From the Beginning
The New Testament is filled with examples of the people questioning who Jesus was and what His purpose was. I’m sure you could open your Bible to any page in the four gospels and find a situation where once again Jesus is being questioned. While there are times that Jesus comes straight out and says who He is and what His purpose is, read John 4 for one such example; there are times where Jesus’s answers seem almost vague.
“20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because His hour had not yet come. 21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.”27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father.”
John 8:20-27
The majority of John 8:20-27 I gave for context, the part that I wish to discuss is actually verses 25-27. In this passage, Jesus is once again preaching to those around Him; and as what so often occurs there are those who wish to question Jesus. We see that Jesus reminds them that He has been making it clear who He is and His purpose since the beginning, but the beginning of what? It would be the beginning of His ministry and we can find what Jesus states is the beginning in Matthew 4.
Matthew 4 begins with Jesus hearing that John the Baptist had been taken into custody and Jesus going to Capernaum. Verse 17 describes that from this time, Jesus began His ministry, “17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus has been calling us to repent. Now how does this connect back to John 8:20-27? Look at verses 23-24 again. “23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” This ties back into Jesus beginning His ministry with a call for repentance. Unless we believe that He is the Son of God, we will die in our sins. We will remain as nothing more than the walking dead only here until we are judged and then to remain eternally separated from God.
So the next time you find yourself questioning who Jesus was and what His purpose was, I ask that you look at Matthew 17 and remember that Jesus began His ministry with a call to repentance. Then ask yourself if you have accepted that He died for your sins and it is through faith in His work, not your own, in the faith of believing and accepting what He did. His words seem simple but they are monumental on an eternal level with how we accept or deny this truth. This truth He has been saying from the beginning!
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex