John 8:42-59
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.”
48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. [1]
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Thinking about truth and lies this morning. Jesus identifies His testimony as truth. But the enemy, the devil, is the father of lies. Lies are his native language. And of course this reflects the temptation of Adam and Eve which was founded on a lie. In fact all temptation is essentially temptation to believe a lie, and sin is acting as though the lie is true, in other words, living the lie.
But lying is not just erroneous propositions and deceitful trickery. Sometimes they creep into our very worldview and inhabit the basic paradigms by which we live. Think of some of the basic “truths” of our culture, that are in fact lies: Money makes us happy. Wealth and power are the best measures of success. The busier I am, the more valuable I am. As soon as I acquire _________, then I’ll be happier. I need to look out for myself first.
I could go on and on. All the lies about looks and beauty, power and fame, and so on. There are many lies that are so deep in our culture, we often don’t think about them. We just live by them.
The devil is the father of lies. Lying is his native language. What are the lies that I’m believing, that I’m living? Can I see them? Can I see how they serve to erode my trust and dependence on my Savior?
I’m praying today that I might live the truth this day, that my thoughts, words, and deeds would be founded, not on the lies around and within me, but on the truth that I am a child of God, deeply beloved by Him, and blessed by Him this day to be a blessing.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 8:42–59). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.