Chapter VIII (2)

=43, 44. Why do ye not understand my speech?= He has thus far spoken parabolically, as though reluctant to characterize them openly as children of the devil. He now abandons the dark saying, and speaks plainly.--=Even because ye cannot hear my word.= _Word_ is the doctrine taught, _speech_ is the form in which it is clothed; to _hear_ is to receive with the heart, as in Matt. 13:16, 20; John 5:24; 8:47, etc.; to _understand_ is to comprehend intellectually. The implication then is that he who is unwilling to receive and act upon the doctrine of Christ in his heart and life cannot comprehend the forms in which it is couched. The declaration is thus the converse of ch. 7:17.--=Ye are from your father the devil.= God is the Father of Christ, and of all those who through faith in Christ are born again; they become by adoption his children (Rom. 8:15-17), are sent into the world by their Father (ch. 17:18), and manifest their Father unto the world (Phil. 2:15). In like manner they that resist the truth are children, by their own choice, of the devil, commissioned by him, serving him, and manifesting his spirit, in their selfishness, cupidity, malice, and all uncharitableness. In each case the soul derives its spirit from its own chosen father. The whole contrast would be almost meaningless if by the devil Christ understood only a poetic personification of evil in human nature. There are two households, one of God, the other of Satan; two churches, one of truth and love, the other of falsehood and malignity. “This verse is one of the most decisive testimonies for the objective personality of the devil. It is quite impossible to suppose an accommodation to Jewish views, or a metaphorical form of speech, in so solemn and direct an assertion as this.”--(_Alford._)-- =The will= (lusts is too narrow a word; the original signifies earnest desire, but generally of a bad sort) =of your father ye are determined to do=. Literally, _will to do_. Resolute determination to evil is clearly indicated by the form of the sentence (θέλετε ποιεῖν). The language of Christ here, therefore, does not apply to sins of ignorance and inattention. He is speaking to wilful opposers of the truth.--=He was a murderer from the beginning.= Not because he inspired Cain’s murder of his brother Abel, but because, from the very outset, he endeavored to seduce into disobedience, and so to destroy, the human race. His declaration “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4) was not merely a lie, but a lie having for its object the death of mankind.--=Stood not in the truth.= It seems to me that there is here a reference to the fall of the devil. So Augustine and the Roman Catholic commentators generally; _contra_, Meyer, Alford, and the moderns. Satan was in a high position, but he did not _stand_, because truth was not his foundation, and--=Because truth is not in him=. No definite article is appended to _truth_ here. Satan did not _stand_ on the truth of God, because in him, in his inner character, truth found no place. We can only stand _by_ the truth when truth is in _our inward parts_ (Ps. 51:6), _i. e._, in our desires and our affections. The truth must be _in_ us to be _under_ us.--=He speaketh of his own.= Out of (ἐκ) his own treasury of evil things. So the evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things (Matt. 12:35).--=For he is a liar, and the father of it.= Or _of him_; either the father of _lying_ or the father of the _liar_. Either rendering is grammatically possible. The latter better fits the context.

45 And because[348] I tell _you_ the truth, ye believe me
not.

[348] Gal. 4:16; 2 Thess. 2:10.

46 Which of you convinceth[349] me of sin? And if I say the
truth, why do ye not believe me?

[349] Heb. 4:15.

47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear
_them_ not, because ye are not of God.

=45-47. But because I tell you the truth ye believe me not.= “A thoroughly tragical _because_; it has its ground in the alien character of the relation between that which Jesus speaks and their devilish nature, to which latter a lie alone corresponds.”--(_Meyer._) Truth has not always its evidence in human nature; for human nature may be so warped as to be more ready to believe a lie than the truth (Rom. 1:21; Ephes. 4:18; 2 Thess. 2:11). If Christ had told a lie they would have believed him, just as many of those who now rejected him did subsequently believe the false Christs of a later date.--=Which of you convinceth me of sin.= Not of _error_ (_Calvin_), but of _sin_ (_Alford_, _Godet_, _Meyer_). Indeed, _error_ in Christ’s teaching in this matter would be _sin_; for if his declaration respecting himself, that he came not from the earth but from above, from the Father, and was the long-anticipated Messiah, was not true, it would have been false and fraudulent--not merely a mistake, but a lie. By this question he asserts, by implication, his sinlessness; he defies his opponents to point out a single sin in his life, a single flaw in his character. And they were speechless, as scepticism has been ever since, before his incomparable character. The argument is this: If I am not the Son of God, find out some human defect that indicates a human origin and kinship. And this has never been done. I imagine a pause, a moment’s expressive silence, no answer from the Pharisees, and then the crushing words that follow, calmly uttered:--=If I say the truth, why do ye not believe?=--=He that is of God=--as the Pharisees had claimed to be (ver. 41)--=heareth= (receiveth) =God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God=. This is Christ’s method with deists. Point out a single flaw in his stainless character. You cannot? Then at least listen with reverent attention to the words of the sinless man. To refuse a hearing to such an one demonstrates hostility to purity and truth, and so to God.

48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan, and[350] hast a devil?

[350] ch. 7:20.

49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my
Father, and ye do dishonour me.

50 And I[351] seek not mine own glory: there is one that
seeketh and judgeth.

[351] ch. 5:41.

=48-50. Say we not well thou art a Samaritan and hast an evil spirit?= The Jews take to the common resort of men silenced and convinced against their will; they reply to argument by calling names. _Devil_ is an unfortunate translation, giving the English reader the impression that they use the same word which Christ has used in ver. 44. Their word is _demon_ (δαιμόνιον), and signifies primarily, in classic usage, a tutelary demon or genius; in N. T. usage, an evil spirit. These spirits are represented as fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), subject to Satan (Matt. 9:34; 25:41; 2 Cor. 12:7; Rev. 12:9), possessing the power of working miracles (Rev. 16:14), dwelling in the idols of the heathen and uttering the heathen responses and oracles (Acts 16:17; 1 Cor. 10:20; Rev. 9:20), and the authors of evil to mankind (2 Cor. 12:7; 1 Tim. 4:1). See _Rob. Lex._, art. δαιμόνιον. The charge had before been made by the Pharisees that Christ cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils (Matt. 12:24). It is not necessary to trace any connection between the two epithets _a Samaritan_ and _possessing a demon_. Passion is never coherent. The language is wild, bitter, passionate, but illogical and inconsequential.--=I have not a devil * * * * ye do dishonor me.= He passes by the charge of being a Samaritan in silence, for the author of the parable of the Good Samaritan refuses to recognize opprobrium in it; he calmly denies the charge of having a demon, and declares that by the discourses which they attribute to a demon he honors the Father, while they dishonor him. Peter’s declaration (1 Pet. 2:23), “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,” is illustrated by Christ’s response here. Contrast his indignation at the wrong done to others (Matt. 23:14, 15, 23, etc.) with his mildness when wrong is done to himself. And the next verse gives the secret reason of his calmness.--=I am not seeking my own glory.= Therefore he is comparatively indifferent to public abuse and dishonor.--=There is one who seeks and judges.= Because God cares for the honor of his children, they can well be unconcerned respecting it; because God judges them righteously, they can well disregard the unrighteous judgments of men.

51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying,
he shall never see death.

=51. Verily, verily.= With Calvin and Godet, I regard Christ’s discourse to his opponents as ended with the preceding verse. Recognizing the fact that some of his auditors have been inclined toward him, though with but a feeble faith, he addresses them in the words that follow, that he may strengthen their faith. The connection which Alford and Meyer endeavor to trace between this and the preceding verse I cannot perceive: _e. g._, “Ye are now the children of the devil; but if ye keep my word ye shall be rescued from that murderer.”--(_Alford._) The very words with which Christ begins the sentence, “Verily, verily” (ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν) indicate a new topic.--=If any one.= Emphasis is put on the pronoun. The promise is universal; it embraces Jew and Gentile.--=Keep my word.= _Keep_, as a guard his prisoner, with watchfulness (Matt. 19:17, note), against all seductions and assaults; _Christ’s word_, that which he had taught, and therefore pre-eminently that faith in him as a divine Saviour which had been the pre-eminent theme of his teaching. We are to keep not merely the _sayings_ in _memory_, or the _teaching_ in the _heart_, but, with sentiments of reverence and affection, the _truth_ in our _life_, both in the inward experience and in the outward conduct.--=Shall not see death for ever.= Not, _Shall not see eternal death_, but, _Shall never see death_. “The death of the body is not reckoned as death, any more than the life of the body is life, in our Lord’s discourses. See ch. 11:25, 26.”--(_Alford._) Christ puts himself in contrast with the devil, whose slaves, by evil-doing, the Jews have become (ver. 34). The devil is a murderer, a life-taker (ver. 44); Christ is a life-giver, even to those that are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephes. 2:1).

52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast
a devil. Abraham is dead,[352] and the prophets; and thou
sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of
death.

[352] Zech. 1:5.

53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead?
and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

=52, 53. The Judeans.= Not the believers of ver. 30. The opponents of Christ reply to words which were not addressed to them.--=Abraham is dead.= * * * * --=Art thou greater than our father Abraham?= * * * =Whom makest thou thyself?= Their argument is, as Chrysostom interprets it: “They who have heard the word of God are dead, and shall they who have heard thee not die?” Their perplexity was real, for the unspiritual never comprehend either spiritual natures or spiritual teaching. They are literalists, and understand Jesus to speak of natural death. They are dull and will not comprehend his declaration that he is the Messiah in hope of whom Abraham and the prophets had lived. Compare with their question here that of the Samaritan woman (ch. 4:12), “Art thou greater than our father Jacob?” but contrast their spirit with hers. She is in doubt; they are scornful. See also Christ’s declaration in Matt. 12:42, “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

54 Jesus answered, If[353] I honour myself, my honour is
nothing: it is my Father[354] that honoureth me; of whom ye
say, that he is your God:

[353] ch. 5:31, 41.

[354] ch. 17:1.

55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I
should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto
you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he[355]
saw _it_, and was glad.

[355] Gen. 22:13, 14; Heb. 11:13.

=54-56. If I glorify myself my glory is nothing.= To _honor_ or _glorify_ (δοξάζω) is to attribute honor, generally by words. Christ’s reply to the question, _Whom makest thou thyself?_ is that he makes nothing of himself; he leaves others to interpret his character from his life and teachings. And this is singularly true; Christ is to each soul what its spiritual sight is able to discern in him. He does not declare himself.--=It is my Father that glorifieth me.= He leaves his reputation in the hands of his Father, an example to his followers when belied and misrepresented. See on ver. 18.--=Ye have never learned him, but I know him.= There is a double contrast in the two verbs (γινώσκω and οἶδα), the one signifying acquired, the other direct intuitive knowledge; and in the tenses, the one signifying a past act, _never have known_, the other a perpetually present possession, _I always know_. The sense may be expressed: _Ye have never acquired any knowledge of God, but I am always in fellowship with him._--=I should be a liar like unto you.= To boast of one’s spiritual experience is to glorify one’s self; such glory is nothing. To deny it, under pretence of humility, is to become a liar. There may be hypocrisy in disavowing the sense of God’s presence and love, as well as in falsely pretending to it. The true method is that of Christ, who showed it by his life, not by his professions.--=Your father Abraham exulted that he might see my day= (_i. e._, that it was promised to him); =and he has seen it and was glad=. There is some difficulty in the interpretation of this passage, to which I have given a literal translation. Some scholars regard it as wholly prophetical, “Abraham rejoiced in anticipation of Christ’s advent;” others as historical but typical, “He rejoiced, seeing in the birth of Isaac a type of the advent of the Messiah,” and they even suppose that Christ refers to Abraham’s laughter (Gen. 17:17); still others interpret it as partly prophetic and partly historical, “He rejoiced in anticipation of the promised advent; he has since seen it from his home in paradise, and was glad.” The latter view seems to me best to accord with the original and with the context. So Godet, Meyer, Alford. For a statement of different views, see _Meyer_. The declaration is responsive to the question, Art thou greater than our father Abraham? The answer is, Your father Abraham rejoiced because he was promised that he should see my advent, and the realization of his hope has given him new joy in the heavenly kingdom. If this interpretation be correct, the language incidentally confirms the doctrine that the saints in heaven are cognizant of what passes upon earth.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty
years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you.
Before Abraham was, I[356] am.

[356] ch. 1:1, 2; Exod. 3:14; Isa. 43:13; Col. 1:17;
Rev. 1:8.

59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid
himself, and went out of the temple, going through the
midst of them, and so passed by.

