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"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, it is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
- John 8:47-59
Jesus is in the temple at Jerusalem, and it is the last, great day of the Feast of Tabernacles. He has been in dialogue with the authorities in the temple. They are clearly His adversaries. Yesterday, we read that they said to Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." 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 did not do this. You do the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. 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 from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."
"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." Jesus resorts continually to this theme: that faith begins with the love of God in the heart; then one is able to hear what is "of God."
Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, it is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." My study bible notes here that the leadership can't defeat Christ through logic or truth. Instead, His enemies (who have already sought to have Him arrested in the temple) resort to personal insult. They call Him first a Samaritan (with extreme prejudice as connotation), they call Him possessed by a demon. But Jesus' reply is always to root Himself, His work, His words, in relationship to God the Father. He also roots Himself in relationship to Abraham. It is, also once again, witnessing; Jesus doesn't speak "of Himself" but rather of the Father, and of Abraham.
Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. My study bible tells us: "I AM (Greek ego eimi) is the divine Name of God in the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15). To the Jews, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, as evidenced by their reaction. John places special emphasis on the use of this Name to clearly reveal Christ as God. This divine claim illuminates Christ's authority even over death, a power belonging only to God the Father."
We see the effects of Jesus' dialogue on the leadership here; when there are no arguments they can make they resort to name-calling and accusation that He has a demon. Of course, John has already given us the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, and those first believers of her Samaritan town. We understand Jesus' attitude to all who come to Him in faith. It serves to illustrate better the differences here between Jesus' understanding of faith, His relationship to God the Father, and where these religious authorities are coming from. We've been told already that many of the people who are hearing this conversation did in fact, come to believe what He taught. But here, we remember that the term "the Jews" as used by John in these passages refers to the leadership, to Jesus' opponents among them. And it is they who resort to these insults and accusations. You have to wonder what others listening to this conversation would have thought. Jesus resorts to God the Father at every turn, sharing His relationship with the Father, stating it freely. Rather than backing down, He makes it more clear and more explicit, finally using the title I AM in conjunction with the time before Abraham, the great Patriarch of all the Patriarchs. Nothing could be more clear and more explicit in terms of what Jesus is claiming, or rather, who Jesus says He is. On the face of it, it may seem like blasphemy, or that He's beside Himself. But, the thing is, He's not. I think we would have to imagine what His presence was like. That is, this presence that even the temple police sent to arrest Him were completely astonished by, and so unable to do anything. They came back to the leaders without having arrested Him, and saying, "No man ever spoke like this!" And we remember the words of Peter, at Peter's confession, when he said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." John's Gospel begins by teaching us that He is the Word. But Jesus has also told this crowd in the temple, in speaking to those who believed, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." His words are of the Father, and it is at His word that faith becomes manifest to those who have a love for the Father in their hearts. It was at His word that the apostles on the road to Emmaus felt their hearts burning within them (Luke 24:32). So, how does His word touch you? What do you hear in His word? Does it comfort you? Does it begin something? This is the place to focus, the place we always return to.
