John 8:38 ¶ I speak that which I have seen with my
Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is
our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do
the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek
to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this
did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of
your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one
Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto
them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came
from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even
because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,
and the father of it. 45 And because I
tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Jesus makes it very clear that there is a sharp distinction
between Himself and these Jews. He first lays out the argument by saying that
He is only speaking things He has seen with His Father, who is not their
father. They, of course, don’t understand, so they state that Abraham is their
father but Jesus denies that, saying that if they were really Abraham’s
children they would do the works of Abraham. This reminds me of Jeremiah,
chapter 35, when God applauds the children of Jonadab the son of Rechab who obeyed
their ancestor’s commands. What was it about Abraham that brought this up for
Jesus?
Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the Friend of God.
Abraham believed God. Jesus continues to provoke the
unbelieving Jews.
In verse 41 the unbelieving Jews imply that Jesus was
conceived illegitimately. If this is
what they are getting at it is hard for Americans to understand. We, as a
culture, no longer regard being born of two married parents, who were married
before they united their flesh and conceived us, as any big deal. Women even
deliberately go out and get pregnant so they can have a baby. The value of the
sexual bond between a man and a woman, as representative of Christ and His
church, the love, joy, and purposefulness of a marriage before God (speaking
nothing, of course, of the phony civil marriage where the state gains control
over your most intimate relationship by demanding the power to license it) is
lost on most of today’s citizens. The
Jews claiming God as their father can be linked to statements in the Old
Testament. God instructs Moses to say to
Pharaoh, in explaining what He is going to do to Egypt;
Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith
the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he
may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son,
even thy firstborn.
This is part of the conflict between Jews and Christians
over Old Testament passages the Jews claim as a reference to them and
Christians claim as a reference to Christ.
Proverbs 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or
descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters
in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name,
and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
Whereas the Jew sees prophecy as promising the restoration
of Israel and its role as the dominant country of the earth, Christians claim
this for Christ.
Genesis 17:7 ¶ And I will establish my covenant between me
and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed,
which is Christ.
Hosea 11:1 ¶ When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
and called my son out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out
of Egypt have I called my son.
Jesus declares to them that if God was really their Father
they would love Him because He came from God.
Jesus said their father was the Devil, a murderer and a
liar. The implication here links some aspect of these people with the first
murderer, Cain, and another link is made by John in one of his letters that
suggests something else more sinister.
1John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and
slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother’s righteous.
Since we know that Noah was perfect in his generations in Genesis 6:9 then the bloodline must
have come through his wife to his sons so that we all bear the blood of Cain
somewhat and only Christ’s blood can save us from its deadly effects.
The attitude that murders people for religious belief is
present with them and is long-standing in human history. It comes from Cain,
who murdered Abel for nonconformity to his practice of faith. We cannot liken
God’s using the Jews to cleanse Canaan (unless you claim God’s rights on
humanity for yourself) because the Canaanites were cursed by Noah when his son,
Ham, dishonored him in Genesis 9. The Canaanites were not just expressing
belief in their religion; they were practicing incest, homosexual and heterosexual
prostitution, bestiality, and child sacrifice to gods as tokens of religious
expression behind which hid Satan and his minions. This was carried on in the
highly sexual content of all ancient religions including the Greek.
Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to
gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers
feared not.
1Corinthians
10:20 But I say, that the things which
the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would
not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
Back to persecuting someone for their religious beliefs
Jesus will warn His disciples;
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues:
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God
service.
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