=57-59. The Judeans therefore said to him, Thou art not yet fifty years old.= No indication of his actual age. The fifty years was specified because this was the age of a perfected maturity, according to Jewish notions (Numb. 4:3, 39; 8:24--Lightfoot).--=And hast thou seen Abraham?= He did not say that he had, but that Abraham had seen him. They pervert his words, partly through stupidity, partly through wilfulness.--=Verily, verily.= The precursor of a specially solemn declaration.--=Before Abraham was born, I am= (γίγνομαι-εἰμί). Two Socinian explanations are afforded of this passage: (1) Before Abraham was born I (Christ) existed in the divine counsels, _i. e._ I was purposed by God and foretold by him; (2) Before Abram can become Abraham, a spiritual father of nations, I (Christ) must be sent forth as the Messiah. They both seem to me to be shifts devised to accommodate Scripture to a theological preconception. All independent Greek scholars (Meyer, Luthardt, Alford, Godet, Tholuck, etc.) agree substantially in their interpretation of the language. Its meaning is made clear by a consideration of the original Greek, in which the contrast is strongly marked between Abraham, who began to be, and Christ, who eternally is; by the context, in which the pre-eminence of Christ above Abraham is clearly implied; by the unexpressed but hardly doubtful reference to the appellation given by the O. T. to Jehovah as the I AM (Exod. 3:14; comp. Matt. 14:27; Mark 6:50; 14:62; John 8:24, 25); and by the interpretation which was put upon Christ’s words by his auditors, who understood them as a claim of divinity, and took up stones to stone him as a blasphemer. Christ, then, by these words, as I understand him, identifies himself, as the N. T. manifestation of the unseen God, with the I AM of the O. T., the One who had manifested the Invisible to Israel in all their history.--=Then took they up stones to cast at him.= The building of the temple was still going on, and stones were probably lying about in the temple court. Stoning was the O. T. punishment for blasphemy, but it could not be lawfully inflicted without trial and judgment.--=Jesus hid himself.= There is no good ground to suppose any miraculous escape, either here or in Luke 4:30. And there is good reason to believe that there was not a miraculous interposition, for Christ never availed himself of any miracle for his own benefit. See Matt. 4:6, note. The clause “going through the midst of them, and so passed by,” is wanting in the best MSS., and is omitted by Alford, Meyer, Godet, Luthardt. The latter traces a curious analogy between this typical expulsion and the final crucifixion of Christ. He hides himself from the eyes of those whom the God of this world has blinded; he leaves the Pharisees apparent victors and in possession of the field; in taking up stones to stone him they show themselves to be murderers at heart, as they afterward became in outward act.

In this discourse, or these discourses, for it is not quite clear whether it is one or more, the connection is sometimes obscure, and the meaning accordingly difficult. The student must remember (1) that Christ addresses a very different audience from that in Galilee. There he spoke to willing but ignorant disciples; in Jerusalem he speaks to obstinate and perverse enemies. (2) Hence the difference in spirit. In Galilee gentleness is predominant, in Jerusalem severity. (3) The continuity of the discourse is affected by the sudden transitions of feeling in Christ, which are great, as in all natures of deep and ready sympathy. He speaks now with great pathos, as in the question, a semi-soliloquy, Why do ye not understand my speech? (ver. 43), then with indignation, Ye are of your father the devil (ver. 44); now with self-abnegation, I judge no man (ver. 15), If I honor myself my honor is nothing (ver. 54), again with divine self-assertion and the power of an unconcealed divinity, I am from above (ver. 23), Before Abraham was I am (ver. 58). (4) The continuity of his speech is constantly broken in upon by rude interruptions (verses 19, 22, 39, 41, 48, 52, 53, 57), and by changes in the direction of his discourse, which is sometimes addressed to his disciples (ver. 31), and sometimes to his opponents (verses 42, 49, etc.). (5) Nevertheless we may say generally that the discourse embodies Christ’s teaching respecting himself, and embraces the following points: He is (_a_) the light, _i. e._, the moral and spiritual illuminator, of the world (ver. 12); (_b_) superhuman in his origin (ver. 23); (_c_) the manifestation of the Father, because the tabernacle (ch. 1:14) in which the Father dwells (ver. 29); (_d_) the emancipator of all those that accept and obey the truth as manifested by him (verses 31-36); (_e_) sinless (ver. 46); (_f_) the life-giver (ver. 51); (_g_) the great I AM (ver. 58). To receive the benefit of the light which he confers, we must follow his example (ver. 12); to receive the benefit of the freedom he brings, we must live habitually in the truth which he teaches (verses 31, 32); to receive the life which he bestows, we must be born from above (ch. 3:3) by faith in him as our Messiah (ver. 24).