#DailyDevotion Are You Going To Believe The Devil Or Jesus?
John 8:42-50 42“If God were your Father,” Jesus told them, “you would love Me because I came from God, and as such I am here. I did not by Myself decide to come, but He sent Me. 43Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you can’t listen to what I tell you. 44Your father is the devil, and you want to do what your father wants. From the beginning he has been murdering people and hasn’t stood in the truth, because there’s no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he’s telling it from his heart, because he’s a liar and the father of lies. 45Now, because I tell the truth, you don’t believe Me. 46Which of you can prove Me guilty of a sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe Me? 47A child of God listens to what God says. You don’t listen to Him because you’re not God’s children.”48“Aren’t we right,” the Jews answered Him, “when we say you’re a Samaritan and there’s a demon in you?” 49“There’s no demon in Me,” Jesus answered. “No, I honor My Father, but you dishonor Me. 50I’m not trying to get glory for Myself. There’s One Who wants Me to have it, and He’s the judge.
Jesus here is arguing with the Jews in Jerusalem leading up to the Passover in which he offers up his life for the world. I think we can say Jesus is pushing their buttons, in a righteous way, to have them seek to kill him. It isn’t going to be that hard. All he has to do is tell them the truth, which he is doing here in this exchange of words. He lets them know in no uncertain terms God is not their Father. They do not love Jesus because Jesus is from God. Like their fathers who persecuted and killed the prophets, they hate Jesus because Jesus tells them the truth.
Jesus comes from God. Only those who belong to God can and will understand Jesus. It is true though, it seems, that not everyone comes to faith in Jesus when they first hear his words, so we should not assume because someone doesn’t believe our testimony at first they are not going to be God’s children in the future. They just aren’t right now. Jesus tells the Jews who reject him their father is the devil because the devil is the father of lies. With the lie he told Eve in the Garden he murdered Adam and Eve and the whole human race, as we are all born dead spiritually. There is no truth in the devil. The devil doesn’t believe God and neither do those who belong to him. They hate everyone who tells the truth. It is no doubt why you see all this rage in the world now when people tell the truth. They think we are hateful and insane when it is them who hate us and think we are insane.
When those who belong to the Father, who are his children hear the truth of Jesus’ words, they will eventually believe Jesus. What are those words of Jesus that we hear and believe? We are sinners, dead in our trespasses and sins. We have no life in us. We need to repent (acknowledge our sins) and turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins. He promises us the Holy Spirit to believe in him, to give us eternal life and to live new lives, listening to God the Father and trusting him.
They thought Jesus had a demon in him. Jesus honors the Father by speaking what was given him to speak and doing what he was given to do, die on the cross for the sin of the world. The Father has given Jesus this glory. He has judged Jesus is right and raised him to his right hand. Jesus promises we are with him there when we believe him.
Heavenly Father, give us ears that hear what Jesus says, repent of our sins, believe him and live lives that glorify you and your son Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
addendum: https://concordiatheology.org/2019/06/the-devil-is-a-liar-and-so-is-his-father-why-greek-matters/