Frather Knabenbauer's Commentary on John 8:46-59

 Translated by Qwen. I used Gemini to generate the image.

 

John 8:44–45 The nature of the devil is described by two things: murder and lying. The Jews also express these two things in themselves by imitation, and they do the desires of their father, the devil. The former [murder] was already explained in verse 37; the latter [lying] Jesus reproaches them with in verse 45: "But if I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" (Greek: ὅτι quia ego τὴν ἀλήθειαν loquor vos non creditis — Because I speak the truth, you do not believe me).

Thus, they refer the diabolic nature to themselves, inasmuch as they do not believe Him because He tells the truth. They are captured by such a love of lying that they can find nothing else to accuse in Him except the truth alone; and hence arises that rage of yours against Me, because you are sons of the father of lies.

Theophylact: "For if I were telling a lie, you would certainly believe me, as one saying what is proper to your father." Euthymius and Augustine also [comment on this]. The Vulgate codices read quia veritatem dico (because I speak the truth), as also Rupert, Bonaventure, Jansenius, and Maldonatus read it; and they note that it is read thus in ancient Latin versions, as do Salmeron, Lucas of Bruges, Toletus, and others.

Regarding the sense of this because, Rupert remarks: "What is more perverse than this, what more oblique or twisted, than not to believe someone because he speaks the truth?" And He presses them further, asking if they dare affirm that any lie was ever spoken by Him.

John 8:46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?" (literally: argues Me concerning sin). If no one can convict Him of any sin, then they are forced by this very fact to admit that Jesus always spoke and testified truthfully about Himself. Consequently, "If I speak the truth to you, why do you not believe Me?"

Man, however, with nature as his guide, desires, seeks, and embraces the truth. If, therefore, they cannot accuse Jesus of any sin, by that very fact they profess that He speaks the truth. Why then do they not believe? Behold the diabolic nature: hatred of the truth.

Origen rightly notes: "The speech of the Savior has great confidence, which no man possesses with that confidence which is born from not having sinned (μετὰ πεποιθήσεως τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ ἡμαρτηκέναι), able to say 'Which one of you convicts Me of sin?' but this is valid for our Lord alone among all who have known Him."

John 8:47 To the question "Why do you not believe Me?" He Himself responds in verse 47: "He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God."

To "hear," see verse 43. To "be of God," says Cyril, refers to him who is reconciled to God through virtue and probity of life, and is deemed worthy of some affinity with Him (τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγενείας). Cyril [elsewhere]: "Those are of God who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of God; for those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Rom 8:14).

Ammonius (in the Catena of Cordier): "He calls the faithful 'of God' because they receive the norm of piety from Him, and are His own, both on account of virtue and on account of a holy manner of living." Those whom He previously said have the devil as their father, to be of the devil, and to do his desires, He now affirms are not of God, and therefore do not hear or admit the words of God.

Those are of God who are drawn by God and obey this invitation and grace of God. Those are not of God who spurn the offered grace, and as long as they reject it. Augustine notes again: "Do not look at nature, but at vice. Thus these men are of God and are not of God: by nature they are of God, by vice they are not of God. Therefore, just as the vice can be healed and removed by the grace of God, which is denied to no mortal, so those who are now 'not of God' can be healed by the same grace so that they may be 'of God'."

And many who did not believe Jesus preaching later believed the Apostles preaching in the name of Jesus, as Jesus Himself indicates in verses 28 and 12:32: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself."

John 8:48 Impiety, once convicted, when it has no response to the truth, usually turns to insults (Jansenius). Verse 48: "The Jews therefore answered and said to Him." Caietanus notes that when they are simply called "Jews," others are designated distinct from those who had believed earlier. And they object such things to Christ which are born from diabolic hatred toward Him.

"Do we not say well that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Therefore, they were already casting these insults at Christ frequently. "We say" (we are accustomed to say, we affirm). "Well" (preclare, egregiously). "We" with emphasis, in opposition to Jesus who refutes them.

They call Him a Samaritan, i.e., an enemy of the chosen people. For only one who belongs to that foolish people in morals and character (Ecclus 50:28) seems to them capable of uttering those things about the people of God which Jesus said. Furthermore, they say He is inspired by a demon to inveigh with such fury; thus He seems to them to be raving and insane, driven by a demon. Chrysostom (cf. 7:20).

All praise the meekness of Christ in responding to such great insults. What then does Christ do?

