14th Mar 2011

John 8:31-57 – The Children of Abraham

• “Theology is not Anthropology”
• After some of the Jews challenge Jesus’ testimony He now challenges their spiritual well-being.
• Jesus measurement is obedience.
• If we obey Him and take Him at His word we are His disciples and will be set free.
• His accusers offer three defenses;
1. Denial of their position – “we are not slaves”. Technically they may not have been as they did not accept the rulership of the Roman’s over them but in reality they were. Plus they were ignoring the nations that had ruled over them in the past; Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Syria.
2. Religion – “We are Abraham’s Children”. The root word in latin of Religion has been linked to ligament – connection. They thought their connection with God’s servant would be enough.
3. Accusation – “We are not illegitimate” – inferring that Jesus was. They were purposely missing the point and perverting the discussion to one of ancestors. They were accusing Jesus of being a bastard and that instead they had a much better lineage.

• We cannot fight God by our rules.
• This still happens; sometimes I hear a theological discussion and yet the Word of God is never quoted. Essentially we tried to avoid Jesus’ challenges by using anthropology rather than theology. We make our case thinking that God should behave like a good human being.
• But He is not a good Human being… He is God.
• We must study God therefore [theology] and not man [anthropology].
• We cannot avoid His challenges by thinking He plays by our rules.
• Praying today not to allow my human emotions, thoughts and ideas to trump God’s Word.