A Tale of Father | Pastor Shaun Brown | June 28, 2026

Jesus presses John 8 into a tale of fathers. The Jewish crowd argues that Abraham is their father, and that argument sounds spiritual, but Jesus pushes underneath it. Ethnicity, church background, denominational identity, and family history cannot make a person right with God. Jesus does not deny their biological connection to Abraham, but he says that Abraham’s true children do Abraham’s works.

Abraham’s works are not a pile of religious achievements that earned salvation. Galatians 3 says Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. The doctrine of justification comes into view right there, credited righteousness gifted by grace through faith. Old Testament saints looked forward to the Messiah God would send, and New Testament believers look backward to what God has already done in Christ. The heart posture is the same: a sinner turns from sin and trusts God’s salvation plan.

Jesus then shocks the crowd by saying their father is actually the devil. Nature reveals fatherhood. A liar lies because lying belongs to the old nature, all the way down the line from Adam. Jesus is not giving a small moral tweak. Jesus is saying that salvation requires a new nature, the same reality he told Nicodemus about: a person must be born again.

The devil’s nature is murder and lies. Genesis shows that from the beginning. God said eating from the tree would bring death, and the serpent said the opposite. Both statements could not be true. Every word that stands against God’s word robs life, because Satan never gives life. He kills, steals, and destroys, especially what bears the image of God.

Jesus also says that if God were truly their Father, they would love Jesus. A person cannot claim to love God while rejecting the Son sent from God. Zacchaeus proves that spiritual sonship is not ethnic status. A despised chief tax collector can become a son of Abraham when salvation comes to his house, because the true downline is faith.

Those who love Jesus recognize the need for a new heart, recognize Jesus for who he is, and receive him as Savior and Lord. Jesus pays the debt he did not owe, rises victorious over sin, Satan, death, and the grave, and becomes the boss of life. The Lord’s Supper then asks the searching question: which father is the downline of the spiritual nature? The bread and cup look backward to the cross, inward to repentance and faith, and forward to the risen Christ who is praying his people home.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Ethnicity cannot save the soul Jesus refuses to let Abraham’s name become a hiding place for unbelief. Biological heritage, religious upbringing, and denominational labels can sit very close to holy things while still missing the heart posture of faith. Abraham’s true children are not merely those who share his bloodline, but those who share his trust in God’s promise. [03:06]
• 2. Faith receives credited righteousness Abraham’s right standing with God came through belief, not spiritual performance. The law, sacrifices, and commands exposed the need for a Savior rather than creating a way to earn salvation. Justification means righteousness is counted, credited, and gifted by grace through faith, because God supplies what sinners do not possess. [06:38]
• 3. Nature reveals spiritual fatherhood Jesus names the uncomfortable truth that conduct flows from nature. Lying is not merely a bad habit sitting on the surface; it exposes a deeper bondage that needs new birth, not better manners. The gospel does not decorate the old nature, it gives a new one through Christ. [08:44]
• 4. Satan never gives real life The serpent’s lie in Eden promised freedom while delivering death. Anything set against the word of God may sound like life, but it steals from the soul because Satan has no good intention toward God’s image bearers. Disobedience is never neutral; it always sides with the murderer and father of lies. [12:14]
• 5. Love for God loves Jesus Jesus makes love for himself the test of true sonship with the Father. A person cannot reject the Son sent from God and still claim the God who sent him. Real faith recognizes Jesus as Savior from sin and Lord over life, not merely as a religious figure to admire.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:25] - A Tale of Fathers
• [02:19] - Abraham as Father
• [03:06] - Misplaced Trust in Ethnicity
• [04:41] - The Works of Abraham
• [06:38] - Justification by Faith
• [08:21] - Your Father the Devil
• [10:17] - Eden, Lies, and Death
• [13:16] - If God Were Your Father
• [14:36] - Zacchaeus, a Son of Abraham
• [20:17] - What Love for Jesus Looks Like
• [22:34] - Which Father Is the Downline?
• [24:44] - Look Backward, Inward, Forward
• [27:17] - Prayer and Receiving Christ

Bible Reading

John 8:31-59
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’ They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’ 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.’ The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.’ The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, “If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.” Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, “He is our God.” But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.’ So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

Galatians 3:6-9
“just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” [06:38]

Genesis 3:1-5
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”’

Luke 19:1-10
“He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’”

Observation questions

1. In John 8, what claims do the crowd make about who their father is, and how does Jesus answer each claim? [02:19]
2. According to John 8 and Galatians 3, what are the “works” or marks that connect someone to Abraham? [04:41]
3. In Genesis 3, what exactly does the serpent say, and how does that directly oppose what God had said? [10:17]
4. In Luke 19, what changes can be seen in Zacchaeus after he receives Jesus joyfully? [14:36]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus does not deny that the crowd is physically descended from Abraham, but he still says they are not truly Abraham’s children. What does that show about the difference between biological heritage and spiritual family? [03:06]
2. Galatians 3 says Abraham believed God and righteousness was counted to him. How does that help explain what it means to be justified by faith rather than by religious performance? [06:38]
3. Jesus says the devil lies “out of his own character.” How does that help explain why sin is more than a behavior problem and why a new birth is needed? [08:44]
4. Jesus says that if God were truly their Father, they would love him. Why is love for Jesus such a central test of whether someone really knows God? [13:16]

Application questions

1. Family history, church background, and religious familiarity can sit close to holy things without producing saving faith. Where is the temptation strongest to lean on spiritual proximity instead of personally trusting Christ? [03:06]
2. Abraham’s true children share Abraham’s faith. When doubts, guilt, or failure rise up, what are the usual ways of trying to prove worth to God instead of resting in credited righteousness? [06:38]
3. A lie usually starts sounding believable when it promises life apart from God’s word. What kinds of lies are easiest to listen to right now, and what makes them feel persuasive? [12:14]
4. The old nature does not need polishing but replacement. In what area of life is there a need not just for better habits, but for Christ to change the heart underneath the habits? [08:44]
5. Love for God shows itself in love for Jesus as Savior and Lord. What does it look like, in a very practical sense, to receive Jesus not only as forgiver of sin but also as the boss of life? [20:17]
6. Zacchaeus shows that repentance has visible fruit. If salvation reshapes real life, what relationships, money habits, speech patterns, or hidden practices might need to change? [14:36]
7. The bread and cup call for looking backward to the cross, inward in repentance and faith, and forward to Christ’s return. Which of those three directions is easiest to neglect, and what would it look like to give it fresh attention this week? [24:44]