John 8:49 Verse 49: "Jesus answered: I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father." He says this with maximum emphasis, "I", distinguishing Himself from them and declaring Himself immune from that insult, and showing that what was said fits them rather than Him (Cyril). He repels that calumny openly, lest a scruple be injected into the minds of the weak by the authority of the nobles. He repels it by the fact that He honors God, which a demon never does nor advises.

They often ask why He does not deny being a Samaritan. Various reasons are offered from the notion of "keeper," from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Thomas). From Origen: because the time had now come for calling all nations to the faith, therefore Jesus does not deny He is a Samaritan, so that He might become all things to all men.

But two things must be attended to. They do not object that He is a Samaritan by genus or birth. Then, as Toletus well notes, that He is a Samaritan in character and morals is clearly refuted by the response of Christ. For by the honor with which He pursues God, it is confirmed that He does not have a demon, nor is He a Samaritan in studies and morals.

But simultaneously He gravely warns what guilt they incur: "And you have dishonored Me."

John 8:50 Verse 50: "But I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks it and judges." Regarding the injury done to Me, I indeed will not take vengeance, because I do not seek My glory. I have come as a man, indeed to minister, to lay down My soul, to endure contumelies and injuries, not to repel or avenge them. He says this lest they attribute to weakness or infirmity the fact that He does not take vengeance for such great injuries (Toletus).

"But they will not go away unpunished." There exists, is present, One who seeks My glory, who indeed wills that all honor Me, who will also glorify Me before all nations, and who judges. He who indeed will fulfill in deed the word once issued concerning those who despised prophets sent by God: "Whoever will not hear His words which He shall speak in My name, I will be the avenger" (Deut 18:19, Toletus). And He will exist all the more as judge and avenger concerning such a horrendous opprobrium cast upon the Son.

This judgment is not asserted against what is said in 5:22, for now the action is not concerning the universal judgment of all, but a private and quasi-daily one, by which the Father is accustomed to vindicate the ignominy and injuries inflicted upon the Son and the saints (Maldonatus). And soon after Christ's ascension, the wicked Jews experienced this vengeance against themselves in various ways (Toletus).

He terrified them by teaching that such opprobrium would be punished. But with what meekness of heart and mercy does He turn to exhortation, and show them by what reason they might not only escape punishment but also obtain eternal life (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Toletus, Schegg).

John 8:51 Verse 51: "Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he shall not see death forever." See on 5:24 and 4:13–14 and 3:16.

Others, however, construct the connection differently. As the perversity of the wicked grows, not only should preaching not be broken off, but it should even be increased (Thomas, Rupert). Thus Christ shows that when provoked, He does not desist from preaching, that He seeks not His own glory but those things which are for the salvation of the human race (Caietanus). The Jews calumniate that His speech is insane, proceeding from a demon; the Lord on the contrary proclaims how salutary it is (Jansenius). Nor was He cast down from His sentence on account of their contumely; indeed, He wishes to assert His doctrine even more and demonstrate its fruit, whence He also begins with great asseveration (Maldonatus). But the more the light manifests itself to them, the more they wrap themselves in darkness.

John 8:52 Verse 52: "The Jews therefore said: Now we know..." (we see in fact what we previously announced by opinion) "...that You have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets..." (men distinguished by God's greatest gifts, of exceptional holiness) "...were obliged to undergo death; they were not exempt from the common lot of all. And You say: 'If anyone keeps My word, he shall not taste death forever'."

Behold, Abraham and the prophets kept the word of God above all others, yet they could not ward off death from themselves. On account of the malice of the Jews, they distort the words of Jesus regarding bodily death, so that He might appear to the crowd to be saying absurd and blasphemous things. And as is characteristic of the indignant and insulting, they multiply words, repeating the same things.

John 8:53 Verse 53: "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself?"

John 8:54–55 Christ responds, beginning from the last point, where they accused Him of intolerable boasting and pride. And with the greatest meekness He replies, premising by way of concession, which is apt for conciliating minds or inviting them to a calm consideration of the matter.

Verse 54: "Jesus answered: If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing." He speaks as in 5:31 (Chrysostom). Therefore, to warn them that the matter must be seriously weighed, He says: If nothing else were proposed to you except My bare word as a man, which you think it is, you might indeed be excused. But how great and how many signs do you see, by which God most openly demonstrates My glory before you? "It is My Father who glorifies Me, whom you say is your God."

Therefore, by your own assertion, you ought to have received the testimony of your God, whom you profess as such, and of whom you glory, at least with reverence. By words you say He is your God, but in reality you do not know Him, because you do not receive His testimony, nor do you render obedience to Him, nor do you allow yourselves to be ruled by His spirit and guidance.

He reproaches them for speaking of their God undeservedly. Verse 55: "And you have not known Him." Therefore He is not your God, since you are alienated from Him in mind and morals (Maldonatus); you are not carried toward Him in affection and will (Toletus). "But I know Him." Therefore I can testify concerning Him and His testimony about Me according to the truth of the matter. "And if I should say that I do not know Him, I shall be like you, a liar." See on verses 44–45. In that sense He calls them liars, which diabolic nature they immediately displayed in verse 48. Furthermore, he who says he knows Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar (1 John 2:4).

With this sentence, Jesus asserts with maximum weight what He had said: "I know Him," and He affirms it a third time: "But I do know Him, and I keep His word." He simultaneously explains how the notion and knowledge of God is necessarily manifested in life, provided the true knowledge of Him inheres in the mind (cf. v 46). By that question He demonstrates, by the suffrage of all and in a manner suitable to their capacity, that He keeps the word of God, the precepts of God, and the will.

John 8:56 Then He responds to that which they said in the first place: "Are You greater than our father Abraham?" Verse 56: "Abraham your father..." (whom you so calling ought to imitate, lest this appellation and glorying of yours be vain and lying) "...rejoiced that he might see My day."

Therefore, if you are sons of Abraham, do his works (v 37). He exulted with that joy. The day of Christ is the day on which He appears on earth and the Word is made flesh. Abraham knew this mystery through prophecies made to him; he knew the Messiah would arise from his posterity, whence he exulted with supreme joy. "That he might see" (ἵνα ἴδῃ): his exultation was directed toward this as an end and terminus, that he might see this day of the advent of the Messiah, or as others add, the time of the Messiah (cf. Maldonatus, Patrizi, Filippi).

As Cyril also [says]: "The time of His sojourn, in which the light shone upon us," that he might see it sometime. How greatly therefore they are alien from the character of the father whom they boast of is now manifest: not only do they not rejoice at the day of the Messiah, but they persecute Him, hold Him in supreme hatred, and thirst to kill Him.

But what did Abraham see that he obtained what he desired with supreme longing? He saw My advent. Where is He now? In Limbo. He saw the time of My advent. In Limbo, where He is, He rejoiced. He rejoiced with a new joy and a new exultation. The former exultation was of hope, this is of reality. Behold the double exultation of Abraham (Baronius, and similarly Jansenius). He obtained what he desired, for he saw My day with spiritual eyes, because he now recognized that I had come into the world. On account of this he rejoiced, because through Me he knows that he and the human race are to be redeemed and carried up to heaven.

And in the same way Salmeron: He saw from the Limbo of the Fathers. Similarly Maldonatus, Lapide. Thirdly and genuinely Menochius, Tirinus, Patrizi, Corluy, Schegg, Weiss. Of this opinion mention is also made by Sa, Estius, Calm.

Therefore the Jews are very far distant from Abraham, who while he was among the living supremely desired the advent of the Messiah, and who, dead in body but alive in soul, when he knew and saw the advent of the Messiah, was filled with new joy.

Chrysostom explains the Day of the Messiah concerning the day of the Cross; others concerning the day of eternity. Augustine: both the day of eternity and of the Incarnation. He saw them through faith. Thomas holds that Abraham, constituted among the living, saw the day of Christ through faith and revelation. That he exulted "that he might see" is the constant opinion of the ancients.

But when he saw, others judge differently. Cyril thinks he saw then when he received the three men as guests and received the promise from God that he would be the father of many nations (Gen 18:1 seq), to which opinion Bede and Rupert also concede. Bonaventure refers it to Gen 15. Augustine however to Gen 24:2. Thomas proves he saw the day of the Incarnation from Gen 18 and 24, and from the offering of the ram and Isaac, by which the passion of Christ was prefigured. Caietanus understands Abraham saw by a vision of certain knowledge the clarity of the divinity of Christ, and says this follows because the Jews say "and You have seen Abraham," whence he concludes the words used by Christ signify His presence to Abraham, and Christ responds concerning His divinity.

But from this it does not follow that "My day" is the day of eternity, nor is this effected from the question of the Jews, which Caietanus wants. Baronius. If you wish, see more interpretations of others on this place.

The Jews, for their malice, wish to demonstrate the words of Jesus as maximally absurd (Jansenius). For Christ did not say He was seen by Abraham as a man, but that Abraham saw His day. But many things can be known with certain knowledge before they happen, and the Jews know well that prophets saw future events and prophesied concerning men who were to be brought forth into light afterwards, therefore they saw their day (cf. Josh 6:26; 3 Kgs 14:14; Is 42:1; 45:1; etc.; Jer 23:5; Ez 34:23; etc.). But for calumniating, as they thought, it was more accommodated to propose the matter thus, as if Christ were saying He was beheld by Abraham as a man (cf. Toletus).

John 8:57 Verse 57: "The Jews therefore said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"

Why do they say He does not yet have fifty years, when at that time Jesus was only thirty-three years old? The reason is sought by most from the fact that from the fiftieth year, the virile age seemed to deflect into old age. Whence the sense can be: "You are not yet beginning to grow old, and have You seen Abraham?" or "You are still in the age in which duties are to be performed" (cf. Num 4:3, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:24). Therefore they put a round number to signify that even if He had an age much greater than He acted, nevertheless He could not have beheld Abraham (Toletus).

Jansenius thinks they looked to the custom of their age, that is, the Jubilee: "You have not yet completed a century, and do you dare to speak of the Jubilee?" Also Severus has many things in the Catena of Cordier. From this place was born the error of Irenaeus concerning the age of Christ (cf. Patrizi, De Evang. Dissert. 19, n. 4). Euthymius thinks Jesus, on account of gravity and maturity of judgment, doctrine and experience, was held to be more than forty. Chrysostom reads "forty years." But certainly the Jews did not wish to praise Him.

To others it pleases that Christ was so affected in body by labors and molestations that He deserved to appear greater than forty. But that which they said calumniating and drawing the matter to ridicule, and wished to be said, Christ uses this to issue a most brilliant testimony and document of His divinity, and convinces them that they spoke truly, indeed unknowingly, like Balaam's donkey.

John 8:58 Verse 58: "Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM."

By the voice "I AM" (Ego Sum), it is signified that He Himself is perpetual, free from all time, just as His Father used that voice "I AM" (Sum, εἰμί). So also He (Chrysostom). And Euthymius says well: "For 'to be made' is of the created, but 'I AM' is of the Uncreated." His being is eternal, subject to no mutation or destruction. He asserts with a solemn formula, as if in place of an oath, for the confirmation of things said (cf. Cyril).

Therefore He teaches most clearly that although as a man He had a certain and defined age, nevertheless He was also God, who existed before all time (Maldonatus). And similarly all, even Weiss, who acts against those Protestants who wish to explain it concerning ideal being, concerning that which existed in the counsel of God, in which sense all and everything would be from eternity because God encompasses all things in His eternal knowledge as if present.

But again, the more the divine light dazzles their eyes, the more they seek to commit themselves to denser darkness. They attempt to stone Jesus as a blasphemer (cf. Lev 24:16).

John 8:59 Verse 59: "They took up stones therefore to cast at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple."

"He was hidden" (ἐκρύβη). This must most probably be explained with Cyril: Christ hides Himself, not by passing under walls, nor by offering anything else to His own body, but by the power of divinity rendering Himself invisible to those seeking Him. So also Theodoret, Heraclides (in Catena Cordier), and Cramer, Theophylact, Euthymius, Thomas, Caietanus, Toletus, Jansenius, Maldonatus, Lapide, Calm, Natalis, Schegg, and others.

To others, however, this seems less probable, but more fitting that Jesus withdrew Himself, mingling with the crowds, or entering into some house of the temple, or turning aside into some hidden place. So Chrysostom and Augustine seem to have understood: "As a man He fled from the stones." So Baronius, Corluy, Schegg, Filippi, Weiss, Edersheim.

This could certainly be done easily in the building of the temple, which was distinguished by very many chambers and porticos, especially if, as Edersheim wants, the Jews rushed into the court of the Gentiles to take up stones (cf. 2 Par 24:21: "They cast stones by the king's command in the court of the house of the Lord"; and Matt 23:35: "Whom you killed between the temple and the altar"). And that the Jews executed stoning in the temple itself, see in Josephus, Antiq. 17, 9, 3 (Schegg).

 

CONTINUE