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Study Questions

John 8:31-51

Jesus said that the people who are truly His disciples are the ones who abide in His Words. He said that the ones who would abide in His words would know the truth and that knowing the truth would set them free.

When the Jews heard this they said that they were Abraham’s seed and that they were enslaved to no one. Jesus explained back to them that the one who practices sin is the slave of sin. Jesus further explained that the Son will remain in the House of God forever, but that the person who is a slave of sin would not. He then went on to say that the only person who can set us free from slavery to sin is Himself and that when he does we are truly free.

Jesus then asked them if anyone of them could convict Him of sin. Since they could not and since He was speaking the truth, He asked them why they did not believe in Him. Jesus then told them that the person who is of God hears the Words of God. He then told them that they were not able to receive what He was saying because they were not of God. In making this statement Jesus was declaring to them that He was God.

As a result, in response, they told Jesus He had a demon. Jesus responded back by saying that the one who would keep His Word (notice His word, God’s Word) would not see death (spiritual death). Understanding that He was again claiming to be Yehovah God they again accused Him of being demon possessed.

They said that Abraham and the Prophets had died and wanted to know If He thought He was greater than them. They wanted to know who He made Himself out to be. They wanted Him to state it clearly straightforwardly. Jesus told them in response that Abraham leaped for joy when he saw the day Jesus became a man to save men from their sins. The Jews said in Response, "You are not yet fifty years old (in His humanity), and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them in response, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I AM." He used the name in Hebrew for Yehovah God, given here in John in the Greek Formula egw eimi. How do we know this was what He meant? We know Because the next thing the Jews did was pick up stones to stone Jesus because they clearly straightforwardly heard Him say He was Yehovah God. Leviticus 24:16 stated plainly that the penalty for blasphemy was death by stoning. They were giving Jesus a proper response if He were only a man. In response, John tells us that Jesus was hidden and went forth out of the Temple unharmed.

Jesus talks about His Divinity in John 5:20-21,

"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes."

In this passage Jesus states that He is completely aware of everything the Father is doing. Only Divinity has infinite capacity mentally and intellectually. Jesus raises men from the dead and gives life to whom He wishes. Only Divinity can create life and give it back again. Josh Mcdowell in His book Evidence That Demands a Verdict states,

"Jesus claimed to be God, He did not leave any other options. His claim to be God must be either true or false. . . . If, when Jesus made His claims he knew that he was not God, then he was lying. But, if He was a liar, then he was also a hypocrite because He told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while Himself teaching and living a colossal lie. And more than that, He was a demon, because he told others to trust Him for their eternal destiny. If He could not back up His claims and knew it, then He was unspeakably evil. Last he would also be a fool, because it was his claims to being God that led to His crucifixion."^34/104-105

C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity said the following about Jesus’ claims to Deity,

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse."^91/40-41

"You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."^91/40-41

"No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." (John 1:18)

John the Apostle states that no man at any time has seen the Father. Jesus Himself in John 5:37 stated that no man has at any time seen God the Father’s form or heard his voice. Jesus further tells us in John 4:24 that God is a Spirit. Yet, Abraham in Genesis 18 has three visitors from heaven: two were angels and the third he refers to fourteen times as Yehovah. If no man has ever seen God the Father or heard his voice then Yehovah must be Jesus Christ. John tells us in John 1:18 that Jesus Christ, Yehovah God, has revealed to us the Father. Genesis 19:24 tells us, "Then Yehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yehovah out of heaven." Walter Martin states,

"Moses here reveals a glimpse of the composite unity in the Triune God. . . . This unquestionably is the only solution to this dilemma. God the Father rained fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, and God the Son spoke and ate with Abraham and Sarah. Two persons... are both called ‘Yehovah’ (Genesis 18:21, 19:24; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2), and both are ‘one’ (Echod) with the Holy Spirit in ‘composite unity’ (Deut 6:4). God the Father was in heaven, God the Son died on the cross, God the Holy Spirit comforts the Church till Jesus shall come again."^80/62

