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 — Jesus establishes a criterion for claiming God as Father: love for Jesus. If they truly knew God, they would recognize God's word and God's Son and would love him. Instead, they oppose him. Jesus states his own origin explicitly: 'I proceeded forth and came from God' (exēlthon ek tou Theou)—this is the clearest statement of his divine origin in chapter 8. He came from God, not of his own will, but as God's emissary. Their refusal to love and accept him shows that God is not their Father.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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