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John 8:1. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. John 8:2. And in the morning he came to the church again, and all the people came to Him. He sat down and taught them. John 8:3. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery, and, placing her in the midst, John 8:4. They told Him: Teacher! this woman was taken in adultery; John 8:5. And Moses commanded us in the law to stone such people: What do you say? John 8:6. They said this, tempting Him, in order to find something to accuse Him of. But Jesus, bending low, wrote with his finger on the ground, not paying attention to them. John 8:7. When they continued to ask Him, He bowed down and said to them: He who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:8. And again, bending low, he wrote on the ground. John 8:9. They, having heard this and being convicted by their conscience, began to leave one by one, starting from the eldest to the last; and only Jesus remained and the woman standing in the middle. John 8:10. Jesus, standing up and not seeing anyone but the woman, said to her: woman! where are your accusers? no one judged you? John 8:11. She answered: no one, Lord. Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more. John 8:12. Again Jesus spoke to the people and said to them: I am the light of the world; Since they constantly reproached Christ with Galilee, but took Him for one of the prophets, He shows them that He is not one of the prophets. “I am,” he says, “the Light of the world, the light in the proper sense, the light is not prophetic, that is, incomplete and weak, but the true light, not limited to the borders of Galilee or Palestine, but the Light of the world and the Lord of all people. I am the One about whom the prophet said: “I have made You the light of the Gentiles” (Is. 42:6). This saying can also be used against Nestorius. For the Lord did not say, “In Me is the light of the world,” but “I am the light of the world.” Whoever was visible as a Man was the same, the Son of God, and the light of the world, and not as Nestorius babbled, as if the Son of God dwelt in a simple man. No! The Son of Mary and God, as it is said, was one. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. “Whoever,” he says, “follows Me, will not walk in darkness,” that is, he will not remain in error, but will be freed from error and darkness. This simultaneously approves of Nicodemus and the ministers, as acting directly and therefore being in the light, and hints to the Pharisees that they are in error and darkness, and are secretly building feats. John 8:13. Then the Pharisees said to Him: You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true. When He said, “I am the light of the world,” He was accused of bearing witness to Himself. Oh madness! He constantly brings evidence about Himself from the Scriptures, and they accuse Him that He testifies about Himself. John 8:14. Jesus answered and said to them: If I testify of Myself, My testimony is true; because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. Therefore He also answers them according to their wickedness. Let it be so that I myself testify about myself. Although in reality it is not so, but I have three witnesses - My Father, My works and the Scripture, as stated above (John 5:33, 5:36, 5:37, 5:39). Let us assume that I myself testify about myself. But if I myself testify about myself, my testimony is true because I know that I am the Son of God, and not an ordinary person, but Coming from above, and God. How can My testimony be false, when I am God, and therefore worthy of faith? God, without a doubt, is worthy of faith in the testimony of Himself. Moreover, I will go to the true God. How, intending to go to the True, will I lie? John 8:15. You judge according to the flesh; I don't judge anyone. “I,” he says, “as God and the One who came from above, testify about Myself the truth; but you look only at what is visible, and, as I am in the flesh, you take Me for mere flesh, and not for God and the One who came from God.” “You judge according to the flesh,” that is, erroneously. Just as one who lives according to the flesh is said to live wickedly, so one who judges according to the flesh must be said to be an unrighteous judge. John 8:16. And if I judge, then My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me. Then, as if someone said: “If we Jews judge unjustly, then why don’t you punish, why don’t you condemn?” And He says: “I didn’t come to judge. I do not judge anyone now; and even if I judge, then My judgment is true, and if I wanted to judge, you would be condemned. Now you remain without condemnation, not because I cannot condemn you, but because now is not the time, since I am saving condemnation for you until the Second Coming.” So in another place He says: “I came not to judge the world, but to save” (John 12:47). And that He is the Judge of all, listen to the true lips: “The Father gave all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Therefore, when you hear: “I do not judge anyone,” then understand these words not about the future Coming, but about the first. Having said, “I am not alone, but My Father is also with Me,” He declared: It is not only I who condemn you, but also the Father. For I do not judge differently, and the Father judges differently, but as I, so He, and as He, so I. John 8:17. And in your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. The Arians and Eunomians, who do not recognize the Son as Consubstantial with the Father, let them say here: “If He were not Consubstantial, then how would he dare to say, “I have the same testimony and credibility as the Father?” Just as two people testify to something and their testimony is true (Deut. 19:15), it is obvious that their reliability is the same. So here too He proves that the testimony of Himself is in no way inferior to the testimony of the Father. For listen with what authority He speaks further: John 8:18. I testify of Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies of Me. Do you see the equality of power, and how He shows Himself to be as trustworthy as the Father? He would not have dared to say this if He had been lower in dignity than the Father and had not been equal and Consubstantial with Him. For if He wanted to show that in some way He was inferior to the Father and less than Him, He would not have ranked Himself with the Father and would not have compared His testimony with the testimony of the Father, but, being a slave, as heretics blaspheme, He would have turned to one of the fellow slaves and made him a co-witness, for example, John, Moses; and indeed, if He had wanted such evidence, He would have found plenty of it. But now He wants to show His Oneness with the Father, and therefore identifies Himself with the Father. If in other places He brings John, Moses and the prophets as witnesses about Himself, then do not be surprised at this. He does this in an adaptive way to the concept of listeners. They placed John and Moses above Him; therefore He brings forth the testimony of those whom they considered glorious and great. They had a high concept of God and the Father. For what else did they glorify if not God? Therefore, now He brings as a witness also Himself, God who exists above all. And since He compares Himself with such an infallible and unfalse Witness, it is very obvious that He has the same importance and power as the Father. And those who call Him a servant and in everything less than the Father should be put to shame. John 8:19. Then they said to Him: Where is Your Father? Others think that the Jews said to the Lord “Where is Your Father” as an insult and reproach. Since His imaginary father Joseph was poor, with the words “Where is Your Father,” the Jews say something like this: “Your Father is unknown and of low birth, why do You constantly remind us of him?” Jesus answered: You know neither Me nor My Father; Since they asked Him about the Father as a temptation, and not with the goal of knowing the truth, He does not deign to answer them, but says: “You know neither Me nor My Father,” that is, you cannot know my Father without Me. Although you think that you honor God, if you do not believe that He is the Father of Me, the true Son, then there is no benefit to you. You don't know Him as you should. Otherwise you would know and honor Me too. And since now you do not know and do not honor Me, then you do not know Him and do not give honor to Him, although you think the other way around. And that you do not know Me, it is not anyone else who is to blame, but you yourself. if you knew Me, you would also know My Father. Do you hear, O wicked man, subjugating the Son to the Father? If He were not Consubstantial with the Father, then how would He say that “if you knew Me, you would also know the Father”? For if, in your opinion, the Son is a creature, how can he who knows the creation also know God? He who knows the essence of an angel no longer knows the Being of God. If he who knows the Son also knows the Father, then the Son is truly one and the same Being with the Father. Will you say that those who know creation also know God? No way. For many, and even everyone, see and know creation, but no one sees or knows God. John 8:20. Jesus spoke these words at the treasury when he taught in the church; and no one took Him, because His hour had not yet come. “These words spake Jesus at the treasury, while he taught in the church.” So He carried Himself boldly! And yet those who breathed murder against Him, having Him in their hands, did not dare to take Him. And at the same time they did not understand that it was a work of truly divine power that He, surrounded by enemies, remained unharmed and inviolable among them, while before Easter they were looking for Him and lying in wait. Whom they sought when He was not, and against Whom, even in His absence, they raged, He cannot be taken when He is among the nets. And with all this, they do not recognize His power, because His hour has not yet come, that is, the appointed time of His death has not yet arrived, at which He wanted to give Himself up to it. For even then they could not have done anything over Him, if a certain time had not come, which He Himself appointed to Himself. The crucifixion was not a matter of powerlessness, but of permission; for He permitted it when He willed. They had long wanted to kill Him, but were restrained by the invisible bonds of His power. For He needed to remain alive longer in the flesh in order to bring more benefit to people by performing greater miracles and teaching greater teaching. John 8:21. Again Jesus said to them: I am going away, and you will seek Me and die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. John 8:22. Then the Jews said: Will He really kill Himself, because He says: “Where I am going, you cannot come?” Why does He so often tell them, “I am going away, and you will seek Me”? In order to shock and frighten their souls. For look into what anxiety they immediately fell into. They say in bewilderment: “Will He really kill Himself?” Although they wanted to get rid of Him, asked Him to leave them and even wanted to kill Him, however, they considered the present circumstance so important that they were perplexed by it. “I am leaving.” He often says this in order to show that He knows in advance about His death, and that the Cross is not a matter of their strength, but of His will. “I,” he says, “are leaving”: it is not you who lead Me, but I go voluntarily. “Where I go, you cannot come.” With these words he shows that He will truly rise in glory and sit at the right hand of God, and they will die in their sins. What do they say to this? “Will He really kill Himself?” John 8:23. He said to them: You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Rejecting their assumption and showing that suicide is a criminal matter, the Lord says: “You are from below, and cannot conceive of anything divine, therefore it is natural for you to think so; but I am not of this world, that is, I do not care about anything worldly or earthly, and therefore I can never reach such madness as to kill Myself. For this is a demonic matter, not a divine one.” Here Apollinaris, seizing on this saying, following the Manichaeans, says: “You see, the body of the Lord was not from this world, but from above, from heaven; just as Paul says that “the second Man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47).” What needs to be said? Or you need to ask him how he understands the words of the Lord to the apostles: “You are not of the world” (John 15:19) - is it really true that they also had bodies from heaven, and not from this creation? Or did the Lord say this because they did not care about the goods of this world? This is how we need to understand these words, “I am not of this world,” that is, I am not like you, who care about worldly things. In a similar way, Paul says to some: “You are not according to the flesh” (Rom. 8:9), he does not say that they are incorporeal, but testifies to their wisdom and freedom from carnal passions. John 8:24. This is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that it is I, you will die in your sins. What does the Lord say to them again? “Unless you believe that it is I, you will die in your sins.” If He came then to take “on Himself the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and one can receive forgiveness of sins only through baptism, but it is impossible to be baptized without first believing, then the unbeliever will inevitably die in his sin, for, without receiving baptism, he has not put off the old man. Therefore, the Lord says in another place that “he who does not believe is already condemned” (John 3:18), not only because he did not believe, but also because he dies with his former sins. John 8:25. Then they said to Him: Who are You? Jesus said to them, “He was from the beginning, just as I tell you.” After so much time, after so many miracles have been revealed, they still ask Him: “Who are you?” So they were unreasonable, unfair and mocking. The Lord says: “I tell you what I told you at the beginning.” John 8:26. I have much to say and judge about you; but He who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him, that is what I speak to the world. “You,” he says, “are not worthy to fully listen to My speeches, nor to know Who I am; for you all speak with the aim of tempting, and do not want to listen to anything from My teaching. I could expose you to this and not only expose you, but also punish you.” For He hints at this when He says: “I have much to say and judge about you.” The word “speak” indicates reproof, and the word “judge” indicates condemnation and punishment. “But,” he says, “He who sent Me did not send Me to judge and reprove. For God did not send His Son to judge the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). And how My Father sent Me to save, and He is true; then, for this very reason, I do not judge anyone now, but only say what I heard from My Father, that is, what serves for salvation, and not for conviction.” He said this so that they would not think that He was not punishing them due to His powerlessness. He shows that He is not powerless, but does not want to punish them, since He came not to punish, but to save. Some understand these words this way: “He who sent Me is true”: I could judge you now, but I leave it until the age to come. But you do not believe and do not pay attention to the time of retribution. But even if you do not believe, then My Father is true, Who appointed a day for your reward, and sent Me to proclaim this and revealed His truth and power to the world. John 8:27. They did not understand what He was telling them about the Father. When He said this, they were so foolish that they did not understand that He was telling them about His Father. How often and how much He spoke to them about the Father! But truly “their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. 