I
know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.” They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
John 8:37-41
John 8 [33.] They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
John 8 [34.] Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”
John 8 [39.] They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. You do the works of your father.”
They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
John 8 [42.] Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me. Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word. 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 doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father. But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
Meaning:
Jesus had told his hearers that “everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin” and that only the Son can make them free (John 8:34-36). They had insisted, “We are Abraham’s offspring” (John 8:33). In these verses Jesus takes up that claim. Physical descent, he says, is not the same as true sonship. Children show who their father is by what they do.
- “I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me”
Jesus does not deny their ancestry. They were descendants of Abraham by birth. But their actions contradicted their pedigree, for they were planning to kill him. The reason was spiritual: “my word finds no place in you.” His teaching found no room in their hearts, so it could not change them.
- “I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father”
Here Jesus introduces the idea of two fathers. He speaks what he has seen with his Father, God. They act according to what they have learned from their father, and he does not yet say who that is. A few verses later he will say it plainly (John 8:44).
- “Our father is Abraham.”
They repeat their claim, as though it settled the matter. Like many in every age, they trusted their religious heritage rather than the condition of their hearts.
- “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham”
What were the works of Abraham? Above all, he believed God: “He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). He welcomed God’s messengers. When three visitors came to his tent, he ran to meet them and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant” (Genesis 18:3). Abraham received God’s word with faith and obedience.
These hearers did the opposite. They wanted to kill “a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.” “Abraham didn’t do this.” Paul draws the same conclusion: “Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7).
- “You do the works of your father.”
Once again Jesus implies that their real father is someone other than Abraham. Their deeds reveal their spiritual family.
- “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
Their reply may contain a jab at Jesus. Rumours about his birth may have circulated, and the word “We” could be emphatic: we were not born that way, implying that he was. Matthew records that Mary “was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit” before she and Joseph came together (Matthew 1:18); to outsiders this might look like scandal. Others read the reply in the light of the prophets, who called idolatry spiritual adultery; on this reading the speakers deny that they are an unfaithful, idolatrous people.
Either way, they now claim God himself as their Father. Scripture did speak of God as Israel’s Father: “For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us” (Isaiah 63:16); “Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10). Jesus answers in the next verse: if God were their Father, they would love the Son he sent (John 8:42).
The Significance of John 8:37-41
- Family resemblance
Children tend to resemble their parents. Those who belong to God show it by believing and loving his Son. Religious descent or membership does not make anyone a child of God.
- Making room for Jesus’ word
Jesus’ word had “no place” in their hearts. We must ask whether his teaching has room to shape our thinking and behaviour.
- The faith of Abraham
The true heirs of Abraham are those who share his trust in God’s promises, whatever their ancestry.
Cross-References:
Genesis 15:6: "He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness." The faith that marked Abraham.
Galatians 3:7: "those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham." Abraham’s true children.
Isaiah 63:16: "For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us," God as Israel’s Father.
John 8:42: "If God were your father, you would love me," Jesus’ reply to their claim.
Conclusion: Jesus acknowledged that his opponents were Abraham’s descendants, but showed that their deeds proved otherwise, for Abraham believed God and welcomed his messengers, while they sought to kill the one who told them God’s truth. Pressed, they claimed God himself as their Father. The passage teaches that true children of Abraham and of God are known by faith in Jesus and by making room for his word.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible