S142P1 – The fruit of falsehood: a showing of identity

Jn. 8:43-45

Why do you not understand what I say?  It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.  You are of your father the devil, and your will is 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 out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

I remember getting ready for Sunday service with my father.  We attended a fundamentalist congregation, so everyone was expected to dress well.  The men wore suits and ties, and the women wore dresses or skirts.  Even as children, we were under the same expectation.  I could get away with not wearing a jacket, but a tie was a staple.  I would watch in awe as my father tied his tie, and I would want to learn to tie my own.  He would spray himself with cologne, and I wanted to smell just as nice.  I wanted to comb my hair just like his and be a little version of that man.  Anyone watching us get ready would have known that I was the son to that father.

Children learn from their parents, and that can be something as small and unimportant as daily mundane habits to something as critical as moral character and judgment.  The point is that we learn from those who lead us, and that is often obvious to the outside observer.  When it comes to our speech, telling lies is just as obvious.  It lets people know who we follow because there is only one father of lies.  He is the one who lied to us in the garden and who continues to lie to us today to try and bring about our destruction.  He loves to deceive, but we should not.  When we practice deception as he does, we are telling the world that we love what he loves and that we are his.

The audience here is a group of Jews who believed Jesus, if only for a moment.  Previously in this chapter, they came to believe him [v. 30], then they refused to believe his words. [v. 31]  As Jesus spoke about spiritual bondage and captivity, it became clear that they did not want to hear what He had to say.  The truth turned them off, and He called them out because of it.  A false version of who and what they were brought them more comfort.  Had their faith been genuine, they would have drunk up his words like precious water.  Instead, their love of lies showed who they really followed.  Father, keep us honest and resting on your truth, that our words should show You are our Father.