Never Taste Death

Never Taste Death

John 8:48-59

Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And every year about this time, we are reminded of at least one of those. April has a way of bringing reality into focus. You can put it off for a while, you can try not to think about it, but eventually it comes due. Taxes have a deadline you cannot escape.

But there is another certainty that no calendar can contain and no deadline can postpone. Death. We spend much of our lives trying not to think about it. We stay busy. We distract ourselves. We fill our days with noise. But every once in a while, the illusion breaks. A diagnosis comes. A funeral interrupts our routine. And we realize not just that death exists, but that it is coming for us.

And beneath that reality is an even deeper question that none of us can avoid. What happens after? Is there judgment? Is there mercy? Are we ready to stand before God?

It is possible to know the language of faith, to be familiar with the story, even to sit among the people of God, and still not be ready for that moment. And this is where the words of Jesus meet us this morning. He does not offer vague comfort or sentimental hope. He speaks with clarity and authority. “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Never see it. And everything we celebrate today rises or falls on that promise.

The Unthinkable Promise (v. 48-53)

Before Jesus gives the promise, notice the tension in the room. The conversation is already heated. The opposition is already strong. In verses 48 through 50, they answer Him,

“Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

They are not asking sincere questions. They are attacking Him. They dismiss Him. They insult Him. They try to discredit Him. And notice how Jesus responds. He does not retaliate. He does not defend His reputation. He says,

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.”

That sets the stage.

They are concerned with status. Jesus is concerned with the Father’s glory. They are making accusations. Jesus is speaking truth. And He reminds them that there is a Judge. Not them. God. And it is into that moment, into that tension, into that rejection, that Jesus speaks the promise. And Jesus speaks into the deepest fear we have with a promise that sounds almost too bold to believe. He says simply but plainly in John 8:51,

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

That is the unthinkable promise.

If we are honest, everything in our experience pushes against it. We have stood at gravesides. We have watched caskets lowered into the ground. We have felt the silence that follows. Death feels final. It feels certain. And yet Jesus looks straight at that reality and says, “Anyone who keeps my word will never see death.”

Notice who Jesus offers this promise to: Anyone. Those raised in a christian home and those who never have heard of Christ. Those who are morally good and those who have lived recklessly. Anyone who keeps my word. The only exclusion is refusing His word. Then notice the length of the promise. Jesus, says the one who receives his word, “he will never see death.” Never. Ever.

It would be like standing at a funeral, with the weight of loss still in the air, and someone stepping forward and saying, “Death does not get the final word.” Most of us would not know what to do with that. It sounds too large a promise. Too absolute. And yet that is exactly what Jesus is saying.

But we have to slow down and hear Him rightly. Jesus is not saying His followers will avoid physical death. Bodies still wear out. Hearts still stop. Graves are still filled. What He is saying goes deeper. He is talking about death in its fullest sense. Separation from God. Standing under judgment. Facing the full weight of our sin with no escape.

And Jesus says that for those who keep His word, that death will never be theirs.

To keep His word is not to earn it. It is not to clean yourself up. It is not to try harder. It is to receive His word like a thirsty man receives water. It is to hold onto it like a drowning man grabs a rope. It is to trust Him. It is to hear His voice and rest your life on it.

And now the promise becomes very personal. Life is not found in religion. It is not found in effort. It is not found in being better than the next person. Life is found in Him. Freedom from death is found in Him. So the question is not theoretical. Do you believe Him?

Because if He is telling the truth, this is the greatest promise ever spoken. And if He is not, then nothing He says matters. There is no safe middle ground. No quiet place to stand. And that is exactly what we see next. And instead of falling at His feet… the crowd pushes back. They argue. They reject what He has said. Listen to how they respond Him in verses 52- 53:

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?”

You can hear their logic. They look at the world they know. Abraham died. The prophets died. Every grave tells the same story. Death wins. And so they conclude, “What you are saying cannot be true. Only a demon would speak like this..” They are measuring Jesus by what they have already decided is possible.

And are we so different? We do this in quieter ways. We trust what we can see. We lean on what feels familiar. We assume that what has always been will always be. And when Jesus says something that stretches beyond our experience, we hesitate. We find it hard to believe.

It is like someone who has been born deaf. They have never heard a voice, never heard music, never heard the sound of laughter. And then one day, through a procedure, they are given the ability to hear. For the first time, sound comes rushing in. At first it feels strange, almost overwhelming. Hard to process. Hard to make sense of. It does not fit what they have always known. And if they were to reject it, it would not be because sound is not real. It would be because their experience is unfamiliar.

That is what is happening here. Jesus is speaking truth that does not fit their categories. It does not match their experience. And instead of allowing their understanding to be reshaped, they try to force Him into what they already believe. And when He does not fit their preconceived ideas, they reject Him. And notice how quickly it turns. “Now we know that you have a demon.” Unbelief always hardens the heart against God. It moves from doubt to dismissal, to denial, to defiance.

