John 8:44
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.
Truth: Satan tells lies and fathers lies and liars.
Jesus, in this section of John, is being accused of lying about himself and about things of God. He turns the tables on the religious leaders that are questioning him and, instead, not only calls them liars, but shows them that their heritage is from the greatest liar: Satan. This must have been quite a shock to them to have someone, anyone, to talk to them in this manner. Later in chapter nine a blind man will be asked his opinion about Jesus and after he tells the religious leaders what he thinks, they will chastise him for speaking to them in that manner. They will tell him he is "untaught and born in sin" and has no business teaching them (John 9:34). Imagine their disdain for Jesus. He boldly calls them liars. He further adds that their heritage is from Satan, the father of lies. These are men who thought they were from God. Yet, what Jesus is pointing out is that THEY were born in sin and are the children of the Evil One. When they refuse to accept Jesus (the Way, the Truth and the Life), they are operating in falsehood. Satan is the father of false teaching, belief and living. He does a fantastic job of making the false promises and false statements SOUND like truth. He convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, confusing her knowledge of the truth with a slight lie. That deception sent sin in motion in the life of man. Satan did a great job of convincing King David to commit adultery and later murder to cover the adultery. Satan is the master of deception. He wants man to believe the lie so that they reject the Truth. Satan's entire mission is to confuse the world about the truth, so that they can't find it. The reason there are so many "religions" in the world is because it is easier to confuse what truth looks like than it is to simply reject the truth. We have numerous variations of faith in this world ... each with enough truth to make it plausible. In the church at Colossee there were false teachers teaching a variation of Paul's gospel that was "almost" like Paul's gospel. Note what Paul tells the believers there:
Colossians 2:4-8
I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
We must stay rooted, built up and established in the faith if we hope to avoid the plausible and persuasive arguments of the one who has lied from the beginning and is a master at the art of deception. This is why we are to know God and Jesus and the Gospel so well. So that when the deceiver comes, we reject his lies. He fathers others who lie. We must be able to recognize the lie and embrace the truth.
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