Chapter Eight

1–11. A sinful woman, pardoned by Christ. – 12–59. The Lord’s discourse about Himself as the true Messiah and His rebuke of the unbelief of the Jews.

The account of the pardon of the sinful woman is considered by many modern editors of John’s Gospel (Lachmann, Tischendorf, and others) and commentators to be an insertion into the Gospel made at a later time. To support this assertion, they point, first, to the fact that this account is absent from many ancient manuscripts of the Gospel. Second, they find it impossible that this account could have been omitted in any way if it had ever actually been in John’s Gospel. Third, they claim that the style of this account itself does not correspond to the style of the whole Gospel.

Regarding such an assertion, it must be said as follows. Indeed, ancient commentators on John’s Gospel did not have this account in the codices they had at hand (for example, Origen, St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Theodoret). In the East, in the Syriac translation of the Gospel, this account appears only in the sixth century. Similarly, in the sixth century this account appears in Greek codices of the Gospel, and commentaries on it begin only in the seventh century (in Blessed Theophylact). But in the West, Blessed Jerome wrote in the early fifth century that this account is found in many codices, both Latin and Greek (“Against Pelagius,” II, 17). Blessed Augustine also defends its authenticity, explaining the omission of it in many codices by the fact that those of weak faith, fearing abuse to which this account might lead concerning their wives, excluded it from their manuscripts of the New Testament (“Against Adulterers,” II, 7). Besides, mention of this account is found in the Apostolic Constitutions, a written document of the third century (“Apostolic Constitutions,” II. 24, 4). As for the content, this account was already known to Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, a disciple of John the Theologian (Eusebius. Church History, III, 39, 16). Thus, the text accepted among us has certain foundation. The other grounds put forward by the critics of the New Testament text are very subjective. What seems to these critics to not correspond to the style of John’s Gospel actually presents no sharp disagreement with that style, and there are many solid scholars who acknowledge this account as genuinely belonging to John the Theologian (Bengel, Scholz, Klee, Stier, Ebrard, and others).

John 8:1. And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. John 8:2. And early in the morning He came again into the Temple, and all the people came to Him. And He sat down and taught them. After the people had gone home (John 7:53), Christ, according to His custom (see Luke 21:37), withdrew to the Mount of Olives, to the house of one of His friends, to spend the night there (see Matt 21:1). Early in the morning of the next day, He appeared again in the Temple and, sitting, taught the people there.

John 8:3. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman, taken in adultery, and having set her in the middle, John 8:4. said to Him: Teacher! This woman was taken in adultery; John 8:5. and Moses in the law commanded us to stone such women: what do you say about her? Those who brought the sinful woman to Christ did not wish at all for Him to pronounce some judgment about her action. Otherwise they should have brought together with her also the man who sinned with this woman, since the law required capital punishment not only for the adulteress but also for the adulterer (Lev 20:10). Although the law does not state that for adultery, that is, for sin with a married woman, one must stone them as the Jews claim here, nevertheless such punishment, which had begun among the Jews in former times, was entirely in accord with the spirit of the Mosaic law, by which even a girl who sinned and later married someone other than the man with whom she committed the sin was required to be executed precisely by stoning.

John 8:6. And saying this, they were tempting Him, so that they might have ground for an accusation against Him. But Jesus, bending down low, was writing on the ground, paying no attention to them. John 8:7. But when they continued questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them: He among you who is without sin, let him be the first to cast a stone at her. John 8:8. And again, bending down low, He was writing on the ground. Why did the enemies of Christ bring this guilty woman to Him? Knowing Him as a friend of tax collectors and sinners, they counted on His compassion for the lawbreaker, in order to find a new ground for accusing Him of violating the law. But Christ directly said nothing either for or against the law. Not answering His enemies, He wanted to make them understand that to answer their question would mean to interfere in the affairs of civil jurisdiction, and this did not fall within His task as a teacher of the people. As to what Jesus wrote on the ground—to discuss this is unnecessary in the absence of any factual support for such discussions. “He among you who is without sin” (ἀναμάρτητος), that is, does not feel guilty of sin in general. Christ looks upon those who brought the woman not as judges officially hearing her case. Of course, official judges are not required to themselves be completely free from sin, which is actually impossible. No, those who brought the woman took upon themselves voluntarily the role of accusers; this contradicted Christ’s commandment, according to which people themselves should not judge their neighbors (Matt 7:1). And by the words: “let him be the first to cast a stone at her” (this was required of the witness to the crime, see Deut 17:7), the Lord nevertheless acknowledges the force of the aforesaid prescription of the Mosaic law.

John 8:9. But hearing this, and being convicted by their conscience, they went out one by one, beginning from the oldest; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman, standing in the middle. John 8:10. Jesus, straightening up and seeing no one except the woman, said to her: Woman! where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? John 8:11. She said: No one, Lord. Jesus said to her: Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on do not sin again. Their conscience began to convict those who brought the woman of injustice in their treatment of her, this lawbreaker, and they departed—the older ones, being more discerning, departing sooner, and the younger ones later. They understood that their attempt to put Christ in an awkward position had failed, and they became ashamed before the people. The Lord, on the other hand, released the sinner, but did not forgive her, did not declare that she was not guilty, but gave her a warning so that she would not sin again. Bengel remarks: “He did not say: ‘go in peace’ or ‘your sins are forgiven,’ but He said: ‘do not sin again.’” “And I do not condemn you.” Here Christ reveals His mercy as He came not to judge, but to save (John 3:17).

John 8:12. Again Jesus spoke to the crowd and said to them: I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. From the 12th to the 59th verse is set forth the discourse of the Lord with the Jews, in which He revealed the significance of His activity. This discourse is divided into three parts. In the first part the Lord proclaims that He is the light of the world, and when the Pharisees begin to dispute His testimony about Himself, Christ proves the truth of His testimony by the fact that He knows where He came from and where He is going, and that He judges not by the flesh. Then Christ appeals to the testimony of the Father, so that there is obtained, from the point of view of the law, a fully sufficient number of witnesses—two: He Himself and the Father (verses 12–20). In the second part Christ announces His departure from the Jews, and points out the incapacity of the Jews to understand His teaching (verses 21–29). Finally, in the third part He addresses those who believe in Him with an exhortation to abide in the truth, which will make them free. To the unbelieving Jews, Christ shows that they are not Abraham’s and even less God’s children, but children of the devil. Here Christ also proclaims that he who keeps His word will not see death forever, and that He existed before Abraham, which declaration aroused against Him an outburst of fury on the part of the Jews, after which the Lord left the Temple (verses 30–59). Continuing to remain in the Temple, Christ again began to speak to them, that is, to His listeners, among whom were both followers and enemies of Christ (the addition in the Russian translation “to the crowd” is superfluous). “I am the light of the world.” The word “light” as a term designating spiritual illumination is often used by the prophets (Isa 9:2). But Christ, in calling Himself light, means not only that He is the bearer of divine saving truth, but also that He, by virtue of His closest union with the Father, is the primary source of all light in the world, that from Him comes not only true knowledge of God but also depends the whole spiritual life of man, who otherwise, without Christ, would walk in darkness (see John 1:5). To escape from this darkness, one must believe in Christ, follow Him. There is nothing improbable in the supposition that the occasion for Christ’s calling Himself the light of the world was provided by one of the ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles. Namely, on the night of the first and second days of this feast, in the inner fore-court of the Temple, two great candlesticks were lit, having four golden bowls with oil that were constantly replenished. The light of these candlesticks spread throughout Jerusalem at night. The Lord could, adapting His speech to this custom, speak of Himself as the light, which shines not to Jerusalem alone but to the whole world.

John 8:13. Then the Pharisees said to Him: You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true. The Pharisees understand the significance of Christ’s words and raise an objection against Him, but it is an objection of a purely formal character. In one’s own case, they say, remembering words spoken earlier by Christ (John 5:31), You cannot be a witness, and therefore what You say cannot be binding truth for us.

John 8:14. Jesus answered them: Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true; because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. In answer to the objection of the Pharisees, Christ first says that He can testify about Himself as a fully reliable witness: He well knows “from where” He “came,” that is, that His origin is Divine, and “where” He “is going,” that is, that it is destined for Him to return to the Father in heaven. From this it necessarily follows that He also knows well His purpose, about which He is now testifying. He does not speak as a mere mortal, whose future is unclear, but as the Son of God, to Whom all is known.

John 8:15. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. If the Pharisees are unable to recognize Christ as the Son of God, it is solely because they “judge by the flesh,” that is, by the external appearance of Christ (see John 7:24). Externally, Christ is a simple rabbi. “I judge no one.” The Lord, as it were, says: “You take it upon yourselves to judge Me, but you do so quite unsuccessfully. For My part, I could also come forward as your judge, and as a judge quite correctly conducting the case, since God has appointed Me Judge of all men (John 5:22). But I do not wish to apply this authority of Judge now.”

John 8:16. And if I do judge, My judgment is true; because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me. If Christ does at some time judge, then His judgment will be completely correct and true, because it will not be a judgment by the flesh. The judgment of the Pharisees does not even deserve the name “judgment”; Christ’s judgment, on the other hand, is completely true, because Christ constantly abides in close communion with the Father.

John 8:17. And in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. The thought of communion with the Father gives Christ occasion to present the Father as a second witness for Himself, which can fully satisfy the requirement of the law, according to which in every important matter two witnesses must come forward (Deut 19:15). If Christ has two witnesses—the Father and Himself—then His testimony should be recognized as correct. “In your law.” By this addition “your” Christ does not show any contempt for the law, but only says that the Pharisees have taken the law into their hands as a weapon against Christ.

John 8:18. I am the one testifying about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me. “The Father testifies...” see comments on John 5:32-47.

John 8:19. Then they said to Him: Where is Your Father? Jesus answered: You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would also know My Father. The question of the Pharisees, “Where is Your Father?” shows that they remembered that Christ had earlier called Him Father (see John 5:17 and following). They now only require that Christ prove to them that God, Whom Christ calls His Father, actually stands on His side. Let Christ prove by something that God can indeed be considered a witness about Him. To this Christ says that they can see or know the Father only through Him; the Father is revealed in the Son (John 1:18; see Matt 11:27); there is no other path to the knowledge of the true God (John 5:37 and following; John 6:46).

John 8:20. These words Jesus spoke by the treasury, as He taught in the Temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. The Evangelist draws the attention of his readers to the place where Christ so clearly testified to His Messianic dignity. This was near the Temple treasury, not far from the place of meetings of the Sanhedrin, in the Court of Women (Matt 21:12). Here it would have been easy for Christ’s enemies to seize Him, but His hour had not yet come, and so no one laid hands on Him.

John 8:21. Again Jesus said to them: I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. The next time Christ addressed the same listeners, the majority of whom were hostile toward Him, with a declaration that He would soon, as if fulfilling their fondest wish, depart from them, but then they themselves would regret His departure; they would even seek Him but would not find Him, and would die in their sin. These words are reminiscent of the terrible prophecy once uttered by the prophet Zechariah to his fellow countrymen (Zech 12:10).

John 8:22. Then the Jews said: Will He kill Himself, for He says, “Where I am going, you cannot come”? The threat of Christ, however, made no impression on His listeners. Only His last word, that they cannot follow Him where He is going, engages their attention for a moment, and with malicious mockery they say: “Does Christ want to end His life by suicide?” Suicide was considered a terrible sin among the Jews, and Christ’s listeners did not wish to suffer the same fate as a suicide.

John 8:23. He said to them: You are from below; I am from above; you are of this world; I am not of this world. Christ does not answer His enemies directly about their mockery, but points to the sharp opposition between Himself and them: He is “from above,” and they are “from below.” By this Christ clarifies the deepest basis of their mocking attitude toward Him: “below” is the earth, the earthly world, as is clear from the parallel expression “of this world” (see Acts 2:19); “above” is heaven. The particle “from” (ἐκ) means origin, and to origin there corresponds both the disposition and the activity of one or the other person. “This world,” that is, the world which “lies in evil” (1 John 5:19), or sinful mankind.

John 8:24. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. Christ explains why He threatened His enemies with the fact that they would die in their sins and eternal destruction: it is because only faith in Jesus can save a man. “That I am He”—this expression corresponds to the Hebrew expression ανι ηου in Deuteronomy (Deut 32:39) and in the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 43:10), by which Jehovah designates Himself as the One beside Whom no other God can be permitted to exist. Christ, repeating this expression about Himself, wants to say that He alone is life, light, way, truth, and so forth. In Him is the whole substance of the faith of the New Testament (Meyer).

