So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things.
4 sermons cite this verse
… Either I surrender or I fight. Now, that's the way we find Jesus in this crowd that surrounded him in John chapter 8, verses 12 to 59. He is not around a crowd that had never heard of God. I want to make that clear. He is in a context of religion. As a matter of fact, one of the three great festivals of the year is where he was at the time he spoke the words of John 8, the Feast of Tabernacles. Remember the other time that he brought a sword? He said, Are any of you thirsty? Come to me and drink. They were pouring out the water from that sacred vessel on that sacred altar, and he said, Wait a minute! Let me tell you where real water is. It's in me, and you come to me, you'll never thirst again. Oh, that was a sword. And it started an argument that still hasn't ceased. Now, he comes to this place called the treasury, according to verse 20 of chapter 8. …
… Jesus therefore said, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on my own initiative. But I speak these things as the Father taught me. And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. He was dependent upon the Father. Now you and I are to serve the Lord, not out of our resource of time, not out of our resource of testimony, not out of our resource of treasure, but we are to serve the Lord by serving others, trusting in the omnipotent life that lives within us that is overflowing out of our life day by day. We are to trust in the inner resource of Jesus Christ to meet the needs of other people as He sends us to serve them. He is my resource for all that I need. What's the fifth word? Abandonment. Now, what do I mean by that? …
Jesus therefore said, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught me. And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. Isn't that a tremendous thought? I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, Watch this. If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him. We are Abrahams of spring. and have never yet been enslaved to anyone, how is it that you say, you shall become free? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin, and the slave does not remain in the house forever, the son does remain forever. …
… there's irony in this very text here. Let me just drop down here for a second. Jesus says in verse 28, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And what does Jesus mean when He says, when I am lifted up? it's clear that there's a double significance to this, because His hour comes when He is lifted up on the cross to be crucified. And that's what He's talking about when He said, I'm going away, and where I'm going, you can't come. The initial movement there is not about His ascension into heaven, but He's talking now about leaving them, and they are confused by this. Is He going to kill Himself? He could have answered, no, you're going to do it for me, but when I am lifted up on the cross... that being lifted up as a public spectacle of scorn and hatred and animosity is also the time of His exaltation as the Redeemer of His people. It is at once His darkest hour and at the same time His greatest hour as it is in that hour that He brings us our redemption. …