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.”
John 8:45-47
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.”
John 8 [48.] Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
Meaning:
Jesus had just told his opponents that their desire to kill him showed whose children they really were: “You are of your father, the devil.” The devil “doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). In these verses Jesus draws the contrast to its sharpest point. He tells the truth, yet they will not believe him. He challenges them to name a single sin in his life, and explains why they cannot hear God’s words.
- “But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me”
This is a startling statement. We might expect him to say that they disbelieve him in spite of his truthfulness, but Jesus says “because”. Their hearts were so set against God that the truth itself repelled them. People who love falsehood find truth unwelcome. Paul warned of a time when people “will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts” (2 Timothy 4:3).
- “Which of you convicts me of sin?”
Jesus throws out a challenge that no other teacher could make: can anyone prove a single sin against him? No one answered. At his trial “the chief priests and the whole council sought witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, and found none” (Mark 14:55). The criminal crucified beside him said, “this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).
The New Testament repeatedly affirms his sinlessness: “You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5); “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because he had no sin of his own, he could bear the sin of others.
- “If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?”
If Jesus is sinless, then he does not lie. And if he does not lie, his hearers have no good reason to reject what he says. Their unbelief was not a matter of evidence but of will. Jesus does not merely tell the truth; he is the truth: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
- “He who is of God hears the words of God”
Belonging to God shows itself in listening to God. To “hear” here means to receive and accept. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27), and before Pilate, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
- “For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God”
These are hard words, spoken to particular opponents who were seeking his death. They are not a judgment on the Jewish people as a whole; Jesus, his disciples and many who believed in him were Jews, and sadly such passages have sometimes been misused. Jesus’ point is spiritual: refusing God’s word shows that a person does not belong to God. Yet the door stays open. John says that to all who receive Jesus “he gave the right to become God’s children” (John 1:12).
The Significance of John 8:45-47
- Love the truth
Our response to Jesus reveals our hearts. Believers should ask God for a love of the truth, even when it is uncomfortable.
- The sinless Saviour
Jesus’ challenge still stands: no one can convict him of sin. That is why he can be trusted completely and why his death can save others.
- Listening is a mark of belonging
Those who belong to God listen to his words in Scripture and gladly follow Jesus’ voice.
Cross-References:
1 John 3:5: "You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin." The sinlessness of Christ.
Mark 14:55: "sought witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, and found none." No charge could be proved.
John 10:27: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Those who belong to Jesus listen to him.
John 18:37: "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Truth recognises Jesus’ voice.
Conclusion: Jesus told his opponents that they rejected him precisely because he spoke the truth, and challenged them to convict him of any sin, a challenge no one could meet. Those who belong to God hear God’s words, but they would not hear, showing that they did not belong to him. The passage presents Jesus as the sinless one who speaks the truth, and calls us to love the truth and listen to his voice.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible