The crowd is divided about Jesus. There are some who believe and put their faith in him (v30-31) and there is the rest of the crowd, who do not believe and continue to argue with Jesus. Passages like this one in the gospel of John leave no choice but 2: you either believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be or he is a crazy person. The crowd was divided into these 2 camps.
Jesus does not give up on the unbelieving crowd. He tells them the plain truth: "everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (v34). He uses strong words with them: "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire" (v44). They think that they have right standing with God (v33, v39, v41), but Jesus tells them where they really stand: "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God" (v47). Jesus is essentially doing the work of the Holy Spirit, revealing truth and working to convict people of their sin.
But not all choose to believe - as true today as it was for the crowd in the presence of Jesus in this passage. They accuse Jesus of not being a proper Jew and conclude that he is insane (v48). What is Jesus' response? He holds out to them the hope that comes to those who believe: "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death" (v51). Father God, do not let me get lost in empty religious observance. Keep me in your truth, grounded in belief in your son, who you sent to save me and the world. I want to belong to your family forever.
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