John 8

33 Along with the Jews who believed, there were other Jews present who had not put their faith in Jesus. Some of these Jews said, “We are Abraham’s⁷¹ descendants.” It is very common for unrighteous children to boast of the righteousness of their parents. They rely on their family name, but at the same time they bring dishonor upon it. The unbelieving Jews were like that.

The Jews were Abraham’s descendants according to the flesh. “We are sons of Abraham, not slaves,” the Jews insisted. “We have never been slaves of anyone.” But they were wrong in two ways. First, even at that very time they were, in a worldly sense, the slaves of the Romans. And second, in a spiritual sense, they were slaves of sin.

34 They were slaves of sin because they lived in sin. Jesus told them: “… everyone who sins⁷² is a slave to sin.” The slave of sin cannot free himself from sin. He has no power in himself to stop sinning. He needs a power greater than his own (see Romans 6:16; 2 Peter 2:19 and comments).

35 The Jews supposed that they were sons of Abraham and had the rights of sons. But the Jews were not true sons of Abraham spiritually (Romans 2:28-29). They were like slaves instead.

Jesus says here: “A slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.” A son remains a son. We ourselves are sons of God through faith in Christ (see John 1:12; Galatians 4:47 and comments). But Jesus is here talking in particular about Himself. He is the one and only Son of God. He is a son forever (1 Chronicles 17:13-14).

36 Because Jesus is the eternal Son and heir of God, He has the power and authority to set us free (see Galatians 5:1). We cannot free ourselves from slavery to sin. But He can free us. He not only frees us from the power of sin, but He also frees us from the punishment for sin. He freed us from the punishment for sin once and for all when He took our punishment upon Himself on the cross (see Mark 10:45 and comment).

37 Jesus acknowledged that the Jews were Abraham’s fleshly descendants. But they didn’t act as Abraham would have acted (verses 39-40). They were trying to kill Jesus. They were trying to kill Jesus because they had no room for His word. That is, they refused to “make room” for His word—they refused to accept His teaching. To reject Jesus’ word is the same as to reject Jesus.

38 Then Jesus told the Jews, “I do what I have heard from my Father, but you do what you have heard from your father.” Jesus meant that their father was the devil (verse 44).

39-40 The Jews said that Abraham was their father. But Jesus said that they were not true descendants of Abraham, because they didn’t act as Abraham did. Abraham was righteous. But these Jews were unrighteous. They were trying to kill Jesus (see Matthew 3:9 and comment).

41 Again, Jesus said that the Jews were doing the things that their own father the devil did (see verse 44).

Then the Jews said, “We are not illegitimate children.” This statement can have two meanings. First, the Jews may have been thinking that Jesus Himself was illegitimate. They may have heard about Mary’s becoming pregnant before she was married (Matthew 1:18). Thus they could have been saying: “We are not illegitimate like you are.”

Or second, they may simply have been saying, “We have remained faithful to God.” In the Old Testament, Jews who forsook God were called adulterers, whose children would then have been “illegitimate.” The Jews’ meaning would then be: “We are not like that.”

42-43 The Jews said, “The only Father we have is God himself” (verse 41). But Jesus denied that. God was not their Father. If God was their Father, they would have loved Christ, because Christ was God’s Son. Only those who love Christ can call God their Father.

44 But these Jews were trying to murder Christ. Therefore, their father was the devil, SATAN, who was a murderer from the beginning. Satan caused Cain to murder his brother Abel, the first murder in history (Genesis 4:4-8; 1 John 3:12). But more than that, Satan caused sin to enter mankind, and because of that, all men are condemned to death because of him (see Romans 5:12 and comment). Thus Satan can, in a spiritual sense, be called the “murderer” of all men.

Not only is Satan a murderer; he is also a liar. (Notice that if we let just one sin—like murder—master us, there will always be other sins—like lying—that join it!) All lies come from Satan, even the smallest falsehood. He is the father of lies—and the father of liars. Just as there is no falsehood in God, so there is no truth in Satan. Satan’s main method of attacking men is by deceiving them (Genesis 3:4-5). He calls good evil, and evil good. He calls truth falsehood, and falsehood truth. He makes men slaves, but says they are free!

45 The Jews couldn’t believe Jesus, because they believed the lies of Satan instead. Jesus spoke the truth, but they believed only lies. Satan had closed their minds and hardened their hearts. The truth of Christ was speaking, but they could not hear it. The light of Christ was shining, but they could not see it. Such is Satan’s effect upon men.

46 Jesus said to the Jews, “Show me a sin that I have committed.” What other man would ever dare to say that? Only Jesus could have said it, because only Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5).

If the Jews could prove that Jesus was a sinner, then let them not believe His words. But if He was indeed without sin, if He was telling them the truth, then let them believe Him.

