Impasse
John 8:33-47
If Jesus is trying to win these people over, he is doing a lousy job.
Photo by Aaron Butterfield on Unsplash
They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father." They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does." They said to him, "We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God." - John 8:33-47
He is not trying to win anyone over to him. He is accosting them for not believing in him.
He calls them evil, sons of the devil, not sons of God. So, naturally, they cannot hear the truth.
How does one argue against this approach? You can't. Jesus leaves you nothing to hold onto, nothing on which to build your case. You are incapable of seeing the truth, so there is no redemption for you.
This is so unlike the Jesus we have come to know. We expect Jesus to be open, compassionate, empathetic, and forgiving. Where is that Jesus?
No wonder people today feel justified in shutting out their enemies, the ones they believe cannot see the truth as they see it.
It works both ways.
Those Jesus shut out, shut him out as well. There is an impasse.
No one wins.
When one side writes off the other, there can be no reconciliation.
More to come...