“…But I do know him and keep his word.”

The atmosphere was festive at first, as it should have been.  Jesus watched in the Temple as Jews lit four large lamps in the court of women during the Feast of Tabernacles.  All night dancing and singing were characteristic.  Jesus couldn’t let a teachable moment pass by.  Here was another feast with its celebration that pointed to him, so he spoke up.  “I am the light of the world,” he called out to the crowd (John 8:12).  But to be effective, teachable moments must merge with teachable hearts, and they were few and far between.  The Pharisees (v. 13) responded in predictable, knee-jerk fashion, challenging Jesus at this and every other opportunity.  And the atmosphere moved from rejoicing to tense to hostile.

In all his dealings with the Jews, God wanted primarily one thing from them: their trust.  Trust breeds identity, and the Jews too frequently put more stock in Abraham (vs. 33, 39, 52, 57) than his (and their) Maker.  Notice their identity questions to Jesus: “Who are you?” (v. 25), “Who do you think you are?” (v. 53).  Trust and identity were at work with Jesus, too: “I stand with my Father, who sent me” (v. 16), “I always do what pleases him” (v. 31).  No doubt he trusted his Father implicitly.

In this setting, the Jews thought a groundless accusation would sting: “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” (v. 48).  What?  A Samaritan? You’ve got to be kidding.  Jesus was born of fully Jewish parents in Bethlehem, in the middle of Judea.  And demon-possessed? Get real!  Pure ad hominem attacks, plain and simple.  But remember, these were the Pharisees, the ones who liked to look good on the outside, but not on the inside.  That is why Jesus confronted them here as well as in Matthew 23, where he chided them of cleaning the inside of the cup before they washed the outside of it (vs. 25-26).  Don’t forget “the whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (v. 27).  Pharisees cared nothing for real inner change of heart and mind, only outward appearances to keep the fawning public and the paparazzi following their every move. Theirs was quintessentially a man-made religion (1 Samuel 16:7).

Jesus responds by calling them deaf (v. 43), murderers (vs. 40, 44), and liars (v. 55).  He certainly wasn’t looking to win any popularity contests!  Truth and identity were at stake here, and everyone in the Temple was riveted by the intensity of this confrontation.

In contrast to their being liars, Jesus said that he kept his Father’s word.  Kept it?  He personally was his Fathers Word (John 1:1)!  Of course, they didn’t get that.  In fact, they were so blind, making outrageous accusations, that they missed most of what was really going on.  The Greek word for keep can mean several things, but here it means, “to watch over with the idea of preserving.”  As God’s Word he certainly would do that, and on earth he was the only one capable of doing so.  How long do you suppose he had been preserving God’s word?  Since before time began!  How’s that for a track record?  If he can keep his Father’s word that long and never miss a beat or a vowel or a dangling participle, don’t you suppose he can keep other things — like you and me — without any difficulty?

Another definition of keep is “to obey,” and Jesus used it in this way in John 15:10, “If you obey [keep] my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed [kept] my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”  Notice that in speaking to his disciples, he leads the way by his own example.  He has already (past tense) obeyed with the outcome of remaining in the Father’s love.  Saying this is saying that he is responding to the Father as any other believer can and should.

This is confirmed by what Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:6, “I have revealed you to those who you gave me out of the world.  They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed [kept] your word”.  How did they do that?  “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I cam from you, and they believed that you sent me” (v, 8).  Clearly, keeping God’s word is personally accepting, believing and responding to it obediently.  We can do this; he says so.

So how are you doing at keeping his word and remaining in his love?