John 8:25. Then they said to Him: Who are You? Jesus said to them: From the beginning, the One who is, as I have been telling you. The Pharisees have heard Christ’s declaration of His dignity several times already, and showing that they are tired of all this, with disdain they ask: “Who are You?” (σὺ τίς εἶ); They seem to want to urge Christ to express Himself more plainly. But Christ does not answer their question; instead, He hurls at them words in anger: “First of all, why should I even speak with you!” (τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅτι καὶ λαλῶ ὑμῖν). Christ tells the Jews that they are unworthy even to listen to His words, so obstinate are they (the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus, and other fathers).

John 8:26. I have much to say and judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true, and what I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world. Christ has just pointed out the futility of His appeals to the Jews: whatever He says to them, they remain unreceptive. Therefore, He should not answer their requests but judge them for their stubbornness—they themselves provoke Him to do so. But He does not wish to judge; His purpose is quite different (John 3:17)—He came to save the world, and therefore also His enemies (John 5:34). And this He does through the proclamation of God’s will concerning the salvation of people, with which He has been occupied all those days (John 7:14 and following; John 8:12). Yes, He could judge the Pharisees, but the One who sent Him is true—faithful to His promises and fulfilling them. Therefore, the One sent by Him, Christ, does not allow Himself to be drawn into futile disputes with the Pharisees, since this would distract Him from His great task. He will proclaim to the world only what He heard and continues to hear from the One who sent Him. And He hears that God wants to save people.

John 8:27. They did not understand that He was speaking to them about the Father. Since Christ on this occasion called God only “the One who sent Him” and not directly “the Father,” it is not surprising that the Pharisees did not wish to understand that Christ was speaking to them about His Father—God.

John 8:28. Then Jesus said to them: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing from Myself, but as My Father taught Me, so I speak. Christ pays no attention to such misunderstanding. Again He begins to speak (see verse 21) about His departure from the people, but this time He depicts His departure not as voluntary but as a deed of violence by the Jews, to whose representatives He is now speaking. “When you lift up the Son of Man.” The connection of thoughts compels one to see here an indication of the ascent of Christ from the earthly world to the heavenly, as in verse 14 of chapter 3. The Lord wants to say that His enemies, striving for His execution, will only “lift up” Him by this execution to the Father. He will not remain in the grave or go to hell, as suicides do, but will go to heaven, from where He came. “Then you will know...” The time of this recognition by the Jews of the Lord cannot be precisely determined. Similarly, it is difficult to say to what this recognition will lead the Jews—to repentance and faith or to despair.

John 8:29. The One who sent Me is with Me; the Father has not left Me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. In spite of the fact that His enemies will succeed in putting Christ to death, He expresses His firm confidence that the Father constantly remains with Him as His mighty protector. “The Father has not left Me alone.” The Saviour here says that up to now His enemies, despite all their efforts, have not been able to cause essential harm to Christ. From this it naturally follows that in the future, when His enemies put Christ to death, God will still not abandon Him. “Because I always do what is pleasing to Him.” Here is indicated the moral foundation of Christ’s union with God, not the metaphysical (the origin of the Logos from God). But the latter is not excluded here.

John 8:30. As He spoke these things, many believed in Him. John 8:31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him: If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples, John 8:32. and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Christ spoke with special power of persuasion, and His words were so effective that many of His Jewish listeners believed in Him and, of course, expressed in some way the change that had occurred in their hearts. But the Lord addresses this group of Jews with an exhortation to truly become His disciples. It is not enough if they will only express agreement with His teaching; they must direct their entire life and thinking according to the path indicated by Christ. They must know the truth proclaimed by Christ in all its scope, then they will truly be free. “And the truth will make you free.” Christ speaks here of freedom from the destructive influence that the Pharisaic scribes exerted on the Jews. Such freedom could be acquired only through firm and independent assimilation and through experiential investigation of the truth proclaimed by Christ (see John 6:68 and following; John 3:33).

