Word That I Have Spoken
Several of my Bibles have the words of Jesus
printed in red. I have some problems with that practice. It could give readers the
impression that the words of Jesus are more important than those of Peter or
James or John. If people have that view of scripture, it could lead them into
serious error. What Peter taught on Pentecost or at the house of Cornelius is just
as inspired and just as important as what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount or
in his great parables. Did not Jesus promise his apostles: "Howbeit when he the
Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall
not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he will show
you things to come" (John 16:13)? The words of the apostles are the
words of Jesus Christ—the words the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into giving
to us. They are the exact words Jesus Christ wants us to know.
John tells us that many of the chief rulers among the
Jews actually believed on Jesus Christ, but because of the Pharisees they would
not confess their belief in him. "For they loved the praises of men more
than the praise of God." Jesus cried out and said, "He who
believes on me, believes not on me, but on him who sent me. And he who sees me sees him
who sent me. I have come a light into the world, that whosoever believes
on me shall not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe
not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
He who rejects me, and receives not my words, has one who judges him: the word I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the
Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should
speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak
therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:42-50).
If a man made
these claims and did not support them with his life and works, we would make
sure .he was sent to a mental institution. Jesus plainly affirmed that the words he spoke
originated with the Father. He also stated that the words he had spoken would be the
basis on which all people would be judged in the last day. We must believe Christ's
teaching to have eternal life. Jesus taught in the Parable of the Good Shepherd:
"I have come that you might have life, and have in more abundantly" (John 10:10). We must
believe Christ's words and come to him for eternal life (John 5:40). Our lesson
today will be based on the following verse: "The word that I have spoken, the same
shall judge you in the last day" (John 12:48).
It would be profitable for us to examine the sayings of
Jesus as recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. But I shall concentrate in
today's study on the book of John. Philip, one of the apostles, found Nathanael and
told him: "We have found him, of whom Moses and the prophets, did write,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael was familiar with the little,
insignificant village of Nazareth. He asked Philip, "Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth?" Philip encouraged Nathanael to come and see for himself. When
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he exclaimed, "Behold an Israelite indeed,
in whom is not guile!" Nathanael wanted to know how Jesus knew him. Our Lord
answered: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you." Nathanael recognized that Jesus was not a mere man. He confessed:
"Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered him and
said unto him, Because I said unto you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than
these." Now please listen carefully to our Lord's words. "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of man" (John
1:45-51).
Two questions on this passage may be helpful. How did
Jesus Christ know that Nathanael was an Israelite in whom there was no guile?
The apostle John explains: Jesus did not need for anyone to tell him what was in
man. Since he created man (Col. 1:16), "he knew what was in man"
(John 2:25). And who other than God could say to Nathanael, "Hereafter you
shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the
Son of man" (John 1:51)? We do not
know the occasion of which Jesus speaks, but such information could only come
from one who had supernatural knowledge.
John 3 is filled with Christ's words—all of which will
serve as the basis for the final judgment. He urged Nicodemus: "Marvel not
that I said unto you, You must be born again" (John 3:7). Our Lord then
discussed the absolute necessity of believing on him. Jesus explained his place
in the scheme of human redemption. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:14-17). Although these verses have
often been misused to teach salvation by faith alone, they unquestionably teach
the necessity of believing in Jesus as the Son of almighty God. If Jesus meant what he
taught and had the authority to teach it, no one in the Christian era can be
saved without believing in Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16).
In our Lord's discussion with the Samaritan woman at
Jacob's well in Samaria, he told her that he could satisfy her genuine thirst—not
for water—but for eternal life. "Whoso drinks of this water (that is, the
water that came from Jacob's well) shall thirst again: but whosoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall
give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John
4:13-14). If any other teacher or religious leader made that claim, we would
wonder about his sanity. But we know—and not just from Christ's conversation with the
Samaritan woman—that Jesus does meet all our spiritual needs. He .alone can
eventually confess our names before the Father who is in heaven (Mt. 10:32-33). He alone
can save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
Jesus angered the Jewish leaders when he told them:
"My Father works until now, and I work" (John 5:17). Some modern liberal
theologians seem not to understand what Jesus was teaching, but the Jewish
leaders had no difficulty understanding. He was claiming to be equal with God. The
Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus—not only because he had broken the law by
healing on the sabbath—but because he claimed to be equal with God. Christ lists
several unanswerable arguments proving that he was indeed equal with God.
Please listen to just one of those arguments. "But I have greater witness
than that of John (the Baptist): for the works that the Father has given me to
finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent
me. And the Father himself, who has sent me, has borne witness of me. You
have neither heard his voice, nor seen his shape. And you have not his word abiding
in you: for whom he has sent, him you do not believe. Search the scriptures;
for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they that testify of
me. And you will not come to me that you might have life" (John 5:36-40).
Jesus continually claimed to have come from God and to be
God's only Son. His miraculous deeds proved his claims. There were others, like Peter
and Paul, who performed miracles. They made no pretense of being God. Jesus said he
was God and demonstrated his deity by turning water into wine, by healing the
blind and the deaf, by casting out
demons and by raising Lazarus from the dead. Paul teaches that Jesus Christ was a descendant of David according to the
flesh, but marked out to be the Son of
God by the resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:3-4). These facts should
establish Christ's authority to speak
for God. Every word he spoke came from the very mind of God.
Reading the great book of John should convince any
honest person that the words Jesus spoke came from God and are essential for
our salvation. Over and over, our Lord emphasizes the absolute necessity of
believing in him and obeying his word. What else could Christ mean in following
passage? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who believes on me
has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the
wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, that
man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven: if any
man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give him
is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world" (John 6:47-51).
