Abraham in the New Testament
John 8
Nothing
demonstrates the unity of the Testaments – and the clarity of the Gospel – more
than Abraham in the New Testament. Readers should ask why this is so and why so
many who wear the academic gown ignore this truth.
One example alone sets the stage while the other citations
show the strength of this connection between the Genesis patriarch and the
divinity of Christ. The Gospel of John is a good place to start, because the
Fourth Gospel assumes knowledge of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, giving us
additional knowledge of the three-year public ministry of Christ and His
message.
In John 8, Jesus spoke of His relationship with His
Father, and the importance of faith in Him as the will and the voice of His
Father above.
John
8:31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.
This created a
division, because Jesus spoke of faith in Him while His opponents taught the virtue
of descent from Abraham.
John
8: 33
They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man:
how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the
servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye
are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in
you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye
have seen with your father.
The Apostle Paul made
much of this distinction in Galatians and Romans, so the earlier division needs
to be kept in mind.
39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our
father.
Jesus is teaching faith
in Him while they speak of works. Today the works are the teachings of the
synod’s patriarchs, opposing the Scriptures, not faith in Jesus Christ but
obedience to the current yet always-changing local dogmas.
39b
Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of
Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth,
which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
As Jesus and the Jewish
leaders debate, it is clear that He is directing them to God the Father through
Him, but that only upsets them more.
56
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou
seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I AM. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself,
and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
This remarkable statement
teaches the Two Natures of Christ and His pre-existence as the Son of God
before His incarnation. Jesus’ response is humanly impossible, and can only
come from God Himself. He is the divine Voice from the Burning Bush, existing
before Abraham and yet speaking of Abraham believing in Him as the future
Messiah, the foundation of the descendants more numerous than the stars in the
sky.[1]
Genesis
15:5b God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell
the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy
seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for
righteousness.”
Abraham did not believe
in his own empire, because no empire has lasted forever and had countless
inhabitants. He believed in God’s Promise of the future Messiah, whose Kingdom
of God would grow forever until the end of time.
The modern scholars
pick up heavy volumes to cast at the Gospel of John, because they do not know
or fear God. They have Tischendorf, Hort, Barth, Bultmann, and Nida for their
fathers, so they despise the simple, inspired Scriptures – and ignore Abraham
the father of faith, who is named in Matthew 1:1 –
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of
David, the son of Abraham.
This is summed up in
Matthew 1:17 –
So
all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from
David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from
the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. 18 Now the
birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
The reference to
Abraham as the father is found in Matthew 3, so we can see how this concept was
elaborated in John 8
Matthew
3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for
I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire.
This is another
expression of John 8 – God’s Word can raise up children of Abraham from stones,
and we can rejoice that the Gospel created children of God from the tattooed
and naked pagans of Europe, the Picts and Celtics. During Jesus’ ministry, the
Word converted pagans into believers, children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
but many blood descendants would be cast into outer darkness, Mathew 8:10-12.
[1]
Timothy Ferris, in his classic book Galaxies, has photos of one area of
the sky where countless galaxies swirl, each one containing millions of stars.
Genesis 15.
