John 8:42-47

“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do 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 lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Imagine me standing in Vatican Square on Easter Sunday along with a massive crowd of Catholics. Somehow, I manage to get up to the Pope’s balcony and join him for his annual address to a worldwide audience numbering in the tens of millions. At one point, I get control of the mic and ask him, “Who is your daddy?” His answer would be two-fold, most likely: His earthly father and his Heavenly Father. “That’s not correct, sir. I know who your real daddy is. It’s the Devil himself!” Can you imagine the outrage? There is a decent chance I might not make it out of there alive.

Now…I’m not saying anything directly about the actual Pope, but simply using this story as a means to illustrate just how jaw-dropping the moment must have been when Jesus told the Jewish leaders that their spiritual father was not Abraham, but the Devil himself. No wonder they wanted to kill him. The pious, self-righteous Jews were the recipients of Jesus’ most condemning remarks, and deservedly so. They had turned God’s truth into a hammer by which they bludgeoned His chosen people into worshipping…not the God of the Universe, but themselves. They were indeed liars, just like their father, the Devil.

In John Calvin’s commentary on this passage, he states that, “…they (the Jewish leaders) could not cherish such intense hatred to the Son of God, were it not that they had for their father the perpetual enemy of God. He calls them children of the devil, not only because they imitate him, but because they are led by his instigation to fight against Christ. For as we are called the children of God, not only because we resemble him, but because he governs us by his Spirit, because Christ lives and is vigorous in us, so as to conform us to the image of his Father; So, on the other hand, the devil is said to be the father or those whose understandings he blinds, whose hearts he moves to commit all unrighteousness, and on whom, in short, he acts powerfully and exercises his tyranny.”

Quite simply, you are either a child of God through Christ, or you are a child of the devil. There is no neutral ground. No third option. No way of escape. This certainly is not a popular notion and would not endear you to the unbelievers in line with you at Starbucks if you brought it up, but it is the Gospel Truth, nevertheless. Does the average unbeliever willingly pledge allegiance to the Father of Lies? Not likely, but they certainly are choosing to reject the only alternative. We should not look upon them as if they were the devil incarnate, for they are not…but we must always remember that whether they know it or not, they are on his team and to a certain degree, under his direct influence. We should not hate them for it but seek to love them out of it by inviting them to join “the other team.”