1:21). John 8:28. So Jesus said to them: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that it is I, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, so I speak. Jesus performed many miracles, and yet did not attract the Jews to Himself. Now he tells them about the Cross. “You,” he says, “think that when you crucify Me, you will be free from all worries and get rid of Me. But I say that you will know that it is I, that is, Christ, the Son of God, who bears and holds all things (Heb. 1:3), and that I am not an adversary to the Father, I do not act or speak from Myself, for I do not have my own will, different from the will of the Father.” How will they recognize Him on the cross? From the signs of that time, from His resurrection and their captivity. For all this could reveal His power. So, when you crucify Me, you will know this and that, and My power, and My oneness of mind with the Father. For the Father would not have handed over your city to the Romans in vengeance for Me and would not have performed the signs on the cross if I were not His Son and like-minded, and not contrary to God. Then you will know that whatever I teach and whatever I say, it is from Him, undoubtedly, divine and not Mine, but the One who sent Me. John 8:29. He who sent Me is with Me; The Father did not leave Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him. Then, so that they do not think that the message and embassy mean subordination, he says that My Father is “with Me.” Although He sent Me as a Man, I am inseparable from Him, and He is from Me, as God is from God. For this he again descends to humiliated speech and says: “He has not left Me alone,” because I do what is pleasing to Him. This is what He humbly says for the Jews. They said that He was not from God because He did not keep the Sabbath. And He says: “I do what is pleasing to Him,” so even if I break the Sabbath, then I do what is pleasing to Him. However, with such a humiliating speech He in no way harmed His glory, but brought benefit to the listeners, and through this strengthened His glory. For the listeners, hearing that He attributed everything to the Father, were more willing to attach themselves to Him and believe in Him, so that humility exalted Him more. Do you see the virtue of blessed humility? And what is this, listen further. John 8:30. When He said this, many believed in Him. I said that the listeners were more carried away by the humble speeches. The evangelist also hints at this. “When He said this,” he notes, “many believed.” He said “this,” that is, speeches that were humble and seemingly unworthy of His glory. Therefore, when you hear that He says something small and imperfect about Himself, do not be embarrassed in any way, for He says this for listeners who cannot understand anything higher and immediately become enraged. What would happen to them, unable to comprehend the depths of the theological mystery, when the height of His glory remained incomprehensible even for Christians who knew Him strength and those saved by Him? When you hear that “many believed,” understand that they believed simply and as it happened, and not as they should have, they believed because they liked the humility in the speeches. John 8:31. Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him: If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples, And that they were not believers in the precise sense is obvious. For He said to the believing Jews: “If you continue in My word.” This shows that although they believed, it was superficially, and therefore they would not remain in the faith. By convicting them of this, He shows that He knows their hearts and is God. John 8:32. And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. And as some of His former imaginary disciples departed, therefore He now says to those who believed: “Although they have departed, if you continue in My word and faith, then you will know the truth,” that is, Me, for “I am the Truth” (John 14:6). Now you do not know the truth, because the law, the guardians of which you consider yourself to be, is not the truth, but an image and a shadow. If you know Me, Who is true, then “the truth will set you free,” that is, I will free you from your sins.” For whoever believes in Him who takes away the sin of the world is without a doubt free from sins. Just as He said to unbelievers that “you will die in your sins” (John 8:21), so He promises freedom from sins to those who continue in faith. For legal sacrifices and sprinklings, as images, did not free us from sins, but a spiritual and true sacrifice through faith and knowledge frees us (from sins), who no longer remain slaves, but are made sons of God. John 8:33. They answered him: we are Abraham’s seed and have never been slaves to anyone; How then do You say: You will be made free? The proud Jews again become attached to vain nobility and say with rage: “We are Abraham’s seed.” If they needed to be indignant, it would be about something else. He told them: “You will know the truth.” Therefore they should have said: “Well, don’t we now know the truth? Are all the precepts of the law and our knowledge false? But they did not care about anything like that: they worry about worldly affairs, thinking that He is reproaching them for slavery and low birth. "We are Abraham's seed." Nowhere do they mention their virtues, but they turn to their fathers. Therefore, John tells them: “Do not begin to say that our father is Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). When they said they weren't slaves to anyone, they were clearly lying. For every time they were captured, they were enslaved: by the Egyptians, Babylonians and many other nations. John 8:34. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” The Lord does not convict them of lies. His goal is to prove not that they are slaves of men, but that they are slaves of sin. And this slavery is the most difficult thing, and only God can deliver from it. For to forgive sins is the work of God alone. Therefore he says: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin,” and therefore you, since you are sinners, are also slaves. To this they could say that although we are subject to such slavery, we have sacrifices, there are priests who cleanse us from sins. He says that they too are slaves, “because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). However, your priests, being slaves themselves, do not have the power to forgive the sins of others. The Apostle Paul speaks about this more clearly, namely: “The priest must offer sacrifice for himself, as for the people, because he himself is covered with infirmities” (Heb. 5:2-3). John 8:35. But the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. “The servant,” he says, “does not abide in the house,” that is, he does not have the power to give anything, since he is not the master of the house, but the son is the master of the house and remains in the house. The authorities call it a house, just as in another place the authorities call it a house, saying that “in My Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). John 8:36. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free. So those priests of yours, being slaves, did not have the power to forgive sins. And I, the Son, who dwells in the house, that is, having power and independent leadership, the Lord of the house, will give you freedom, because everything is Mine, and I am united and sovereign with the Father. When I free you, then you will be honored with true freedom. Now you are appropriating false freedom for yourself, but by Me you will be liberated essentially and truly. John 8:37. I know that you are Abraham's seed; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word cannot be contained within you. “You,” he says, “consider yourself to be Abraham’s seed. I agree that you retain a carnal relationship with this saint, but you do not have a spiritual relationship with him. He is righteous, philanthropic and hospitable, and you (I’ll keep silent about other aspects of your life, but I’ll show the most obvious thing that you are doing now) breathe murder and hatred of people. For you seek to kill Me and plot against Me. How can you be his true children when you are so far from your father’s characteristics? If you boast of your affinity, you should also imitate its virtue.” Lest they say that we are rightly seeking to kill You, He gives a reason. “You,” he says, “are raging against Me for no other reason than because My word exceeds your understanding and does not fit within you. Meanwhile, for this one would not have to kill, but to respect and honor, and to desire more strongly that I teach the heights of dogmas.” John 8:38. I speak what I saw with My Father; but you do what you saw your father do. So that they do not tell Him again that we rightly hate You for Your word, because You speak to us not from God, but from Yourself, and therefore we cannot accept Your teaching, He adds: “I do not speak from Myself, but I say what I saw from My Father; but you do what you saw your father do.” “I,” he says, “proclaim the divine and heavenly, and thereby reveal My Father, but you, by your actions, reveal your father, that is, the devil.” When you hear these words, “I say what I saw,” then do not think about bodily vision, but understand natural, true and most accurate knowledge. Just as eyes that clearly see the matter and the truth see truly and are not deceived, so I speak truly what I learned from the Father. John 8:39. They answered Him: Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. He makes the devil out to be their father, because in their deeds he sees them as similar to him; and they constantly expose Abraham. The Lord often reminds them of their criminal intention and denies their relationship with the righteous man in order to stop their unnecessary boastfulness and convince them that hope should be placed not in vain pride in carnal kinship, but in the similarity of will. Truly, as a Physician of souls, He calms down the inflammation in them that comes from the dream of affinity with Abraham and prevents them from coming to Christ, for they considered this affinity sufficient for their salvation. John 8:40. And now you seek to kill Me, the Man who told you the truth, which I heard from God: Abraham did not do this. So you, who breathe murder and seek to kill Me, are not the children of Abraham. Then, lest anyone say that they are rightly seeking to kill You, He says: “I am a Man who does not rebel against God, who does not seek My own glory, but who speaks what I have heard from My Father and speaks the truth.” What truth was this? That He is equal to the Father and is not a slave, like one of the prophets, but the Son, who neither does nor says anything of Himself, but everything is from the Father. For for this they sought to kill Him. John 8:41. You are doing the works of your father. To this they said to Him: We were not born of fornication; We have one Father, God. And they again say: “We were not born of fornication; We have one Father, God.” Look, what arrogance! The Lord denies their relationship with Abraham, and they are so vain that in their madness they call themselves children of God Himself. They boast of the sonship of God, probably because they heard the words “My son is the firstborn Israel” (Ex. 4:22). But they should have known that God said in another place: “I begot and raised up sons, but they rejected Me” (Is. 1:2). The Lord could have convicted them of the fact that many of them were born of fornication, since, contrary to the law, Jewish wives entered into relationships with pagans, and pagan wives with Jews; however, He does not do this. For He was not concerned with proving their physical ignobility, but, mainly, wanted to prove that they were base in soul. John 8:42. Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded from God and came; for I did not come of Myself, but He sent Me. Since He excluded them from kinship with Abraham, they rose even higher and called God their father. He reproached them as murderers, and they, defending themselves, say that they are taking revenge for God and that is why they are forming a council against Him. Therefore, the Lord, showing that they do not stand up for God, by their very plan they want to kill Him, and are not the children of God, as they thought, but even opponents of God, says: “If God were your Father, then you would love Me.” For I came from God into the world, that is, I appeared in the flesh. I am not an opponent of God. I came from Him. Therefore, by rebelling against Me, you are enemies of God. John 8:43. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My words. Why do you not recognize My speech, understand and understand what I say? Without a doubt, for no other reason than because you cannot hear My words, that is, you do not want. For “cannot” is used instead of “not wanting”. As long as envy and murderous intent live within you, how can you listen to what I say? John 8:44. Your father is the devil; and you want to do the lusts of your father. He said “you cannot listen to My words” instead of “you do not want to.” Then he gives the reason why they did not want to listen, that they have their own father, namely the devil. Although you foolishly ascribe yourself as children to God as your father, your deeds testify that the devil is a dearer father to you. “You want to fulfill his lusts.” He did not say “works,” but “lusts,” showing that they are very prone to lying and murder, two types of evil that are very characteristic of the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. "He was a murderer from the beginning." Therefore, you, too, seeking to kill Me, become like him, who killed Adam. “He did not stand in the truth,” but he is the father of lies. And you, when you lie against Me and say that I am not from God, do not stand in the truth, do not abide in My word, you are his children, who gave birth to lies. For he slandered God even to people when he told Eve that He forbade them the tree of the knowledge of good and evil out of envy. Likewise, he slandered God against people, for example, against Job, saying that Job does not honor God for nothing. When he tells a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies. When people lie, they take advantage of someone else's lies. But the devil uses lies as property, for it is his creation; and the liar in the proper sense and the father of lies is himself. He said to Eve: “On the day you eat, you will be like gods” (Gen. 3:5). And they (Adam and Eve) received death. John 8:45. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. But you don’t believe Me, because I speak the truth. Not being able to accuse Me of anything other than the truth, you are rebelling against Me for this very reason, like the sons of the father of lies. John 8:46. Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness? If I speak the truth, why don't you believe Me? They called themselves sons of God. He says, “If you are sons of God, you must of course hate the sinner. If you can accuse Me, whom you hate, of sin, then obviously you hate Me justly. But if no one can openly reprove you, you hate Me for the truth.” For what truth? Without a doubt, because He called Himself the Son of God, which is absolutely true. John 8:47. He who is from God listens to the words of God. The reason you don't listen is because you are not from God. “He who is from God listens to the words of God.” Therefore, if you were sons of God, you would not turn away from Me, the Son of God, who came down from heaven and exalts the words of God. John 8:48. To this the Jews answered and said to Him: Are we not telling the truth that You are a Samaritan and that You have a demon? So the Lord speaks to them meekly, but they allow themselves to be insolent. They say: “Aren’t we telling the truth that You are a Samaritan and have a demon in You?” They called Him a Samaritan as a violator of Jewish customs, for example, Sabbath rest, since the Samaritans did not strictly observe the Jewish law. And they call Him demonic, perhaps in the same way as they said that “He also cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons” (Luke 11:15). For all those who slandered that He cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub said that He had in Him the demon of Beelzebub, with which He performed miracles. And as He revealed their thoughts