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42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
John 8:42-47
In today's text, the Lord Jesus brings this discussion with these threatened religious leaders to a dramatic climax. In v.42, He reiterates that He was sent to earth by God, the Father. He follows this with three questions of these religious leaders. In v.43, He asked them, "Why is my language not clear to you?" In v.46, He asked them, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" Then, again in v.46, He asked them, "If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?"
In asking the first question, the Lord Jesus reveals His unseen kingdom. He addresses the fact that they couldn't understand Him. They couldn't understand Him because He had a different culture than they. We will never understand life until we accept the fact that there are unseen realities, both good and bad, governing and controlling human life. The Lord Jesus lived continually in the realization that the unseen influences are a reality in this world. And, the so called religious leaders were most influenced by the unseen devil himself.
The second question, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?", opened the door for these religious leaders to do the Lord Jesus in before the people who were increasingly believing in Him. Their silence was the loudest display of His divinity. He paused for an answer, but not one of these religious leaders said anything. As a result, we conclude that we must either believe He is who He says He is or we must conclude He is a out of his mind crazy. These leaders silently concluded the latter.
Due to the fact that these religious leaders never answered Him, the Lord Jesus asked the third question. In v.46 He asked them, "If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?" Then, He answered the question in v.47, "The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
The Lord Jesus teaches these ungodly leaders there are only two spiritual fathers. One is God, the other is the devil. One is true and holy, the other is a liar and a murderer. All who have ever lived have one of these two fathers. The question is: how is one's father determined?
In v.42 the Lord Jesus provides us with a timeless test of truth: if God is our Father, then we will love His Son. After all, He was sent by God the Father to earth as the Messiah. Since the Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, has God’s approval, then to reject that which God approves of is to reject God Himself.
According to v.43, the Lord Jesus reminds us that our inability to hear His word, prevents us from claiming His Father as our Father. These Jews could “hear” the Lord Jesus, but hearing and understanding are not the same. The Jews had a spiritual problem, being so wrapped up in their own preconceived ideas about the Messiah that they were blinded to Him as He stood in front of them and spoke directly to them.
In v. 44, the Lord Jesus reminds us that the devil is the father of murder and lies. These unbelieving religious leaders did not desire the things of God, and they knew it. They desired the things of Satan, namely murder and lies.
In v. 47 the Lord Jesus gives the conclusion to the matter. It is those who enter a relationship with the Father through His Son who are enabled to hear and heed the words of God. These are the ones who are the children of God. The result is spending our eternity in heaven with our Father. For those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus, they will spend their eternity in hell with their father, the devil.
There are three Greek words used in the New Testament translated “hell.” In v.47, the Lord Jesus uses the Greek word “Gehenna” which is a reference to the Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom” on the south side of Jerusalem. In Old Testament days it was used for human sacrifices to pagan gods, but it was later used as a garbage dump where fires continually burned. It became a live illustration of divine retribution. Jesus used it to illustrate the other side of eternity outside of heaven.
Gehenna is a picture for everlasting torment. Though hell was created for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), those who reject Christ will also spend their eternity there because of their own rebellion against God.
A careful study of the words of the Lord Jesus in the four gospels renders the fact that the Lord Jesus taught about hell more than any other subject. Thirteen percent of His teachings refer to eternal judgment and hell. Two-thirds of his parables relate to resurrection and judgment.
Much perishes in hell. Hope perishes. Happiness perishes. But the body and soul of the unbeliever continues. Outside of heaven, outside of hope, and outside of God's goodness. Hell is society at its worst. Hell surfaces and amplifies the ugliest traits in people. Cravings will go unchecked. Worriers will fret and never find peace. Thieves will steal and never have enough. Drunks always craving, gluttons always demanding. None will be satisfied. The God-less will remain ungodly.
No one needs to spend their eternity in such a place because God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take on sin and death on our behalf. I trust, my friend, that you have entered into a personal relationship with God by receiving from His Son the free gift of forgiveness. and personal relationship with God the Father.
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