Believe the I AM | Sermon 05/21/2023

John 8:21-30

As the Lord Jesus was teaching in the temple, He warned the people like the Prophet Ezekiel. If they don’t turn from their ways they will die in their sin. And if that happens, they will not go to where Jesus dwells; that is, the heavenly realm. The Jews slandered Jesus and purported He was speaking of suicide. Jesus, however, doesn’t address their insults and gives not only a warning but a solution. If they do not believe He is the I AM, equal with the Father, sent from God, the Messiah, they will die in their sins. They question His right to say such a thing but He points to who He has been and what He has said from the beginning of eternity and His ministry. Everything Jesus says will either later vindicate a person or condemn them. It just depends if they are a blood-bought believer or not.

Nevertheless, what He speaks is from God and of God. Rejecting Him is rejecting the Father. But they were unaware He was speaking of the Father since they are blinded by the flesh. The Son, however, will be revealed at the cross. Where He is humiliated is also where He is exalted. And the Son does not and cannot act alone from the Father and Holy Spirit. The mission of Jesus is facilitated by the providential will of the Father. And He has never been alone. Just as the three Holy Persons have been in blessed communion from eternity, even now the Father has never left Jesus. And Jesus will always do what is pleasing to the Father. This is a unity in love, actions, roles, and the one will between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And because Jesus did what was well-pleasing to God, we can now also do what is pleasing to God.