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 out 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

Events in our current readings take place at the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day autumn harvest festival.  Yesterday we read that on the last and great day of the feast, Jesus said to them to the crowds and leadership again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews  [meaning the leaders] 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.  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 out 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."    To be a child of Abraham, according to my study bible, it is not enough to be simply related by blood; rather, Abraham's true children share his faith and his virtue (Luke 3:8).  St. John Chrysostom teaches that Christ wanted to detach them from racial pride and instead to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation simply in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature.  Instead Christ seeks for all to come to faith by their own free will.  Their idea that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was the very thing that prevented 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."  When Jesus states here that He proceeded forth and came from God, He's not speaking of Himself as Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather as being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.

"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."   Just as Jesus has already expressed the idea that being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes, here likewise He suggests that those who reject Christ share the attributes of the devil -- this would in particular mean a hatred for truth, my study bible says -- and thus are rightly called the devil's children.

Jesus identifies attributes shared between certain figures and those who also embody those attributes, constituting a kind of kinship that renders them described as "children" of those figures.   This works for good and for bad.  Those who are truly children of Abraham are those who share the attributes of Abraham, and in particular his most praiseworthy character traits of faith and virtue.  Perhaps Abraham is most notable for his obedience to God, which led him from his home toward a new and different land to call home.   In that light, it's important to understand Abraham as a figure that embodies the subsequent spiritual history of Israel, those who would wander following Moses, for which this particular festival being celebrated (The Feast of Tabernacles) serves as commemoration.   Abraham is also renowned for his hospitality to strangers (Genesis 18:1-15), a custom which remains essential to life in the deserts of Sinai and surrounding regions.  We should note that hospitality would remain for the earliest Christian monks of the desert, until today, a virtue second perhaps only to humility.  When we share these attributes, then, in Jesus' way of thinking we become "children" of such figures.  Linked indelibly to this understanding is Christ's revelation of the Father through His own actions and ministry, His sharing of the will of the Father as Son and through obedience as human being.  When we do likewise, we are also children of God the Father.  But to reject truth with hostility, Jesus says, is to share the traits of a different father, of the devil.  And here we need to pause and think.  We need to ask ourselves what serious notions Jesus introduces here for us, how powerful indeed it is to reject the truths that He teaches.  A facile understanding of Jesus' teachings here will bring us all kinds of discord, dissension, misunderstanding, and pain.  We have to see into the depths Jesus presents us with.  This is not a simple rejection He is speaking about, nor is this a threat of retaliation or retribution He presents.  Rather, at the depths from which Jesus introduces concepts of life to us, to the depths that are within us which are capable of recognizing love -- and essentially, we are still talking about condemnation for healing a man on the Sabbath -- these are the profound things reflected in His words.  It's not something we can take lightly nor symbolically; it is about a rejection of the truths we need for the abundance of life He shares and offers, and moreover there is a determination within that rejection to murder Christ and prevent others from following as well.  Christ gives us a relatedness to God within the practice and action of God's love, and those who reject the relationship as well as the truth that comes with it create hostility to truth itself.   If we think about this deeply, we may find ourselves confronted with such choices daily, hidden behind the things we encounter every day.  Do we find a legalism that contents us with its seeming clarity, but when taken to its limits will overlook the practice of mercy and acts of goodness?  Do you think of circumstances in which it is good to overlook the "errors" of another in order to perceive the good fruits they produce?  What about those who help and encourage others who may need it at the expense of social appearance?  These are all small choices we may find every day in our own lives, but they ask us to think about whose child we are and whose attributes we wish to share. The truth has to be the essential thing we guard and keep within our hearts, living it within the fidelity that we have to God. Everything starts with relationship and love, and life and works proceed from there.  What is He telling you about what you love?