John 8:13 — Community Reflections

JOHN 8:13 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.”

The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true — the Pharisees object to Jesus's testimony about himself, invoking the legal principle that a person's self-testimony cannot establish truth (echoing perhaps a rabbinic rule about witnesses). The objection assumes that only external witnesses can validate a claim, yet Jesus's entire Gospel has been about his self-revelation—his words and works bearing witness to his identity. The Pharisees' demand for external witnesses reveals their legal-institutional framework, which cannot accommodate the reality of divine self-disclosure.

Church Fathers on John 8:13

Our Lord having said, I am the Light of the world; and, he that follows Me, walks not in darkness, the Jews wish to overthrow what He has said: The Pharisees therefore said to Him, you bear record of Yourself, Your record is not true.
Chrysostom · 4th century

As if our Lord Himself were the only (one that bore) witness to Himself; whereas the truth was that He had, before His incarnation, sent many witnesses to prophesy of His Sacraments.
Alcuin · 8th century

The witness of light is true, whether the light show itself, or other things. The Prophet spoke the truth, but whence had he it, but by drawing from the fount of truth? Jesus then is a competent witness to Himself: For I know whence I come, and whither I go: this has reference to the Father; for the Son gave glory to the Father who sent Him. How greatly then should man glorify the Creator, who made Him. He did not separate from His Father, however, when He came, or desert us…
Augustine · 4th century

Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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