But, in fact, the Jews could not prove that Jesus was guilty of any sin. Yet they still didn’t believe Him. It wasn’t because of any sin of Jesus that the Jews refused to believe in Him; it was because of their own sin (John 3:19-20).

47 Those who belong to God hear God. Those who do not belong to God can’t hear God; they can’t understand God (see John 8:23; 1 Corinthians 2:12,14; 1 John 4:6). Those who belong to God are those who have been reborn by the Holy Spirit. They can understand spiritual things. To teach spiritual things to unrepentant people is like trying to describe color to a man born blind or music to a man born deaf. It is in vain.

48 The only answer the Jews could give Jesus was to abuse Him. They called Him a Samaritan, which in the Jews’ mind was a great insult. The Samaritans said that the Jews weren’t the only sons of Abraham; the Samaritans considered themselves sons of Abraham too (see John 4:8-9 and comment).

The Jews also called Jesus demon-possessed (see Mark 3:22,30; John 7:20; 8:52). It is easier to call a man names than to answer his arguments.

49 Jesus was not demon-possessed, because He honored God. Demon-possessed men never honor God; they are under the control of Satan.

Jesus honored God, but He was dishonored by men. God has promised that He Himself will honor those who honor Him, but He has never promised that they would be honored by other men.

50 Jesus did not care if men insulted Him. He was not seeking glory for Himself. But there is one who seeks glory, and that is God. He will in the end glorify the Son Christ, because when Christ is glorified, God also is glorified (see John 17:1).

God is also the judge. But God will turn the work of judgment over to Christ, so that all men will honor Christ (John 5:22-23). In this way, God will obtain glory, both for Himself and for His Son. And, through Christ, He will bring judgment on all those who dishonor Christ (verse 49).

Jesus did not have to fight back against the Jews. He did not have to defend His honor. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly (see 1 Peter 2:2324 and comment).

51 But the person who keeps Christ’s word (see verse 31) will never see death; that is, his soul will never die. He will be saved from eternal punishment. Eternal punishment means to be separated from God in hell; it means to be dead spiritually. It means the opposite of eternal life (see John 3:15 and comment).

52-53 The Jews were of fended when Jesus said that whoever kept His word would not see death. “Who do you think you are?” they asked contemptuously. “Everyone dies. Abraham died, the prophets died, all the great people of history have died. Are you greater than they are? Can you prevent death in others when these great men couldn’t even prevent death in themselves?”

The Jews were wrong in their thinking in two ways. First, Abraham and the prophets were not dead. Their souls were alive (see Mark 12:26-27 and comment). Their second mistake was this. The Old Testament clearly taught that one greater than Abraham and the prophets would come, and that person would be the Messiah. Therefore, when Christ showed them that He was greater than Abraham (verse 58), they should have concluded that He was the Messiah. Instead, they concluded that He was demon-possessed!

54 To the question, “Who do you think you are?” Jesus replied: “I don’t need to answer that question. God will answer it. I don’t need to glorify myself (verse 50). My Father will glorify me. He is your God, but He is my Father.” The Jews could not claim to be God’s children, because they had rejected Christ, God’s one true Son. Only those who accept Christ are given the right to be children of God and to call God their “Father” (John 1:12).

55 But the Jews could not even rightly call Him “God,” because they did not know Him. Only Christ and those who believe in Christ truly know God (John 1:18; 7:28-29; 8:19).

56 Then Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day;⁷³ he saw it and was glad.” My day means the time of Christ’s coming to earth. God had promised Abraham that in him shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:3). This promise was fulfilled in Christ. It is through Christ that all the people of the world have been blessed. Abraham saw it (Christ’s day) through the eye of faith, and was glad.

57 The Jews thought Jesus was saying that Abraham had actually seen Him with his own eyes. They asked Him mockingly, “Were you alive when Abraham was alive nearly two thousand years ago? You’re not even fifty years old.”⁷⁴

58 But Jesus’ claim was even greater than they had supposed. He answered that He was alive not only during Abraham’s lifetime—He was alivebefore Abraham even existed! Jesus has always been alive. He has been with God from the beginning (John 1:1-2). “Before Abraham was born, I am,” said Jesus. Only God can use the words “I am.” In fact, “I Am” is the name God gave Himself. And He told the Jews to call Him by that name (Exodus 3:14). “I Am” means: “I have always been and always will be. I have no beginning and no end.”

Therefore, when Jesus spoke the words I am, He was saying, “I am God.”

59 The Jews immediately understood that Jesus had said, “I am God.” It was blasphemy for any man to call himself God (see John 5:18 and comment). So they at once picked up stones in order to stone Him to death, because according to the Jewish law, the punishment for blasphemy was death⁷⁵ (Leviticus 24:16).

But Jesus disappeared from their sight. God hid Him, because it was not yet His time to die (see John 7:30).