They
said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father.
John 8:25-27
John 8 [23.] He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
John 8 [25.] They said therefore to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
John 8 [27.] They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
John 8 [30.] As he spoke these things, many believed in him. Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Meaning:
Jesus had just warned his hearers, “unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). His words provoke the obvious question: “Who are you?” Jesus’ answer points back to everything he had already said and forward to the Father who sent him. John then adds a sad comment: they still did not understand.
- “Who are you?”
This is the central question of John’s Gospel. Priests and Levites had asked John the Baptist the same thing: “Who are you?” (John 1:19). Jesus later asked his own disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). In the mouths of the Pharisees the question may be impatient or scornful, a challenge to his right to speak so boldly. But it is the right question, and everything depends on the answer.
- “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning”
The Greek of Jesus’ reply is notoriously difficult, and translations render it in different ways. Some understand it as a statement, as the World English Bible does; others take it as an exclamation of frustration at having to repeat himself. The main point is clear in either case: Jesus had not hidden his identity. From the start of his ministry he had spoken openly about the Father who sent him, about his coming from heaven, and about the life he gives. He did not need to invent a new answer; his hearers needed to listen to the one he had already given.
- “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you”
Jesus could say much more about them, and much of it would be judgment: their unbelief, their hostility and their plans to kill him. Yet his purpose was not mainly to condemn. Elsewhere he said that the word he spoke would itself be the judge: “The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
- “However he who sent me is true”
Whatever they thought of Jesus, the Father who sent him is true and trustworthy. Jesus’ message does not rest on his own authority alone but on the God who cannot lie. Jesus speaks as a faithful messenger who passes on exactly what he has received: “the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” Earlier he had said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16).
- “These I say to the world”
The message is not only for the leaders of Jerusalem. Jesus speaks to “the world”, all people everywhere. God “so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).
- “They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father”
John’s comment is striking. Jesus had spoken about “him who sent me” again and again, yet they did not realise he meant God. Spiritual truths are not grasped by intelligence alone. Paul writes that the natural man “doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). After the resurrection Jesus “opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Understanding is a gift of God’s grace.
The Significance of John 8:25-27
- Answer the question of who Jesus is
Every person must face the question the Pharisees asked. Jesus has already answered it in his words and works; what matters is whether we believe.
- Jesus speaks the Father’s words
Because Jesus says only what he heard from the Father, his words carry God’s authority. Listening to Jesus is listening to God.
- Pray for understanding
Hearing Jesus is not the same as understanding him. We should ask God to open our minds, and pray the same for others.
Cross-References:
Matthew 16:15: "But who do you say that I am?" The question every disciple must answer.
John 7:16: "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me." Jesus speaks the Father’s words.
1 Corinthians 2:14: "doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him," Why spiritual truth is not understood.
Luke 24:45: "Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures." Understanding is God’s gift.
Conclusion: When the Pharisees asked, “Who are you?”, Jesus pointed them back to what he had said from the beginning and to the Father who sent him, whose words he faithfully spoke to the world. Yet they did not understand that he was speaking about God. The passage confronts us with the question of who Jesus is, reminds us that his words are the Father’s words, and calls us to pray for the understanding only God can give.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible