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 recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  He has been disputing with the religious authorities.  In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus said to them 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 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."  This conversation continues on from the one begun in yesterday's reading, when Jesus taught to those from Jerusalem who believed in 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."   Once again we see the use of misunderstandings in St. John's Gospel, in order to clarify or elaborate on concepts for which Jesus uses ordinary language to convey the things of God.  It's worth revisiting my study Bible's comment on His statement.  Here, it says, the truth refers both to the virtue of truth and, even more importantly, to Christ Himself (John 14:6).  To be free means freedom from darkness, confusion, and -- as well as the bondage to sin and death, to which Jesus alludes here.  As Son, Christ is the Person who is truth.  Therefore as Liberator or Deliverer He is the One who can make 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."  To be a child of Abraham, my study Bible says, it isn't enough simply to be related by blood.  Abraham's true children are those who share his faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  It notes that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Christ 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, but rather to come to faith by free will.  This notion that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was just the thing that prevented them from coming to Christ.  

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."  Here, proceeded refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth, my study Bible explains.

"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 tells us that, just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes, so likewise, these who reject Christ share the same attributes as the devil (in particular, a hatred for truth), and are therefore rightly called the devil's children.  

It's interesting to consider what the Orthodox say are the "energies" of a person.  These energies are our actions, the things we do, from the Greek word ἐνέργεια/energeia.  It is frequently described as meaning "being at work" or "active" or "in operation."  For persons, it means things that we do.  We could consider it as being essentially what we do in the world.  This word ("energies") is also used in Orthodox theology to describe God's grace; that is, the things that God does.  One analogy to this concept is like the sun:  the sun itself in its being is the fiery planet we know, but the sun's energies are the things that reach to us (i.e. rays of sunlight) and sustain our lives and our world.  So it is with God's grace, God's energies.  In a recent comment on his blog, Fr. Stephen Freeman described how human beings also have energies by which we know them.  So, whether we are speaking of a human person or a divine Person, both have these energies that we can know by the properties we experience or witness.  As my study Bible, and Jesus' words indicate, however, this does not only apply to the good things a person does.  Jesus gives this example in illustration of the principle, saying to the religious leaders, "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."   Jesus speaks of the devil as "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."  These things are also types of energies by which we know the devil:  as a murderer, a liar, the father of lies.  In Revelation 22:15, the Lord says that those kept outside of the city of God include "whoever loves and practices a lie."  It is in this context that my study Bible comments that through sharing in the attributes of the devil -- and in particular that would include a hatred for truth -- we become aligned with the same energies. We cannot help but notice how lies and lying figure in this for Christ.  This seems to speak of a type of internal disposition which isn't separate from what we do.  Indeed, we practice virtue in order to become disciplined in the practice of "likeness" to God and God's energies.  By the same token, we can become more "like" the one who hates God by habitual practices of lying and contempt for truth.  It is in this sense that Jesus says to the religious leaders that their father is the devil, for with all they do, they make themselves like him.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to those from Jerusalem who believed in 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."  To abide in His word is to practice the discipline of the kinds of energies and actions  He preaches; it is to become disciplined in His life and truth, and to become more like Him, to be His children in this sense.  So it works the same way if we choose to practice the vices of the devil, and particularly an affinity for lies.  We must also understand the spiritual component to all of these things, for we do not simply emulate action in a physical sense, but we align with something spiritual, one way or the other.  Therefore it is grace that helps us to align and follow Christ, to abide in His word, but we must also realize that to align in the characteristics of the devil is also to take a side in what is in effect a spiritual battle, with so much that we don't see.  This is what St. Paul asks us to consider when he writes, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  Among the people who listen to Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem, there are those who truly hear Him and believe, and those who cannot hear at all.  Jesus gives us the explanation for both.