John 8:33. They answered Him: We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone; how can You say, “You will become free”? Hearing that Christ promises to grant them some kind of freedom, the Jews who believed in Christ are offended at His words. “This means,” they say, “that Christ considers us to be unfree. Yet they have never been anyone’s slaves!” What kind of “freedom” did they have in mind when they said this? Certainly not political freedom. They could not help but know that such freedom they had long since lost, that the real master of the Jews was the representative of the Roman emperor, the procurator. The freedom they think they have is spiritual freedom, freedom from foreign pagan influence: pagans might enslave them, but they could not captivate their spirit.

John 8:34. Jesus answered them: Truly, truly I say to you: everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. John 8:35. But a slave does not remain in the house forever; a son remains forever. John 8:36. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Christ answers them that they do not have any spirit of freedom either: they are slaves of sin. “Everyone who commits sin,” that is, makes sin the task of his life, as if appointed to him, can certainly rightly be called a slave of sin. It would have been difficult for anyone to disagree with this, because both the Word of God and the teaching of the rabbis testified to it, as did the sacrifices for sins and each person’s own experience. Thus, everyone was in need of freedom, except the Liberator Himself, who now appeared before the Jews. To this last thought, Christ proceeds, explaining the distinction in position within the house between the son of the master and the slave. “But a slave does not remain in the house forever; a son remains forever...” Further one would expect the application of this rule to Christ and His listeners, but Christ does not make such application in view of the clarity of the conclusion that should be drawn from what has been said above. Christ’s listeners certainly understood that the son is Christ, the slaves are they, and the house of the father is the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the Lord then speaks directly about how a slave can change his position in the master’s house. For this he must turn to the protection of the son (the image of slavery to sin here falls into the background, since in God’s house or the Kingdom of God sin cannot be a master and people cannot be its slaves). “The Son,” that is, Christ, with full devotion and love fulfills the will of His Father (John 5:20; John 8:29), and He is able to save and direct to the true path those inhabitants of the house who are still serving God in a completely slavish manner, out of fear of punishment and often hypocritically. He can give them the power also devoutly and freely to fulfill God’s will. “So,” here is the consequence which the Lord draws from what has been said, “if the Son makes you free, you will be truly free.” About the fulfillment of this promise is mentioned by the apostle Paul (Gal 5:1).

John 8:37. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. John 8:38. I speak what I have seen with My Father; and you do what you have heard from your father. Now the Lord rebukes the national pride which prevented them from knowing the truth and attaining true freedom. Since His listeners took the point of view common to all Judaism, priding themselves on their descent from Abraham, which allegedly by itself gave them the right to occupy a place in the Kingdom of God, the Lord here does not make a distinction between His listeners who believed in Him and the Jews hostile to Him. Let them be children of Abraham, but they are at the same time Jews, and the Jews strive to kill Him, since “His word” or “His teaching” in general does not find place in them or, more precisely, does not meet in their soul the conditions for its establishment (the verb χωρεῖν means “to make room,” and also “to advance,” “to penetrate into”—Wis 7:23). It entered their soul, but it did not capture the whole of their inner being, because there is a strong influence of other suggestions—suggestions coming “from their father.” But whom He means by “their father,” Christ does not yet say.

John 8:39. They said to Him in reply: Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them: If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham. John 8:40. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God: Abraham did not do this. His listeners are puzzled about whom Christ meant when He spoke of their special “father,” not the same as His. They—from Abraham, like Jesus. The Lord replies to them that while they are children of Abraham in the flesh, they are not so in spirit. They did not inherit his good feelings; they try to kill Him, the Man Who wishes to bring them benefit by proclaiming the truth of God. It is clear that they are under the spiritual influence of another father. Beyschlág points out that Christ here calls Himself “a man.” Therefore, the scholar concludes, Christ Himself did not believe in His divine dignity. But Christ evidently uses the word “man” in view of the fact that the Jews actually regarded Him as a simple man. Moreover, in Aramaic the word “man” is often used instead of the personal pronoun. Finally, if Christ here wanted to say that He is nothing more than a simple man, He would fall into contradiction with what He says later about His existence before Abraham.