and wishes, perhaps they considered Him to be possessed because they thought that the secrets of their hearts revealed to Him were demons. When did they call Him a Samaritan? The evangelist did not mention this anywhere. From this it is clear that the evangelists did not write down everything, but omitted a lot, as we noted about this in another place. John 8:49. Jesus answered: There is no demon in Me; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. So they offend Him, and He kindly accepts their insults. However, when they call themselves sons of God, He strongly denounces them, standing up for the truth; and when He is offended, He does not defend itself. By this He teaches us to stand up for the glory of God and to meekly endure insults concerning ourselves, just as He meekly says: “There is no demon in Me; but I honor My Father.” How does He honor the Father? By standing up for Him and not allowing murderers and liars to be called sons of the Savior and Truth. “You,” he says, “dishonor Me because I honor My Father, who is reviled by you, since you slander that He is your father. But, if I do not avenge Myself, but endure insults, do not think that this insult will remain without vengeance. There is a Father who will punish such an offense inflicted on Me because I stand up for Him and do not allow you to call yourselves His sons.” John 8:50. However, I do not seek My glory: there is a Seeker and a Judge. There is one who seeks my glory, and not only one who seeks, but also one who is able to judge and punish those who offend me without reason. Often someone else seeks retribution for an offense, but he himself cannot judge. But the Father seeks the glory of the Son and can judge. That is why he said: “There is a Seeker and a Judge.” What humanity! He is offended, and He leaves the search for His glory and vengeance to the Father, turns to admonition and teaching, and thus does good to those who offend Him. So we must pay our enemies. John 8:51. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps My word will never see death. What did He tell them? “Whoever keeps My word,” that is, unites a pure life with faith (for he only truly observes the teachings of the Lord who also has a pure life), such a one will not see the death by which sinners die, given over to endless torment in the next century and falling away from true life. At the same time, he lets them know that if he who keeps My word does not die, how much less do I? Why do you want to kill Me, over Whom death has so little power that I even give true life to others? For although believers die bodily, yet they are alive in God. John 8:52. The Jews said to Him: Now we have learned that you have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets, and You say: whoever keeps My word will never taste death. What do the Jews say to this? They consider Him to be mad, as if He were saying some strange things out of damage to his mind. Abraham and the prophets who heard the words of God died, how can Your listeners not die? “Now,” they say, “we truly, that is, completely and firmly, have learned that You are going berserk when you say this.” John 8:53. Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: Madmen, not understanding what kind of death the Lord was talking about, that it would not affect those who believe in Him, tell Him something reckless and insane. Watch how they respond. “Are You greater than our father Abraham?” They should have said: “Are You greater than God? Those who heard the word of God died, but those who listen to You will not die.” But they are not. Wanting to show that He is less than Abraham, they say: “Are You greater than our father Abraham?” The Lord Himself does not reveal to them what kind of death He spoke about. And that He is higher than Abraham, this is convinced a little later. They say this as an insult. You, unworthy of a single word, Son of a carpenter, Galilean, what are you doing with yourself? Neither works, nor truth, nor Scripture, but what do You make Yourself with? For You take the glory to Yourself. John 8:54. Jesus answered: If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. My Father glorifies me, of whom you say that He is your God. The Lord says to this: “If I glorify Myself, then My glory is nothing, as you think. But now the one who glorifies Me is someone else, namely My Father.” The Father glorified Him in every possible way, sometimes with prophecies about Him, sometimes with testimony from heaven, sometimes with countless and immeasurable miracles. Of this Father you say that He is your God. But you do not recognize Him either as My Father or as your God. If you acknowledged Him as Father, you would honor His Son. But now you do not honor His Son. Obviously, you do not recognize Him as My Father. But you do not recognize Him simply as God. Otherwise you would fear His words as God. Now you resolutely neglect Him. He decreed by law: “Thou shalt not kill.” You seek to kill Me, and, moreover, when you cannot convict Me of sin. John 8:55. And you did not know Him, but I know Him; It is now clear that you do not know Him at all. But I know Him by nature, I have perfect knowledge of Him. For as I am, so is the Father. And just as I know Myself, I know Him too. and if I say that I do not know Him, then I will be a liar like you. For you lie when you boast that you know Him; and I will renounce the truth if, knowing