And that is the real problem. Not lack of evidence… but resistance of the heart. It is hearing the words of Jesus and choosing not to trust Him. And I wonder this Sunday how many of you are like those Jewish leaders, maybe not in open hostility, but in quiet resistance. You hear His words. You understand what He is saying. And yet something in you holds back. Because it is possible to sit in a room like this, to hear the words of Christ clearly, to understand what He is saying, and still push it away. Not because it is unclear, but because it does not fit what we want to believe.

And in the end, their question still hangs in the air. “Who do you make yourself out to be?” That is not just their question. That is the question every one of us must answer. But Jesus does not step back. He presses forward. He begins to show not just the promise of life, but the prize behind it. Which leads us to what we can call the unimaginable prize.

The Unimaginable Prize (vv. 54–56)

Instead of backing down his accusers, Jesus shows what stands behind the promise. Listen to His words in verses 54-56:

“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.’”

Jesus is answering their question, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” And His answer is this. I am the one the Father will glorify. Not self-appointed. Not self-promoted. The Father Himself will put His glory on the Son. Now we have to ask, how does the Father glorify the Son?

Because at this moment, nothing about Jesus looks glorious. He is being mocked. He is being accused. He is being rejected. And what Jesus is pointing to is something still to come. A moment when the Father will publicly vindicate Him. A moment when everything that looks weak will be revealed as power, and everything that looks like defeat will be revealed as victory.

And that happens through the cross and the resurrection.

The cross will look like the end. Rejection, suffering, death. It will look like Jesus has lost. But in that moment, He is doing exactly what the Father sent Him to do. He is bearing sin. He is standing in the place of sinners. He is taking the judgment we deserve. And then, on the third day, the Father glorifies the Son by raising Him from the dead.

The resurrection is the Father’s declaration. The work is finished. The sacrifice has been accepted. Death has been defeated. The One they rejected is the One God has exalted. This is the heart of the gospel. Jesus goes to the cross in the place of sinners. He bears the judgment we deserve. He stands where we should stand. And then on the third day, He rises. Not symbolically. Not spiritually. Bodily. Historically. Triumphantly. The grave that has held every other person could not hold Him.

And now the logic of the promise becomes clear. Because if Jesus has been glorified by the Father through the resurrection, then His words are true. If you are united to Him by faith, then death does not get the final word over you. You may pass through physical death, but you will never taste it in its deepest sense. You will never stand condemned. You will never be separated from God. The worst thing death can do has already been undone

.

Jesus says that Abraham saw this day and rejoiced. That means Abraham was not just looking for land or descendants. He was looking for something greater. When God promised him a son, when God said he would be the father of many nations, when God declared that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed, Abraham began to see that God was doing something far bigger than his own lifetime.

And nowhere is that clearer than when Abraham stood on the mountain with Isaac. A father with his son. A knife in his hand. And yet he says, “God will provide for himself the lamb.” In that moment, Abraham was not just trusting God for provision. He was looking ahead. Trusting that God would one day provide a sacrifice that would truly take away sin. That death would not have the final word. That God would make a way.

Jesus says Abraham saw that day and rejoiced. Not with full clarity. Not with all the details. But he saw enough to know that God would keep His promise. It is like a man standing at the edge of a canyon, seeing the first beams of a bridge being laid across. He cannot cross it yet. He cannot see the full structure. But he knows what it means. A way is coming. A path is being made.

And this is where Jesus’ words become even more striking. Abraham was not just looking for a better future. He was looking for the day of the Lord. The day when God would act to save, to judge, to fulfill His promises. And Jesus says, that day was my day. “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” In other words, everything Abraham longed for, everything he trusted God to accomplish, finds its fulfillment not in an event alone, but in a person. Jesus is answering their question. “Who do you make yourself out to be?” He is saying, I am the fulfillment of Abraham’s hope. I am the day he was looking toward.

Beloved, we are not standing at a distance. We are standing on this side of the resurrection. The bridge has been finished. Christ has crossed through death and has come out the other side. The sacrifice has been provided. The promise has been fulfilled. And now He calls sinners to walk across the bridge he has made by faith.

That is the prize. Not just that death is avoided, but that Christ has been glorified in His resurrection, and all who belong to Him share in that resurrected life. And that life is not merely existence that goes on forever. It is life with God forever. The ultimate prize is not just heaven as a place, but heaven with God. To be brought into His presence. To be reconciled, restored, and welcomed to Him. To no longer stand at a distance, but to dwell with Him. No more separation. No more guilt. No more fear. To know Him fully and to be known by Him, forever.

That is what Christ has secured through His death and resurrection. Not just that we escape death, but that we gain God Himself. And if that is true, then everything now turns on who Jesus is. Not just what He offers, but His identity. Which leads us to what we can call the ultimate proof.

The Ultimate Proof (vv. 57–58)

Now everything comes to a point. The question is no longer just about the promise. It is about the person making the promise. Listen to verses 57-58:

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.’

