John 8:42-59

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

We’re going to focus on what Jesus says in Jn. 8:51, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.”But before we do that, I’m sure you noticed as the text was read – Jesus is in the middle of an ugly, heated debate with this group John simply calls “the Jews” (Jn. 8:48). That simply means that Jesus was talking with a group of people that likely included scribes and Pharisees (Jn. 8:3), but it also included regular, everyday people who followed the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees.

We jumped into the middle of it, but this confrontation has been building for several verses. Back in Jn. 8:23-24, Jesus said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. You will die in your sins unless you believe in Me.” In Jn. 8:40, Jesus exposes their plot to kill Him (Jn. 5:18, 7:1), “You seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.”Jesus knows their secret plans even six months before they kill Him (Jn. 11:53; Mt. 26:3-5; Mk. 14:1-2). In this reading, you heard Jesus tell them, “You are of your father the devil who has always been a murderer” (Jn. 8:44), and, “You are not of God” (Jn. 8:47).

This is not what they teach in the evangelism class at seminary. Jesus isn’t being nice or winsome or polite. He isn’t trying to maintain the relationship just in case they change their minds someday. He isn’t being ‘nice’ for the sake of future possibilities. Maybe the books on evangelism need to be rewritten. Jesus’ main concern here is clarity. He isn’t being mean. Not at all! We’ll see that plainly in just a minute. He loves these people dearly. He just wants to be clear – crystal clear. He wants to tell the truth clearly. And the truth – hard as it is – is that these people are in a dire situation. Their eternal destiny is at risk. It would be unloving to not say these things to them.

Imagine you’re cooking supper on the stove, and you briefly step away to reach into the cupboard for the next ingredient. You see your four-year-old about to touch the burner. You wouldn’t quietly say, “Oh, my sweet, darling boy. Your hand should not go there.” No! You’d yell, “STOP!” You might not even get a “don’t touch that” out of your mouth. It might startle the kid so much that he starts crying, but those tears will dry long before any burn would ever heal, long before the blisters would go away.

Dear saints, I hope this encourages you. One thing you should take away from this text is that some people will simply be angry when you tell them the truth. They got angry at Jesus when He told them the truth, and they’ll get angry when you tell them the truth. In this whole conversation, Jesus isn’t being mean. He’s simply and clearly speaking the truth. He’s warning these very people of the dire danger they are in. And He’s doing it out of love for them.

How do they respond? “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (Jn. 8:48). They start name-calling Jesus. This isn’t just a slur against Samaritans. It’s probably meant as an insult against Jesus’ mother, Mary. People knew that Mary was pregnant before she and Joseph got married (Mt. 1:19). Here, these people are implying that Mary slept around with Samaritans. They’re saying the sort of thing you’d hear in a locker room. To keep the sermon PG, they’re saying that she was ‘loose’ and that Jesus was an illegitimate child, a title that begins with a ‘b.’ On top of that, they accuse Jesus of having a demon and operating as an agent of the devil himself, trying to drag people into hell.

Look how Jesus responds to that, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death” (Jn. 8:51). Do you hear that? He’s holding out a promise for them. After all the filth they just hurled at Him and His mother, Jesus shows them how much He loves them. Just the fact that He doesn’t throw up His hands and walk away is remarkably gracious by itself. But that He gives them this promise – the promise that they will never see death if they keep His word. Do you see how much Jesus loves them, even though He’s said some clear and difficult things to them? Despite their insults, Jesus is giving this promise to them. “If anyone keeps My Word.” He doesn’t say, “The people who keep My Word.” No! Anyone. The people He’s speaking to are included in ‘anyone,’ and so are you.

So, what does Jesus mean when He tells you today, “If you,” you listening to Jesus right now, “If you keep My Word, you will never see death”?

First, just to be clear, Jesus’ Word – the thing Jesus tells you to ‘keep’ (‘keep’ is a good translation; some translations will use ‘obey’ but that’s too narrow) – you are to ‘keep’ all of the Bible. Jesus doesn’t just refer to the red letters. Jesus says that all the Scriptures testify about Him (Jn. 5:39). Christ is the Word who became flesh (Jn. 1:14), the One who came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Mt. 5:17). So, if you keep the Lord’s Commandments, you will never see death.

That might get you squirming a bit. Rightly so. That’s what God’s Law is designed to do. But, Christian, you do keep God’s Commands. You do. Now, that doesn’t mean you are perfect or that you never sin. You do not always perfectly obey God’s Commands, but you do keep them. You order your life around them and conduct yourself according to them. When you sin, when you do what God forbids and fail to do what God demands, you keep Jesus’ Word by running back to Him. You confess your sin and trust His promise of forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.

And that faith, that trust, is the greater ‘keeping’ of Jesus’ Word (Jn. 8:24). Jesus’ Word, the Bible, is both Law and Gospel. You keep Jesus’ Word by striving, working, and obeying. You keep Jesus’ Word by repenting and confessing. And you keep Jesus’ Word by trusting and believing. They all go together. And that isn’t a high bar that you have to clear. This call to keep Jesus’ Word is simply a call to faith. And by the working of the Holy Spirit, He gives you that faith that keeps His Word (Eph. 2:8-9).

Here’s the promise Jesus gives to you who keep/believe His Word: You will neversee death. Never. In Jn. 11:26, Jesus puts it this way, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” And He means it. That sounds strange, doesn’t it? How many people that we know and love, people who once sat in this sanctuary and were part of our lives, how many of them have we mourned? Links; Malms; Karin, Carol, John, Verdie, Harlen; Jim and, recently, Jeremy; Jim, Phylis, Clara, Ros; and your own dear family members. How can Jesus say they never saw death?

While it’s true that hearts stop beating, brains and bodies stop functioning. And the bodies of those saints have now been laid to rest. But Jesus simply says they have fallen asleep (Jn. 11:11-14; Mt. 9:24). They didn’t die. They live now with Jesus and wait for their souls that God created to be rejoined with their bodies that God also created.

When you keep Jesus’ Word, your merciful God gives you eternal life. Eternal life, by definition doesn’t stop. You always have it – even if your body dies. In Romans 8:38-39, Scripture promises that death will not separate you from Jesus.

If Jesus returned today, our bodies would be immediately perfected (1 Co. 15:51). But let’s say that you go and find your loved ones who did die in the faith and ask them, “What was it like to die?” – you know what their answer will be? “I don’t know. I never died. Jesus was there with me the entire time.”

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me” (Ps. 23:4). Jesus is there. Right beside you. All the way through. This is Christ’s promise to you, believer. Keep Jesus’ Word and truly, truly you will never see death. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.