What's Your Response?

Sunday, March 22nd, 2026

5 am

Good morning! Today I am in John 8:48-59. After Jesus tells the people who God's true children are, the people started calling Him a Samaritan devil. Saying that they knew He was possessed by a demon all along. But Jesus tells them that He is not demon possessed because He honors His Father, but they dishonor Him. He tells them that He does not wish to glorify Himself but His Father will glorify Him. His Father is the true judge. He tells them, "anyone who obeys my teaching will never die! (John 8:51)" The people tell Him that they know He is demon possessed now because even Abraham and the prophets died. Asking Him if He is greater than they were? Jesus tells them that if He wanted to glorify Himself it wouldn't count, but His Father will glorify Him. He tells them that they say, "He is our God," but Jesus tells them they they don't even know God, but He does. And if He said otherwise He would be as great a liar as them. But He does know God and obeys Him. He tells them that their father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to His coming, he saw it and was glad. The people responded by saying, "You're not even 50 years old, how can you say You have seen Abraham?" Jesus tells them, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!" (John 8:48-59). After He said that, the people picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

Wow! Such a powerful statement from Jesus! His statement was so powerful to the people that the people had an extreme response to it. The people could not believe what He was saying. He was telling them that He existed before Abraham even existed. But the people knew Jesus. They knew everything about Him pretty much (where He came from, who His parents were, who His family and friends were, etc...). They could not believe He existed even before Abraham. They were angry at this declaration, and were ready to stone Him because they considered this response blasphemy, which was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16). Ironically, they were calling Jesus a blasphemer for His claim to be God, but the religious leaders were the blasphemers. They also could not believe Him because He told them they wouldn't die if they obeyed His teachings. Everyone they knew died, including the prophets, they could not understand how He could say such a thing. But He wasn't talking about physical death, He was talking about spiritual death. But we know that eventually even physical death will be overcome. Everyone who believes Him and obeys Him, will spend eternity with Him, even after this world passes away. That is an amazing promise for us today.

His Words call us to respond. How we respond determines what happens after we die. We either believe Jesus or we don't. If we believe, we are to obey what He tells us. If we don't believe we are separating ourselves from Him. Claiming just like the religious leaders of His time, that He speaks lies. Yes He was born. Yes He died, but He was raised from the dead. We can look online and find evidence that people have uncovered about everything the Bible says. Both believers and unbelievers are constantly looking for evidence, and they are finding it. Many nonbelievers are going out trying to find evidence to disprove the Bible but are instead finding evidence that causes them to believe. You can look it up, and you will see.

We all have the same questions. Its okay to have questions. But seek Him for the answers for yourself. He can and will show you, if you truly want to know. But your response matters, it has eternal consequences. Seek Him for yourself. Allow Him to guide you in the right direction. He can and He wants to have that relationship with you.