Satan the Liar

John 8:12–59

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” ²⁷They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” ⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

We end our look at the impact of Satan in the world and on our lives with a debate between Jesus and the Pharisees, as they get closer and closer to executing Him. While the reading is fairly long, it is completely compelling and if you allow your sanctified imagination to take over, you can almost see Jesus going nose to nose with these men who seek His destruction. John chapter 8 is a brilliant exposition of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees stands as one of the great debates of all time. He declares them ignorant and they call Him a liar. Only one side of the argument is correct.

First the Pharisees want to dispute the veracity of Jesus’ claims because He stands alone. Jewish law demands that any testimony be corroborated by two witnesses. Jesus makes two statements refuting their point.

1. He is God and He has the truth on His side.

2. The Father in heaven bears witness to the things He is saying. There are two of them – the legal requirements are met. Then Jesus questions their right to judge Him or anyone else. They judge according to what the flesh tells them. This is a shaky standard at best. Jesus doesn’t judge but has every right to do so and He isn’t using fleshly laws to govern those judgments.

At the end of this debate, the Pharisees will be decimated. If they were smart they would have backed off by this point. But they will continue to press their case until Jesus leaves them in their own filthy lies. By the end of this brief salvo, they want Him dead and gone. But they are all bound to God’s timing and “His hour had not yet come.” Jesus remains in control. I still feel frustrated for Jesus when I read this passage. He’s been dealing with the Pharisees for a long time at this point and has had many conversations with them. They’ve probably witnessed a few miracles with their own eyes and heard about dozens more. And yet they have the temerity to ask Jesus, “Who are you?”

Out of this lengthy reading, the phrase that sticks out is “Who are you?” It could be asked in a tone of confusion, sarcasm, or sincerity. I doubt if it was spoken with sincerity. My imagination hears sarcasm coming from these guys who are supposedly looking for the Messiah but in reality were only looking out for themselves.

Jesus answers that question with His every word and His gracious actions for us every single day. Throughout the Gospels He says that He the great I AM. “I am the light of the world.” “I am the bread of life.” “I am the Son of God.” “I am the Son of Man.” His answers are numerous and grace-filled. We can choose disbelief like the Pharisees or we can embrace what He brings to us. His ultimate answer is that He is the Savior of our souls and that in Him alone is found eternal life. When I ask Jesus that question, my thoughts are immediately taken to the Word of God where He so clearly defines Himself for me. Both the Old and New Testaments tell me exactly who He is and what I can expect from Him. Every day I am grateful for that Word, and my hearts worships at His feet as He shows me His greatness. “Who are You?” He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

We pick up on Jesus’ continuing conversation with the Jews, both those who were beginning to embrace Him as Messiah and those who would have Him dead. He walks a tight rope here because the faith of those who “had believed in Him” is brand new and probably tentative. Opposed to these brand-new believers is the voice of the Pharisees who have come to argue their self-proclaimed righteousness. Jesus’ words to this half of the crowd become increasingly harsh.

Jesus tells the new believers that “the truth will set you free.” This phrase has been plucked from the text and used by thousands to make their point. I still remember Jim Carey using that line in the movie Liar, Liar to hilarious effect as he defends a despicable woman in a child custody battle. Not only has it been used flippantly, such as in that movie, but also by theologians who gratefully steal that phrase to empower their own points about God. Just because I add “the truth shall set you free” doesn’t make me right. But here, within its proper context, Jesus points to Himself as the truth and there is indeed freedom found in Him.

Then He turns to the Pharisees and speaks with them about their slavery to sin. They begin the dialogue with the words “we…have never been enslaved to anyone.” This always blows me away. How can they even begin to say that? Even as they spoke they had no personal freedom as they were subject to the Romans. And then there would be the several hundred (wait – thousand) years of actual slavery to all kinds of people starting with the Egyptians (see Exodus for the beginning of their slavery). Now they are claiming that they are slave to no one. I suppose a case could be made for them claiming to be the spiritual slave of no one – and they would still be wrong for they are currently slaves to a spiritual system of their own devising, not to mention generations of idolatry to every pagan god to whom they were introduced. It’s a claim based in falsehood. Now Jesus points them to their real master – sin. And there is where the text smacks us in the mouth, for we face the exact same master ever day of our lives.

What the Pharisees don’t seem to hear in these words of Jesus is the Gospel. He alone can free us from the task master that is our sin. Each of us has to admit in our hearts that there are moments every day when we bow down to that master and allow sin to rule our lives. But the Gospel prevails because Jesus died to earn our freedom from the bondage of sin. We are now – right now – free to live as He empowers. Sin does not own you! God owns you. The blood of Jesus guarantees it! Jesus is the Truth and He sets us free.

This is, for me, one of the strongest passages in all of Scripture. Every time I read it I can just see the scene. There is Jesus going nose to nose with those who would see Him dead. And He speaks to them in the absolutely strongest words available. They are liars and He is the Truth. The two are diametrically opposed; plain and simple.

There is a moment of comedy in the heart of the dialogue. The Pharisees actually say, “Isn’t it true that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” That just cracks me up. I can almost hear Pee Wee Herman saying “I know you are, but what am I.” The Pharisees mention the two worst people they can think of; Samaritans and Demons. Since the two are on par it doesn’t matter which Jesus would associate with, but He must be from one of those two camps. Jesus doesn’t even address the idea of Him being a Samaritan because I don’t think He considered that a slur. But he casts off the idea of being associated with Satan with one simple answer and then moves on to His true point.

Jesus instead identifies these men with Satan himself. He in fact calls Satan their father while they try to claim that Abraham, nay God, is their true father. Verse 44 has always given us so much information about Satan. “…there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character … for he is the father of lies.” The NIV translates that line this way:  “When he lies, he speaks his native language”. It’s all he knows. Both translations tell us so much about Satan. His very character is corrupt and the only language he knows is lying. This is who Jesus claims as the father of these men. It’s is an incendiary comment only be followed by an irrefutable claim that He Himself is God. “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” The impact of this conversation is nothing short of brilliant. Jesus states categorically who He is (The Son of God) and who they are. No wonder they picked up stones.

We are daily faced with those who would question our motives and the impetus of our beliefs. Just because they ask the question doesn't make them correct. Instead, we act with grace which belies their caustic remarks and move on just as Jesus did. I won't be categorizing others as followers of Satan because I don't have the same knowledge as Jesus or His authority to make those judgments. (Although I do confess that sometimes I do think those thoughts about others.) But neither will I accept that typification either. My Father is God and I seek to live to His standards and that of no one else.

What we find when we look through the lens of the Cross is the Truth – pure and simple. Jesus will never lie about us or for us. Instead, through His blood, we are robed in His truth and that truth declares that we are forgiven, bound to spend eternity with Him.