"For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself EQUAL with God." (John 5:18)

Jesus was a Jew talking to Jews and the Jews clearly understood in their language and culture that Jesus was calling Himself God, equal with God the Father. Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible defines ison (ison) as "Equal to, the Same as"^5/205 Walter Martin in Kingdom of the Cults gives the following discussion on ison,

"The Greek word for equal is ison, which according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon (p. 307), an acknowledged authority, means ‘equal in quality as in quantity, to claim for one’s self the Nature, rank, authority, which belong to God’ (John 5:18). Dr. Thayer... was a Unitarian who denied Christ’s Deity;... yet, being honest, he gave the true meaning of the Biblical terms even though they contradicted his views."^80/58

From this study it is clear that Jesus and his followers declared straight-forwardly that Jesus was Yehovah God in the flesh. It is also clear that by the response of His enemies that they believed Jesus to claim He was Yehovah God in the flesh and thus why they hanged him on the cross.

The significance of Jesus’ crucifixion is that it both justifies us before God and justifies God’s condemnation of man to hell forever if man rejects Jesus, Yehovah God. Some people say, "How can a good God condemn anyone to hell?" You judge for yourself: God the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He loved us, healed us, fed us and forgave us for our sins. What did we as man do in response? We rejected God and tried to kill Him by putting His humanity on a cross. Man’s killing of God’s humanity justifies God’s condemnation of man to hell. At the same time God tells us in His Word that all we have to do to be saved from hell and go to heaven is believe that Jesus Christ is Yehovah God His Son hanging on that cross and He will forgive us our sins and receive us into His dwellings in Heaven. Jesus said,

"And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His ONLY begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. . . . He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed IN THE NAME of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil." (John 3:13-19)

All you have to do to be saved is believe that Jesus is God’s Son, Yehovah God, who came down out of heaven and became flesh, and that His death on the cross was for your sins. You personalize this by opening up and surrendering your heart to Jesus and allowing Him to come into Your heart. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20,

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him, and will dine with him, and he with Me."

If You reject Jesus Christ, His death on the cross rather than being your means of salvation becomes God’s just reason for condemning you to hell.

If You want to have eternal life and go to heaven, You must receive Jesus Christ as Your Savior and Lord. As Savior means Savior from Sins penalty, death, for you on the cross; as Lord means as Yehovah God Your Creator and Redeemer. If you believe that Jesus is Yehovah God the Son who became man and died for Your sins, then pray the following prayer right now and receive Him as Your Savior and Lord:

Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God who became man and died on the cross for my sins. I confess to You that I am a sinner and repent of my known sins. I ask You now to come into my heart as Savior from my sins and as Lord of my life. Heavenly Father, thank You for forgiving my sins through Your Son’s death and shed blood on the cross and that I now have eternal life. Now take control of my life, and through Your Holy Spirit lead me into your will and plan for my life; in Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s name, amen.

If you responded to this prayer for salvation and received Jesus as Savior and Lord then God’s Word states that I can declare to you the following:

1. One, you are saved, you have eternal life and you ARE going to heaven (1 John 5:11-13, Col 1:27).

2. Two, you have been adopted as God’s child (John 1:12).

3. Three, you have just begun Jesus’ present and eternal purpose and plan for your life (John 10:10, 14:6).

It took the Church 451 years to understand fully all that the Scripture taught about Jesus being fully God and fully man. This understanding was clearly spelled out in what is called The Nicene Creed of the Council of Nicea 325 AD, The Chalcedonian Creed of the Council of Chalcedon 451 AD and The Athanasian Creed 400-500 AD.

We believe in one God, the FATHER Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
    And in one Lord JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (oJmoousion, homoousios)¹⁰⁷ with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
    And in the HOLY GHOST.^{95/Vol.1/28-29}

Therefore, following the Holy Fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in Manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his Manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his Manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only begotten, recognized IN TWO NATURES, WITHOUT CONFUSION, WITHOUT CHANGE, WITHOUT DIVISION, WITHOUT SEPARATION; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.⁹⁶