John 8:41. You do the deeds of your father. Then they said to Him: We were not born of sexual immorality; we have one Father—God. John 8:42. Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came forth from God and have come; for I have not come on My own authority, but He sent Me. John 8:43. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My word. His listeners understand that Christ is speaking of their spiritual father. Such a father could be some pagan god whom they might have at times obeyed. But the Jews contemporary with Christ, by their own declaration, do not resemble their ancestors who turned away from the true God. Their fathers, that is, their immediate ancestors, beginning from the time of the restoration of the Jewish state after the Babylonian captivity, never fell into idolatry again. They have one God, the common Father of the people. They faithfully observe His law and are far from any attempt to turn aside to polytheism (see Mal 2:10: “Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us?”). Christ, however, does not recognize such a declaration to be corresponding to the truth. God’s children would love Him, because He came from God and came here to earth by His will. They would love Him as their brother. Now they regard Him as a stranger; they do not understand “His speech” (λαλία), that is, His conversation, His language. Why is this? Because, of course, they are actually estranged from God and from Christ, sent by Him: Christ and they speak as if in different languages. “Because you cannot hear My word.” These words are not an answer to the question contained in the first half of verse 43. In fact, the unwillingness to listen of which this speaks is not a sufficient reason that could explain why we do not understand someone else’s speech. One can be unwilling to listen to someone and still understand what that person is saying. So here, the misunderstanding of Christ’s speech by the Jews did not depend directly on their inability to understand it. There could be other reasons. Therefore, in the second half of verse 43, it is better to see an intensification of the thought expressed in the first half of the verse, and the whole verse can be conveyed as follows: “Why do you not understand (that is, do not wish to understand) My speech (λαλίαν μου)? Thus I ask you because (as is evident) you cannot even understand My word (λόγον μου, that is, My teaching).”

John 8:44. Your father is the devil; and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks out of his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. After all that has been said, when it became clear that the Jews are not God’s children in spirit, the question arose: whose children are they then? And Christ states directly and decisively that their spiritual father is the devil. “A murderer from the beginning,” that is, since people have existed. Christ is certainly referring to the account in Genesis about the fall of the first parents (Gen 3:1-19), but, besides that, the devil was also later a killer of men, acting on them through the forces of nature (Luke 10:19) and through evil men (1 John 3:10). And Christ could have had these also in mind. “A liar and the father of lies.” From the beginning, by deceiving people with the promise that they would become gods, the devil has continually acted in the same direction; he multiplies lies everywhere, trying to make people not know God and not fulfill His will (Rev 12:9). “Does not stand in the truth”—more correctly, “did not stand in the truth,” certainly at the time when people still stood in truth, that is, knew the true God and held to what God revealed to them. Christ wants to say here that the condition of being outside the truth for the devil is something habitual, a continuous state from the very time when people came to know him. “He speaks his own,” that is, lying has become, as it were, his second nature.

John 8:45. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. The Jews show that they are children of the devil by the very fact that they do not believe the straightforward truth proclaimed by Christ. They love lies, as does their father the devil.

John 8:46. Which of you can convict Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? John 8:47. He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God. Christ confirms His strict judgment of the Jews by reference to the fact that none of them could convict Him of untruth or sin. They tried to accuse Christ (John 5:16; John 7:12), but they could not prove their accusations either before or since. Why do they not believe Christ? It is clear that the cause is in them, not in Him, and the cause is precisely that they are not children of God, although there are still people in Israel of whom one can say that they are of God (John 1:47) and therefore listen to Christ, God’s messenger.

John 8:48. In reply the Jews said to Him: Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon? The words of Christ, that those now standing before Him—His listeners—are “not of God,” produce in them an outburst of indignation against Christ. They call Him a Samaritan, since the Samaritans were known for their hatred of the Jews (see Matt 10:5). The Jews want to say: Christ has purely Samaritan malice toward us, His fellow countrymen! To hurt Christ further, they call Him demon-possessed, because, they say, only under the influence of a demon could one say such insults against the God-chosen Jewish people. In so doing, they show that they had discussed Christ in this very way before (“Are we not right in saying?”).