Him, I say that I do not know. But I know Him and keep His word. How will you prove that you know Him? “By this,” he says, “because I keep His word, that is, His commandments.” For I am not an opponent of Him, otherwise I would boast as an opponent of God, and I do not violate His commandments. And you, transgressors of His commandments, are in captivity, indulging in evil lusts, thirsting for murder and many other things prohibited by law, you commit with passion and thereby clearly reveal that you do not know Him. For if you knew Him, you would keep His word, that is, the commandments. Other words “I keep His word” are understood as follows: therefore I know Him, because in Myself I have an unchanging image of His Being, that is, being, and what image of Nature the Father has, is the same with Me. For the Father and the Son have one and the same Nature and one and the same way of being. Therefore I know the Father, for I keep the unchanging image of His Being. This turn of phrase is customary in Scripture. For example, in Slavic it is said “give us help from sorrow: and human salvation is in vain” (Ps. 59:13). Here the particle “and” is used instead of “for”, and the speech has the following meaning: give us help, for salvation from man is unreliable. So in these words, “I know Him, and I keep His word,” the particle “and” is placed instead of “for.” “For,” he says, “I keep His word.” John 8:56. Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced. Here he states that He is greater than Abraham. Above they said to Him: “Are You greater than our father Abraham?” Here He answers: “Yes, I am greater.” He “was glad to see My day,” that is, he considered it pleasant, longed for and joyful, like a very beneficial day and like the day of not a small person, not an ordinary person, but a Great One. “Day” he calls the Cross, for it was typified by Abraham in the offering of Isaac and in the slaughter of the ram. Just as he carried the wood, so the Lord carried the cross, and just as Isaac was abandoned and the ram was slaughtered, so He, as God, remained outside of suffering, but suffered through Humanity and flesh. Foreseeing this day of the Cross as the day of universal salvation, Abraham rejoiced. It also shows that He voluntarily goes to suffer, since He praises the one who rejoiced in the Cross: for through him is the salvation of the universe. Others by “day” mean the entire time of the appearance of Christ in the flesh, which, having seen, Abraham rejoiced that the Savior would come from him and his descendants. Or maybe not only Abraham rejoiced, but everyone, as David says: “This is the day the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps. 117:24). John 8:57. To this the Jews said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? The Jews, unable to rise to the meaning of His words, instead of asking and finding out what day He is talking about that Abraham saw, ridicule Him even more, as if He were saying something unreasonable. “You,” they say, “are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” They said this, thinking that the Lord was about fifty years old, while He was about thirty-three years old. Why didn’t they say, “You are not yet forty years old,” but “fifty”? It would be unnecessary to ask about this. Maybe they mentioned fifty years without a specific thought. However, some say that they said so because they especially honored the fiftieth year, that is, the year of jubilee, in which slaves were set free, buyers gave up their acquisitions, and did everything else that was related to honor. John 8:58. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” What does the Lord say? "Before Abraham was, I am." Look, he did not say “before Abraham was, I was,” but “I am.” For this saying “I am” is more characteristic of God, because it means continuous and everlasting existence. So His Father in the Old Testament expressed himself about Himself: “I am this” (Ex. 3:14). About Abraham, as perishable, he appropriately said “was.” For what received being, then it is destroyed. And the word “am” indicates freedom from all corruption and divine eternity. John 8:59. Then they took stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself and left the church, passing through the midst of them, and went on. Therefore, they too took this saying, as befitting only God, as blasphemy and took stones against Him. But He again hides with humility, so as not to die before the time determined for His death. How does he hide? He did not hide in the corner of the church, did not run into the house, did not lean against the wall or behind a pillar, but by Divine power He made Himself invisible to the accusers, although He went out in the midst of them. “And he went on,” that is, he went on like this, simply, for some time. Look, perhaps, how He fulfilled everything from His side: He taught them enough about Himself and about the Father, and showed them true nobility and freedom in freedom from sins; explained that only slavery is shameful, slavery to sin, and generally did not omit anything necessary. And they throw stones at Him. That is why He leaves them as no longer capable of correction. Notice that the stones are thrown by those about whom the evangelist said that they believed in Him (John 8:30-31). This means that their faith was not faith, but some kind of temporary and cold disposition towards the speeches of Christ.