The Light Defeats Darkness

John 8:48-59

Obi-Wan vs. Anakin

Confrontation

• My words find no place in you (37)

• You seek to kill me (37, 40)

• You are doing the works your father did (41)

• You cannot bear to hear my word (43)

• You are of your father, the devil (44)

• You do not believe me (45, 46)

• You are not of God (47)

“Apart from spiritual discernment, the religious professor presents himself before

us … [with] a mask which no human eye can penetrate. It is not until such professors

are exposed to the searching light of God that their real characters are laid bare.”

- A.W. Pink

Attack !

• You are a Samaritan and have a demon! (v48)

– They assume they are right, but they are not – They may have used this argument frequently– “Completely vanquished in argument, they resort

to vulgar and blasphemous declamation.” (Pink)

Counter

• I do not have a demon (v49)– Everything that I do and say honors my Father– Rejection of the gospel is a rejection of my Father

• I am not seeking my own glory (v50)

• If anyone keeps my word He will never see death (v51)– A disciple is safe from ‘second death’ and final

judgment (Rev 2:11, 20:6; Heb 9:22-28)

Attack !

• You definitely have a demon! (v52)

– Important people die every day • Are you greater than they are? (v53)

– The assume not, but actually, He is– Their messages all point to this Savior and His

substitutionary death

Counter

• I do not glorify myself (v54)

– God, who you claim to believe in, glorifies me• I know the Father and keep His word (v55)

• Abraham rejoiced that he saw my day (v56)

– By faith in the promises of God, Abraham lived with excitement

Attack !

• You are not old enough to have seen Abraham! (v57)

Counter

• Before Abraham was, I am (v58)– Jesus claimed eternal existence– Jesus claimed deity

Decision Point

LIAR, LUNATIC, or LORD?

Attack !

• They picked up stones to throw at Him (v59)

• But Jesus was hidden from them (v59)

Counter

• In the end, Jesus wins (v59)– His goal is not annihilation, injury, or forced

surrender– His goal is accomplishment of the perfect plan

• In the end, the Jews lose (v59)– They reject His correction, confrontation, and

invitation– He hides himself

“…from the self-righteous and self-sufficient but blinded religious formalists, Christ still hides himself; those who deny that they need to be made free from the

slavery of sin He still leaves to themselves.”- A.W. Pink

Another Classic Battle

• Believe Jesus’ claims and surrender.• Hear and do the will of God.• Glorify Him before the watching world.