John 8:39-47

³⁹"Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would ⁴⁰ do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God Himself." ⁴²Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on My own; but He sent Me. ⁴³Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe Me? ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

Jesus’ rebuke hits home, and the Jews show how strongly they resist His truthful teaching. When they answer that Abraham is their father, they are not merely clinging to their physical ancestry; they are exclaiming that they, by this physical ancestry, are unconditionally heirs to God’s promises to Abraham. They are hypocrites, and clinging to this seemingly logical stance (after all, they really are physical Jewish people), they reveal their opposition to God with hardened obstinacy. It is at this point that Jesus becomes even more offensive. He declares that the Jews are not truly Abraham’s children, or else they would do what Abraham did – and Abraham believed in the teaching of God. Yes, they were physically descended from Abraham, but that’s not what makes a child of Abraham (Romans 9:6-10). In reality their spiritual father was the devil, and they were enslaved to him and to their own sin – that is why they will not listen to Jesus’ words, which come from the Father; and that is why they do not love Jesus, but seek to kill Him. As Jesus says, “Abraham did not do such things.”

The Jews then deny that they are illegitimate children (likely poking fun at Jesus – the rumor of His being a bastard child), and they boldly claim God Himself as their father. This is saying the same thing as before – that they are truly Abraham’s offspring – but in a way which Jews rarely did. Jews did not often call God “Father,” though they acknowledged it to be the case. They reason thus: “God adopted for Himself the family of Abraham; therefore, since we are Abraham’s descendants, we must be the children of God.” We can see how they thought that they had holiness from the womb, because they were sprung from a holy root. Jesus’ reply in v42 argues that whoever is a child of God will acknowledge and cherish His Son; but since these Jews (who had professed belief shortly before) hate Jesus, they have no reason to boast that you are God’s children.” Notice from this passage that there is no fear of God where Christ is rejected. Hypocritical religion shelters itself by frequent use of the name of God, but agreement with the Father is impossible without love for His Son, Jesus.

In v43, Jesus asks and answers a question, “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.” Jesus is speaking the same language as His audience, yet with this question, He intended to take out of their hands what was the subject of their continual boasting, that they are led by reason and judgment to oppose Him. He is essentially calling them stupid, foolish, and lacking reason. And His answer reveals again their inability. 1 Corinthians 2:14 Apart from being made spiritual through regeneration, these people cannot grasp spiritual things. They cannot understand, because they will not.

Jesus, in v44, calls the Jews children of the devil, not only because they imitate him (“they want to do his work”), but because they are led by his instigation to fight against Christ (“they belong to him”). We are called the children of God, not only because we resemble Him, but also because He governs us by His Spirit, because Christ lives vigorously in us, so as to conform us to the image of His Father. Understanding the devil is an intriguing study, and one often avoided out of fear or apathy. Without going into great detail, we can look at Jesus’ words here for safe and sound teaching. “He was a murderer from the beginning.” This does not mean that he has always been a murderer, as the sense in which Jesus is “from the beginning.” Rather is called a murderer from the beginning, because he contrived the destruction, or the fall, of mankind (cf. 1 Kings 22:19-23). He introduced sin when there had been none. We read next that the devil is “not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.” This first phrase lends us to think that he was not always a rebel, but fell from the state of cherishing truth (Isaiah 14:11-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Revelation 12:7-13). The second phrase confirms his apostasy. Because he has entirely turned from the truth, he has been given over to his disdain beyond hope for repair. Finally, we read, “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This statement is regarded to mean that the blame for falsehood belongs not to God, who created the devil, but to the devil himself, who has corrupted the good that God created. The devil, who knows nothing but to contrive corruptions, frauds, and delusions, is the anti-Christ; as a liar and murderer, having blinded the eyes of his children, he is contrary to Jesus, the truth and the life and the One who opens the blind eyes.

Notice the shocking statement in v45. “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” This statement reveals the reality of mankind’s depravity. Unless the Spirit changes our natures through the rebirth, we are hostile to God and cannot please Him; we suppress the truth by our wickedness; we exchange the truth of God for a lie; we worship and serve created things, rather than the Creator (Romans 8:7-8; 1:18,25). In v46, Jesus asks a rhetorical question by which He claims to be sinless and perfectly righteous. He neither actually sinned nor potentially sinned. Though tempted in every way, Jesus was incapable of sinning. And He is upholding His doctrine as truth; there is no reason to doubt Him because of His impeccable character. He’s saying that His audience wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in the face. They weren’t capable of recognizing truth because, even though they were physical sons of Abraham, they were spiritual sons of the devil. Because they belong to the devil, and not to God, they are neither willing nor able to hear and believe in Jesus. In v47, without saying anything about Himself, Jesus charges his audience with being at war with God. There is not a more evident sign of a reprobate mind than when one cannot endure the teachings of Jesus. To agree with Jesus’ teaching is to reveal yourself as elect.