John 8:49. Jesus answered: I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. John 8:50. But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks it and judges. Not noticing that the Jews called Him a Samaritan, Christ only answers their claim that He is demon-possessed. “No,” Christ says, “I am in my right mind and convinced that by my way of acting I honor My Father. You unjustly dishonor Me with such claims.” But let the Jews not think that Christ desperately needs to restore His honor. He knows well that His Father is concerned about this and will be the Judge in the dispute that has arisen between Christ and the Jews (see 1 Pet 2:23).

John 8:51. Truly, truly I say to you: if anyone keeps My word, he will not see death forever. Christ does not wish to judge the Jews Himself, but He cannot help but testify about Himself, urged to do so by the Jews themselves, who have begun a relentless struggle against Him. To those who believe in Him, He turns with the promise of eternal life if they keep His word (see verse 31). They will not die ever (see Luke 2:26; Heb 11:5; John 3:3).

John 8:52. The Jews said to Him: Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet You say, “If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death. John 8:53. You are not greater than our father Abraham, are You, who died? And the prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be? Christ has just promised those who believe in Him not only freedom but also immortality. For his listeners, such a promise further reinforces their conviction in the abnormal state of Christ, which they had already expressed. Indeed, if Abraham died, how could ordinary people who keep Christ’s word not die? What kind of power is contained in Christ’s word? It seems as if He is placing Himself above the forefather of all the Jewish people; who then is He? Could He be Jehovah Himself?

John 8:54. Jesus answered: If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say that He is your God. John 8:55. And you do not know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you. But I know Him and keep His word. Christ answers with bitterness that the Jews simply do not wish to understand Him. To Him they look as to a man devoted to some kind of self-aggrandizement, suffering as if from a mania for grandeur. But this is not so: God Himself glorifies Him, and it is strange that the Jews do not see how God testifies about Christ. If the Father of Christ is the God to which the Jews consider it their special privilege to belong, how can the Jews not understand what God tells them through His many testimonies about Christ? No—this is the truth—the Jews do not actually know the true God at all! Only Christ alone knows God as He should be known. He alone is the one who keeps God’s word, which the Jews cannot boast of in any way.

John 8:56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad. As for Abraham, whom the Hebrews also considered to be theirs, he stands not on their side but on Christ’s side. For Abraham longed to see the coming of the Messiah (“My day”), and he saw it. For understanding these words of the Lord, it is useful to recall that according to the notion of the Jews of that time, Abraham was the founder of the Feast of Tabernacles, and this discourse of Christ with the Jews took place around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. According to the account in the Book of Jubilees, Abraham in the seventh month of the year, four months after the birth of Isaac, on the occasion of a new angelic visit and the reiteration of the promise about the great destiny of Isaac, set up an altar and around it, for himself and his servants, booths in which he stayed for seven days, offering sacrifices and each day making a sevenfold circuit of the altar with palm branches and fruits in his hands (“Book of Jubilees,” chapter 16). Christ apparently perceives a distinction between the joy which Abraham felt when he received the hope of seeing the coming of the Messiah and that which he felt when he saw that his hope came to fulfillment. We have in mind the promise concerning offspring given to Abraham. But since the birth of Isaac was closely connected with the promises concerning the future blessing of all mankind through the Messiah, Christ had every reason to say that Abraham, in rejoicing at the birth of his son, at the same time, without being aware of it himself, rejoiced also at the birth of the Messiah: in Isaac he already saw the future Messiah-Christ.

John 8:57. Then the Jews said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham? The Jews obstinately do not wish to understand the meaning of Christ’s words and say that Christ is clearly not in His right mind. He imagined that He conversed with Abraham, although He has been dead for a long time! “You are not yet fifty years old.” From this it can be concluded that Christ’s external appearance was such that He appeared to be older than He actually was. Did not the prophet Isaiah prophesy about Christ as a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa 53:3)?