They are still thinking in human categories. Age. Timeline. Limits. “You are not even fifty. How could you know Abraham?” They are measuring Jesus by what they can see. But Jesus answers in a way that breaks their categories completely. “Before Abraham was, I am.” Not “I was.” “I am.” This is not just a claim. This is a claim that demands a response.

For He is not just claiming to exist before Abraham. He is claiming the name of God Himself. The name revealed to Moses at the burning bush. The eternal, self-existent One. No beginning. No end. No limits. Jesus is saying, “I am not just a teacher. I am not just a prophet. I am God.”

And this is the ultimate proof behind the promise. Because if Jesus is only a man, then His promise cannot stand. But if He is the eternal Son, then everything changes. The Giver of life has authority over life; the Eternal One has power over death.

And this is where the bodily resurrection of Jesus matters most. Anyone can make a claim. Many have. But only one has walked into death and walked out again. The resurrection is the Father’s declaration that Jesus is exactly who He said He is. The cross looked like weakness. The resurrection is the proof of His power. The cross looked like defeat. The resurrection is the declaration of victory.

It is like someone handing you a check with your name on it, written for an amount so large it does not seem real. You turn it over in your hands. You wonder if it could possibly clear. It feels too good to trust. But when you take it to the bank and the funds are there, the question is settled. It was real all along. That is what the resurrection is. God’s confirmation that the promise is true. The check clears. The claim stands.

For this is not just about what Jesus said. It is about who He is. The eternal Son. The Great I am. The risen Savior. The One who has authority over death itself. And that means we cannot stay neutral. Which is exactly what we see in the final verse.

The Urgent Response (v. 59)

And now the moment of decision comes. There is no more discussion. No more questions. The tension breaks. Verse 59 says,

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

That is their response. They do not misunderstand Him. They understand exactly what He is claiming, and they reject Him. They move from questioning him to violence against him, from listening to wanting Him dead. There is no middle ground.

And it is worth saying, many people today claim that Jesus never said He was God. They speak of Him as a good teacher, a moral example, a wise voice, but not divine. But the people who heard Him speak did not come to that conclusion. The Jewish leaders understood exactly what He was claiming. That is why they picked up stones. They were not confused. They were confronted.

And we are faced with the same reality. You cannot reduce Jesus to something more comfortable. You cannot reshape Him into a version that fits your preferences. He does not leave that option open. Either He is who He says He is, or He is not. Either He is the eternal Son, or He is not worth following at all. There is no middle ground. Every person who hears the words of Jesus will respond in one of two ways. You will either receive Him or reject Him.

It is like you standing on a train track, hearing the whistle in the distance. You know the train is coming. You can hear it. You can feel the ground begin to shake beneath your feet. And in that moment, you know doing nothing is not an option. You will either step off the track or remain where you are. There is no middle ground.

That is the urgency of this moment. The promise still stands. “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The offer is still open. The risen Christ still calls. The One who walked out of the grave now speaks to you. But the warning is just as real. To reject Him is not to remain where you are. It is to remain on the tracks facing the certainty of death He came to save you from.

If you are here and you realize that you have never truly trusted Christ, do not push this away. Do not do what this crowd did. Do not harden your heart. Come to Him. Turn from your sin. Trust in the One who died and rose again. He has done what you cannot do. He has paid for sin. He has defeated death. And He offers life to you today.

Believer, this is a message of freedom from fear. You will face physical death, but you will never fully taste it. The sting has been removed. The judgment has been satisfied. The grave is no longer the end. Because Christ has been raised, you will be raised. Because He lives, you will live. So you can rest. You can worship. You can face even death with hope. Because the One who said, “I am,” walked into death and walked out again, and all who belong to Him will do the same.

So let me ask you again, Are you ready to die? Are you ready to stand before God? Are you ready for what comes after your final breath? If you are trusting in yourself, you are not ready. If you are trusting in your goodness, your effort, or your religion, you are not ready. If you are hoping God will simply overlook your sin, you are not ready. Those things cannot carry the weight of death. They will fail you when you need them most.

But there is good news. Jesus Christ has done everything necessary to make you ready. He lived the life you could not live. He died the death you deserve. And on the third day, He rose from the grave. The debt has been paid. The judgment has been satisfied. Death has been defeated. And now He offers you life. Not something you earn, but something you receive.

Turn from your sin. Come to Christ. Take Him at His word. And if you do, this promise becomes yours. You will never see death. You may pass through the grave, but you will not be held by it. You will stand before God not in fear, but in Christ. You will live forever.

Beloved, know this Resurrection Sunday that death has lost its power over you. It is no longer a destination but a doorway. Because Christ has gone before you and come out the other side, you can live with courage, face the future with hope, and even face death with peace. Because the One who said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” is the One who walked out of the grave, and all who belong to Him will do the same. For all who abide in Him will never see death. That is a promise to live by.