In these verses from John 6, the beloved apostle was not
speaking of eating the Lord's supper. He was stressing the truth that Jesus had
to die to purchase our redemption.
Liberal theologians and others deny that Jesus had to die to make
possible the
remission of our sins. Carry Wills' book, Structures of Deceit: Papal Sin
(New York: Doubleday, 2000), quotes Rene Girard as affirming: "Jesus is
not a sacrifice" (p. 305). He also quotes Augustine as saying: "The
Lord's was not a death of ransom, but of restoration" (p. 307). There is a
serious problem with Girard's and Augustine's beliefs: they are simply wrong. Jesus
himself taught: "For the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28). And
what did the author of Hebrews mean when he wrote: "For without shedding
of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22)? No one can read and believe the New
Testament
and deny the atoning death of Jesus Christ. "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except
you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eats my
flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. And the living Father has
sent me, and I live by the Father: so that he who eats me, even he shall live by me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead;
he who eats this bread shall live forever" (John 6:53-58).
Jesus often angered the Pharisees by insisting that God
was his Father. On one occasion, the Jews asked Christ: "Where is your
Father? Jesus answered, You do not know me nor my Father: if you had known me,
you shall have known my Father also." Jesus told the Jews: "I go my
way, and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sins: where I go, you
cannot come." The Jews wondered if Christ would kill himself since he had
said, "Where I go, you cannot come." Please listen carefully to our
Lord's words to the Pharisees. "You are from beneath; I am from above: you
are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that you
shall die in your sins: for-if you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your
sins" (John 8:19-24).
The founders of the so-called "great
religions" or of modem denominations might make these claims, but only our
Lord Jesus Christ has proved his words by signs, wonders and miracles. Christ
and Christ alone came down from heaven to reveal God's will to
man and to die for the sins of the world. It is through him and only through
him that we can be forgiven of our sins and have the promise of life eternal.
Jesus further informed the Pharisees: "When you have lifted up the Son of
man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as
my Father has taught me, I speak
these things. And he who sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those
things that please him" (John 8:28-29).
The Jews claimed that Abraham was their father. Jesus
rejected their claim. "If you were Abraham's children; you would do the works of
Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I
have heard of God: this Abraham did
not do. You do the deeds of your father." The Jews denied that they were born
of sexual immorality. They boasted: "We have one Father, even God." Jesus said to the Jews: "If God were your
Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth, and came from God; neither
did I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even
because you cannot hear my word" (John 8:39-43). The following words
constitute one of the strongest criticisms the Lord ever delivered against anyone. "You are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
John 9 records our Lord's healing a man who was born
blind. Like many modern men and women, the disciples wondered if the man himself has
sinned or his parents had sinned that the man was born blind. Did the disciples
entertain the idea of reincarnation? Did they think the man had sinned in
another life and was having to pay for it in this life? Did they believe the man's
parents had sinned that their son would be born handicapped? Jesus made it
very plain that there is no necessary connection between our suffering and our
sins. He explained to his disciples: "Neither has this man sinned,
nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I
must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day: the night comes when
no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John
9:1-5).
One of the most thrilling, inspiring and comforting
incidents in the life of Christ was the raising of Lazarus. I shall emphasize
just one aspect of the story. Martha, one of the sisters of Lazarus, gently rebuked
Jesus: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I
know, that even now, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give it to
thee." Jesus assured Martha: "Your brother will rise again." Martha responded:
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
That was not what Jesus had in mind. He told her: "I am the resurrection
and the life: he who believes on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and
whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" Martha
said to him: "Yes, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of
God, who should come into the world" (John 11:21-27).
There are literally hundreds of other words Jesus spoke
that would be profitable for us to study. I wish I had time to discuss the
parables of Jesus. They contain some of the most challenging messages in the entire
Bible. But I shall devote the remainder of our time to an examination of John
14. Who has not been comforted by these words: "Let not your heart be troubled:
you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where 1 am, there you may be also. And where I go you know,
arid the way you know." Thomas had some difficulty with our Lord's words. He asked him,
"Lord, we know not whither thou goest, how can we know the way?" Jesus answered:
"I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me" (John
14:1-6)?
I do not wish to be too technical, but Jesus used the
definite article "the" to modify "way," "truth" and
"life." Jesus was not claiming to be one of the best ways or the
truest truth and the most inspiring life. He affirmed that he is "THE way,
THE truth, and THE life." If what he said was true, there is no other way
to God, no other truth that sets men free and no other life that lasts forever.
Other religious leaders may make such boasts, but none of them has convinced the
world of their claims. Jesus added: "No man comes unto the Father, but by
me." Religious liberals reject our Lord's exclusive claims, but they cannot deny
he made such claims. To put his concept very bluntly: Jesus Christ is our
only Savior.
There is one other thought in John 14 I want to stress in
closing. Jesus told his disciples "If yon had known me, you should have
known my Father also: and from henceforth you know him, and have seen him." Philip
pled with the Lord: "Show us the Father and it will be sufficient."
Christ answered: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not
known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say then,
Show us the Father" (John 14:7-9)? Thomas Carlyle was talking with a
friend and quoted the words of Jesus, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." The
friend responded: "I could say the same." Carlyle said, "But
Jesus got people
to believe it." We do not and cannot believe anyone else who makes that claim—not even
Shirley MacLaine.
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour
P.O. Box 118
Fayetteville, TN 37334