Key Verse: “Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out 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 tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (John 8:43-45 CSB)
We live in an age in which there is a battle for truth. Truth is either denied, minimized or made relative to one’s personal preferences or experience. Yet Jesus has said that He is the truth (John 14:6), and that this truth will set us free (John 8:32).
So why won’t people accept it? Why are there some who will encounter the liberating truth of Jesus Christ but refuse to believe or even listen to it? Why is there such hostility to truth?
This is the reality that Jesus faced in His interaction with the Jewish people in John 8. Though many had believed in Him, there were those who had not genuinely become one of His disciples. Though they had heard the truth, the truth was not actually in them. They refused to listen and wanted to continue to pursue their own desires.
According to Jesus, their inability to listen to His words and to truly believe was not an intellectual issue. It wasn’t that Jesus’ teaching was too cryptic or incomprehensible. The issue was spiritual. “Why don’t you understand what I say?” Jesus asked them. “Because you cannot listen to my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires” (v.43-44a).
Jesus explained that the very nature of the devil is the exact opposite of truth. “He does not stand in the truth,” Jesus said, “because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies” (v.44). Nothing about the devil is truth. He is the master of deception and distortion in order to keep people from seeing the truth of Jesus.
This is hard reality but also a helpful reminder for us as we seek to share the truth of Jesus. We must remember that, “the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is discerned spiritually” (1 Corinthians 2:14). “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
When we share the good news of Jesus, we must remember that the battle for belief is a spiritual one that is about truth instead of lies. Those who refuse to believe or even listen do so because they are still in a state of spiritual blindness and deception. Only the Spirit of God has the ability in His grace to open their eyes to the truth and set them free.
As you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness today, ensure that you are rooted firmly in the truth of Jesus Christ. Be bold today in sharing that truth so that people can be set free. Pray fervently for those around you to experience God’s grace and be able to spiritually discern the truth of Jesus. And praise God that Jesus Christ has overcome the enemy, the father of lies, and that His truth will ultimately prevail!
Prayer: Jesus, I recognize that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. Thank you that you are far greater and have already won the victory. Guard me today from being led astray by the devil’s lies. Teach me to listen to you and to stand firm in your truth. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