John 8:58. Jesus said to them: Truly, truly I say to you: before Abraham was, I am. John 8:59. Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple, having passed through the midst of them, and went away. To make the Jews take more seriously His words, Christ declares that He existed long before Abraham. Moreover, He says of Himself here “I am,” that is, I have eternal existence, in contrast to the succeeding human generations. Such an expression, which in the Old Testament only the Lord used of Himself (Exod 3:14), seemed to Christ’s listeners to be outright blasphemy, and those people who an hour ago, as it seemed, believed in Christ, now seized stones to stone Him (see John 10:31 and following). But Christ succeeded in hiding in the crowd of pilgrims who were not participating in the dispute and left the Temple. * * * Notes According to our Russian translation “from the beginning the One who is, as I have been telling you,” Christ here speaks of His eternal existence. But this translation cannot be recognized as correct, first, because the word “the One who is” here does not have the corresponding participle ὁ ὤν, and second, where earlier (because with the translation “as I have been telling you” does not receive sufficiently definite meaning, and this expression should, moreover, in the Russian translation be replaced with “as I have been saying to you”), where earlier did Christ announce to His enemies His being from the beginning of the world? Third, the Russian translation apparently understands the particle ὅτι as a direct τί in the sense of the relative pronoun “that” or “how.” But then it would be ὅ, τι, and moreover the particle ὅτι in the New Testament most often is used in the meaning of an interrogative pronoun (see Mark 2:16). Znamenskii believes (p. 216) that the thought of the pre-eternal being of the Saviour is implicitly expressed already in the preceding speech of the Saviour, namely in verse 23. Therefore, in his opinion, the understanding of the expression τὴν ἀρχήν in the sense of an indication of the pre-eternal being of the Saviour is justified by the context of the speech as well. But we believe that in the dogmatic dispute which Christ was having with the Jews, He could not base something on “implicit” suggestions... Let it be noted that the expression τὴν ἀρχήν can also be understood in the sense of ὅλως—in general (Blessed Theodoret). Zahn believes that it is better here to read not ἑστηκεν—the past perfect of ἵστημι, but ἔστηκεν—the past imperfect of στήκω—“I stand firm.” In this case, the verb στήκω is used by John also in Rev 12:4 and in John 1:26. Preyschen (Handwörterbuch, 1910) does not agree with Zahn and reads here οὐχ ἕστηκεν from ἵστημι in the sense of “not firm in the truth” (p. 537). This verse is explained differently by recent commentators. Thus, Wellhausen in his pamphlet “Additions and Changes in the Fourth Gospel” (1907, in German, 23) places the words “your father is the devil” with the words “your father is Cain.” Such an explanation does not contain disagreement with the context of the speech: indeed, the Jews who strove to kill Christ resembled Cain who killed Abel. But, first, Wellhausen can only refer to two ancient witnesses for his reading—Aphraates and the discourses of Clement—whereas all the rest of antiquity speaks against him, and then, second, Wellhausen is necessarily forced to shorten the 44th verse, because the words “There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks out of his own nature” cannot in any way be applied to Cain. Finally, instead of the last words “because he is a liar and the father of lies,” Wellhausen places such a reading: “because a liar and also his father (Cain’s), that is, the devil.” Thus, we get a complete and quite free revision of the text, which Wellhausen, however, boldly calls the restoration of the original edition. Other commentators (for example, Credner, Volkmar, Toma, O. Holtzmann) see in the last words of the verse “because he is a liar...” an incorrect translation and propose such a reading: “because a liar and his father (in the Greek text αὐτοῦ—both middle and masculine gender), that is, of the devil.” According to this interpretation, by the father of the devil Christ meant the Demiurge, of whose existence the Gnostics taught and who was recognized in Gnosticism as the creator of all evil in the world. But such an interpretation cannot be agreed with, because in the Gospel there is nowhere any mention of a creator of the world who is distinct from God. Compare Heb 11:13. Similarly, Isaiah saw the glory of Christ and spoke of Him (John 12:41). There are other interpretations of this place. Thus, some say that Abraham saw the coming of Christ while in paradise. But this interpretation has no basis in Scripture, and moreover, understood thus, the words of Christ would not be at all convincing to the Jews... Others believe that Christ meant the offering of Isaac by Abraham as a sacrifice, when Abraham felt all the love of God in returning his son to him, and by reflection came to the idea that in time this great love of God would be expressed in the offering of the Son of God as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. But such an idea could only arise in the mind of Christian commentators, not in the mind of Christ’s listeners, who did not yet understand the necessity of the death of the Messiah. Still others see here a hint at the joyful laughter of Abraham at receiving the promise of the birth of Isaac (Gen 17:17). But this laughter says very little about Abraham’s faith in the Messiah...