JOHN 8:46-51
Jesus: The Sinless One
Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall
John 8:46-47 (Holman) AWho among you can convict Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why don=t you believe Me? The one who is from God listens to God=s words. This is why you don=t listen, because you are not from God.@
Jesus had a clear conscience. The fact Jesus had courage enough to lay down this challenge pointed to His innocence and sinless perfection.
One of the most unique things about Jesus is, He is the only person who ever claimed perfection for Himself whose life gave no obvious evidence to the contrary. Everything we know about Jesus points to His sinlessness.
Charlatans have claimed to be perfect, but there were always those in the Ainner circle@ who could testify to flaws aplenty. Familiarity usually breeds contempt, but those who best knew Christ revered Him most.
Even His enemies testified to His perfection. Pilate: AI find no fault in Him.@ Pilate=s wife: AHave nothing to do with that just man.@ Judas: AI have betrayed innocent blood.@ The dying thief: AThis man has done nothing amiss.@ The centurion: ATruly this was the son of God.
No person has a record as untainted as Jesus=. Even those who reject His Divinity often acknowledge His phenomenal life. Whatever a person=s preconceived notions, Jesus dazzles.
Auguste Comte, who laid the basis for Sociology, denounced Christianity and tried to create his own brand of religion, but each day privately read in Thomas A. Kempis= book, AThe Imitation of Christ.@
Spinosa, a Pantheist who believed all people were part of an all-inclusive God, confessed there seemed to be a higher concentration of God in Jesus. He called Christ the best symbol of Heavenly wisdom.
Immanuel Kant, who re-molded philosophical thought, felt Jesus embodied ideal perfection. Hagel, influential thinker of the early nineteenth century, said if God ever had met with man it was in Jesus of Nazareth. Even Voltaire privately confessed admiration of Christ=s life.
John 8:48-50 The Jews responded to Him, AAren=t we right in saying that You=re a Samaritan and have a demon?@ AI do not have a demon, A Jesus answered. AOn the contrary, I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. I do not seek My glory; the One who seeks it also judges.@
Jesus= bold claim to sinlessness went unchallenged. The religious leaders were unable to name a single crime. They desperately wanted to find a crime with which to smear Jesus, but couldn=t.
They would later bribe witnesses to slander Him, but in the meantime they resorted to name-calling. They called Jesus a Samaritan, and accused Him of having a demon. Ugly names are easier to invent than valid arguments.
Jesus did not refute the charge of Samaritan. He did not sanction their contempt for Samaritans or give credence to their using a racial name as a slur.
The leaders probably had at least two derogatory accusations in mind when they called Jesus a Samaritan. One, it labeled Him a heretic. The Samaritans often rebuked Israel=s religious leaders. Jesus did likewise.
Refusing to be squeezed into the leaders= mold, Jesus was guilty of the crime of originality. They desperately craved praise and approval from people, but Jesus did not seek applause. This is one reason He succeeded. A person who dies to people=s praise finds it easier to bear their contempt.
Anyone who stands for right and against wrong as uncompromisingly as Jesus did will share His reproach. Taunts will come, but scoffs from the godless are as equally valid certificates of good character as are praises from Godly people. It is a virtue to be called intolerant by people tolerant of sin.
Two, calling Jesus a Samaritan labeled Him an enemy. The Samaritans hated Israel, who returned the contempt, but Jesus loved both.
Jesus was good to people who were supposed to be treated as enemies. These leaders assumed if Jesus loved Athem@ He hated Aus,@ but Christ loves all.
His heart is too large to be limited to one nation or group. He lived and died for everyone. Jesus belongs to the whole world.
Jesus is the universal Messiah and therefore the only Messiah. Through Him all people must be saved. Without Him none can be saved.
John 8:51 AI assure you: If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death B ever!@
ASee@ refers to a long, steady, exhaustive look. For believers, physical death lasts only a moment, a blinking of the eye, a fleeting second. It is a friendly messenger of deliverance, a falling asleep to wake in Heaven.
We pass through the valley of the shadow of death into the light beyond, which is casting the shadow. Death=s pain is most felt by loved ones we leave behind.
Apart from the Gospel, death is a terror. Salvation transforms it into a blessing. Listen to the contrast of several people who entered eternity apart from God versus several who died knowing the Lord Jesus.
Contrast AI=m dying and don=t know where I=m going@ with a Scottish minister who asked, AFellow passengers to glory, how far am I from the New Jerusalem?@ The reply, ANot very far@ ushered him on to glory.
Contrast AI=m dying and it=s all dark@ with Scoville McCollum, who offered as his last request, AThrow back the shutters and let the sun in,@ and with a blind Hindu who joyfully died saying, AI see Him in His beauty! Tell the missionary that the blind see!@
Contrast AI feel as if I were going down, down, down@ with a Dutch martyr feeling flames at the stake, AWhat a small pain is this, compared with the glory to come.@ At the stake John Noyes picked up a burning stick, kissed it, and said, ABlessed be the time that ever I was born, to come to this preferment.@
Contrast AA great and terrible God B I dare not meet Him@ to John Wesley=s final whisper, AThe best of all is, God is with us!@ and to Pastor Grimshaw, who died saying, AI have nothing to do but step out of this bed into Heaven.@
A man who knew death was near, but was unprepared, thought he would die at midnight. As the clock approached twelve he pointed at it and raved, AStop that clock.@ Stopping the clock did no good. Time kept moving, eternity kept coming.
What a contrast to Hillary who encouraged himself near death, AThou hast served Christ this 70 years, and art thou afraid of death? Go out, soul, go out.@
There is a difference between the death of the righteous and the wicked. The person who knows Jesus rests assured there is Heaven to enjoy after death.