Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell 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

 They answered 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."  Then 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 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."

- John 8:33-47

In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles.  Yesterday we read that He spoke again to the Pharisees who question and seek to accuse Him.  He said, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  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 of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

They answered 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."   Jesus teaches about freedom in a depth meaning, even in a type of existential sense.  Sin works as a kind of slavery, it does not cherish us as human beings.  But to become a son (and therefore heir) by adoption is something different.  It is to become a member of the household of Christ who loves us.  It is to be given the fullness of life.

"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."   My study bible says that to be a child of Abraham, it is not enough to be simply related by blood.  Instead, Abraham's true children in fact share his faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  According to St. John Chrysostom, our Lord wanted to detach the Jews from racial pride and to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature.  He teaches that they must come to faith by their own free will.  The idea that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was the very thing that was preventing them from coming to Christ.

Then 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."  Proceeded refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather He's saying that He's sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.   Jesus has repeatedly told these leaders that if they truly loved the Father, they would hear His word and understand Him.  Their hearts betray their ability to hear the One sent by the Father.

"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 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."  My study bible explains that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing his attributes, as Jesus has expressed in the verses above, likewise, those who reject Christ share the same attributes as the devil.  In particular, that would entail a hatred for truth.  Possessing such attributes results in being called the devil's children.  Again, Jesus repeats the link between the love of God and the capacity to hear His words.

At Jesus' time, although emphasis on genealogy was clearly important, lineage was emphasized more by household than purely by blood relation.  Adoption was a common practice, ensuring lineage and inheritance.  (Augustus Caesar, for example, was a maternal great-nephew of Julius Caesar, but was named in Julius' will as adopted son and heir. Augustus was in turn succeeded by his adopted son and heir Tiberius.)  Identity was shaped through affiliation of household, lineage, family branch, clan, community.   We can see the cultural importance of the extended family group even in the language of the Gospels, as those called Jesus' brothers and sisters are more likely to be either step-children of His mother Mary by an earlier wife of Joseph, or cousins.   The notion of fatherhood as given by Jesus in today's reading shifts the view of lineage from a worldly perspective to one of a spiritual perspective, emphasizing the orientation of the soul.  Whose character do we emulate?  What traits do we take on?  Where does our heart place us in deference to its true objects of love?  Jesus emphasizes the state of the heart, and more clearly, what our true preferences are, what or whom we love.  He returns always to the love of the Father, and in so doing, reminds us of the depth of communion that is at work determining everything about us, even true identity.  It is in this sense that we are to understand paternity.  The person (or Person) you love will be the one whom you emulate, whose characteristics you take on, to whose ideas you will be receptive.  Jesus says elsewhere that the whole of the Law and the Prophets hang on the two greatest Commandments.  The first is to love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and the second is to love neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:36-40).  In the great consistency of the Gospels and Christ's teaching, our very identity and character is determined within the framework of such a command. Everything depends on what we put first in our hearts, and whom we truly love - or not.