John 8:42

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, ¹you would love Me, ²for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have ³not even come on My own initiative, but ⁴He sent Me.

John 8:42 Meaning and Commentary

John 8:42

Jesus said unto them, if God were your Father
By adoption; and this was discovered by the grace of regeneration; or in other words, if they had been born of God,

ye would love me;
for in regeneration love to Christ is always implanted: it is a fruit of the Spirit, which always comes along with the superabounding grace of God in conversion; whoever are begotten again, according to abundant mercy, love an unseen Jesus; and where there is no love to Christ, there can be no regeneration: such persons are not born again; nor is God their Father, at least manifestatively:

for I proceeded forth; and came from God;
the former of these phrases is observed by many learned men to be used by the Septuagint, of a proper natural birth, as in ( Genesis 15:4 ) ( 35:11 ) ; and here designs the eternal generation of Christ, as the Son of God, being the only begotten of the Father, and the Son of the Father in truth and love; and the other is to be understood of his mission from him, as Mediator:

neither came I of myself;
or did not take the office to himself, without being called unto it, and invested with it, by his Father:

but he sent me;
not by force, or against the will of Christ, or by change of place, but by assumption of nature; he sent him at the time agreed upon, in human nature, to obtain eternal redemption for his people: and upon both these accounts Christ is to be loved by all regenerate persons, or who have God for their Father; both on account of his being the Son of God, of the same nature and essence with him, see ( 1 John 5:1 ) ; and on account of his mission into this world, as Mediator, since he was sent, and came to be the Saviour of lost sinners.

John 8:42 In-Context

40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.

41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Cross References

• 1. 1 John 5:1
• 2. John 13:3; John 16:28, 30; John 17:8
• 3. John 7:28
• 4. John 3:17

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "that One"