those who profess to be true children are acting in accordance with what that means. They live like Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean was the hero of Victor Hugo’s classic Les Miserables. He was an escaped convict when a priest saved him and said “I’ve saved you, now live for Jesus.” After wrestling with himself, Valjean decides, “Yes, I will live for Jesus.” and from that point forward, against impossible odds, he does his best to hear God’s word and do it. He’s pursued by the police, he’s followed by ruthless criminals, and yet he’s able to amass a small fortune, do kindness at every turn, raise an orphan girl, save lives in the midst of civil war, and show mercy to his worst tormentor. Now don’t get me wrong, Valjean wasn’t perfect, living like Jean Valjean doesn’t mean that you’ll be perfect, but it means we should do our best to live according to the word, even when it hurts. So when we’re put in a morally compromising situation, when we have the chance for gain that’s a little bit shady, or when we have an opportunity to impact someone’s day — remember to be does of the word and live like Jean Valjean.
Not only do true children live like Jean Valjean, but also they’re free — as free as Winter. Winter? Yes, Winter. Look at verses 32-36. Jesus indicates that true children will be free from bondage to sin. Again, this does not mean that they’ll never sin again, but rather that sin doesn’t define who they are. Rather than having their eyes fixed on sin, they turn and have their eyes fixed on Jesus. They’re not deluded by sin anymore. They know what really satisfies, and they’re in personal progression toward Jesus, the source of all satisfaction.
They’re free like Winter. One of my favorite Christmas specials is “Santa Claus is coming to Town.” It’s one of those 1960’s claymation Christmas specials, where all the voices are done by celebrities. This particular special tells the story about Kris Kringle becoming Santa Claus — Mickey Rooney does the voice of Kris Kringle, Fred Astaire provides the voice for the narrator. But my favorite character is the sinister Winter Warlock. He’s a strange old wizard who lives on top of a mountain. He’s grouchy and dislikes everybody. Keenan Wynn brilliantly voices him. At one point, Kris Kringle falls into his clutches, but thinking on his feet, he says to the warlock “Oh,Winter.” “Call me Mr. Warlock.” “Mr. Warlock .. I have something for you.” And he gave him a present. The Warlock had never received a present before. He begins to cry and his heart melts and he transforms from an icy monster to a kindly old man. He says that the spell is broken and he wants to be good, but he doesn’t know how, and Kris says it’s easy, you just put one foot in front of the other. Then they break into a lively song, “Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking cross the floor. Put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.”
What a picture of rebirth! When the Holy Spirit comes inside of us and turns us away from sinful selfishness to service to Christ, our hearts melt, and we want to do good but we don’t know how. The spell has been broken, we’re free from bondage to sin, but we still have to learn to follow Christ, and we do it by putting one foot in front of the other. By the way, the rest of the Christmas special, Kris Kringle keeps saying “Mr. Warlock.” “Call me Winter” the Warlock always replies. He’s been transformed, freed from sin, and takes a new name. True children of the Father are free like Winter.
Not only do true children live like Jean Valjean; not only are they free like Winter, they also have Daredevil perception. Daredevil? Look at verses 42-47. They make the point that true children hear and perceive things differently than false children. Have you ever had the experience of talking with someone and feeling like you are talking about two totally different things? We talk about the generation gap, where one generation seems unable to communicate with another, but there is also a deeper “regeneration gap” — a gap between those who have been born again by the Spirit and those who have not. There is a radical difference in perception. Normal people have normal perception, but those who have been born again have Daredevil perception.
Those of you who know me know that my favorite super hero is SpiderMan. But number two on the list would be Daredevil. Daredevil is neat because he’s the only superhero who is blind. As a young boy, Matt Murdock, Daredevil’s secret identity, was picked on, taken advantage of, because he was blind. He determined to train his body and his mind, and train his other senses. He sharpened his hearing, touch, taste, and smell so that he could perceive reality better than the rest of us who rely so heavily upon sight. The blind superhero had trained so well that he had a more accurate perception of reality than those who had sight.
True children have Daredevil perception when it comes to reality. They see the fingerprints of God on everything — the faces of children, the changing leaves, the cycle of seasons. Even in pain, they can see God’s hand at work. Even in the aftermath of Sept 11, 2001, they can see God’s finger stirring the world. This does not mean that there will not be times when God seems invisible. I will wager that there is not a single mature Christian who has not had the experience of feeling abandoned by God — not being abandoned, but feeling abandoned. This is why we have the book of Job. This is why we have the psalms of lament. This is why we have the story of Joseph sold into slavery. It is legitimate to feel abandoned by God — and Scripture addresses that feeling. On the other side of that feeling is a deeper confidence in God’s providential care.
The opposite of Daredevil perception is not the person who feels abandoned by God, but rather the person who doesn’t even think about God. This person might know facts about God — he might be able to analyze his Scriptures all day long, but he never considers God. When a crisis happens, he doesn’t feel abandoned by God because he doesn’t even think about God. In the church, these are the people who are more concerned with the institution than in the God who gives life to the institution. They’re more interested in movements and numbers and power than in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. They can be here before God’s throne and not even sense that He is present. They do not have Daredevil perception.
Not only do true children live like Jean Valjean; not only are they as free as Winter, not only do they have Daredevil perception, but they have a Fezziwig heart. Yes, Fezziwig. Look at verses 54-56. This is an allusion to the rabbinical belief that Abraham had been given foresight to see the coming of the Messiah. The idea in this passage is that Abraham foresaw Jesus being glorified in his suffering, death, and resurrection, and he rejoiced. He was glad because the king had come. He was able to witness the power of sin and death being broken. In response, he rejoiced, he was glad — he had a Fezziwig heart.
Most of you remember Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Remember the first ghost took Scrooge back into the past when he was a young man who enjoyed Christmas. It was back in a time when he worked for old Fezziwig — Fezziwig who was so merry at the thought of Christmas that he shut down the office on Christmas eve, cleared out the desks, brought in a big banquet, set up a dance hall, and hosted a merry party right there in his counting office. Fezziwig, who unlike Scrooge in his later years, looked at Christmas day, the birth of the Messiah, as a cause of celebration and partying. Fezziwig, who, unlike most of us today, didn’t see Christmas, the birth of the Messiah, as a chore to be endured or a massive to do list to tackle, but as an opportunity to break away from the normal routine and celebrate. Fezziwig’s heart was glad and merry.
True children then have a Fezziwig heart. They celebrate life as a gracious gift from the creator, they revel in the clean slate that Christ gives them, and they’re not too uptight about the rules because they know that’s not what saves them. They are, in short, refreshingly different. They know, as Tony Campolo says, that the kingdom of heaven is a party. They have a glad and merry Fezziwig heart.
So true children live like Jean Valjean. They are as free as Winter. They have Daredevil perception. And they have a Fezziwig heart. Now the whole point of the passage is not just to indicate these characteristics of true children, but also to say that we’re not born to it. Jesus’ hearers thought they were doing well because they were children of Abraham. But they’re off the mark, because God doesn’t have grandchildren. Every believer has to be adopted into the family. Once we’re adopted into the family, we sit at the feet of the Father and he teaches us how to be all these things. It doesn’t happen instantly, but by His grace, we become just as much a part of the family of God as though we were born to it.