Logical Antithesis

As a christian, I find that spot-reading in sermons, if taken as the primary form of study, is actually just as harmful as not reading at all. Why so? Well, you miss the context established in the book itself and within the surrounding text. A very good example of this is a portion of gospel of John that I hadn’t read through in its entirety. I’ll share what I found, just in case you have missed it too. There is a lot of stuff in this section and I’ll only cover a few aspects, so be sure and read it for yourself.

What I found was the part, and causation, of a snippet of text that is often quoted. The snippet itself is in John 8:

John 8:33-40
₍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 forever: 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."
₍₃₉₎ They answered and said unto him, “Abraham is our father.” 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."

By itself, this “snippet” has a number of uses. But what did Jesus use it for?

Here are some of the things that the Jews say to Jesus during the course of this long argument:

They answered and said unto him, “Abraham is our father.” (John 8:39a)

Then said they to him, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” (John 8:41b)

Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (John 8:48)

Then said the Jews unto him, “Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” (John 8:52-53)

What could Jesus have said to arouse such anger? Here the Jews make a subtle insult, that they have a father, and then they outright call him an illegitimate son born of fornication. Then they call him a half-breed, a Samaritan—implying that Mary either was raped or was a prostitute. And they accuse him of not merely being mad, but possessed!

What did Jesus say? Simple: He pointed out that the Jew’s actions weren’t following those of Abraham, but their father—Satan. All through this section He asserts to being sent from God and in being the I am (and therefore a part of God). For these things the Jews attempt to seize and kill him several times. Remember that the italics are words that are not in the original text, but added for clarity; there are three bona fide references (which I can find) to Jesus being the I am in verses 24, 28, and 58.

This whole argument is throughout two attempts at seizure, through which Jesus is constantly chastising them as He escapes from their hands. The first attempt was in the temple treasury, where Jesus was teaching, and the next was presumably elsewhere—this time where they could stone Him for His “repeated blasphemy,” which we know to be the truth.

But don’t take my word for this, read the chapter from verse twelve for yourself! There are more messages to John 8:12-59 than I have highlighted here, but this is just one example of the overall circumstances that you would otherwise miss … if spot reading a small area.

It has lately become my method to pick a book, or significant set of chapters (where the boundaries for beginning and ending are clear), and attempt to read it through without interruption all at once. This really helps to establish a great deal of background and has served to show me the context of the context of various spot-read scriptures.