Sign in
JOHN 8:47 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 8:46John 8:48
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God — Jesus applies the principle: those who belong to God hear God's words (ta rhēmata tou Theou). The authorities do not hear them, which proves they are 'not of God.' Again, spiritual parenthood is determined by receptivity to God's truth. Jesus's words are God's words; they are God's word incarnate. To reject them is to prove oneself outside God's family.

Church Fathers on John 8:47

Our Lord, having already cut off the Jews from relationship to Abraham, overthrows now this far greater claim, to call God their Father, You are of your father the devil.

Chrysostom · 4th century

Here we must guard against the heresy of the Manicheans, who hold a certain original nature of evil, and a nation of darkness with princes at their head, whence the devil derives his existence. And thence they say our flesh is produced; and in this way interpret our Lord’s speech, You are of your father the devil: viz. to mean that they were by nature evil, drawing their origin from the opposite seed of darkness.

Augustine · 4th century

And this seems to be the same mistake, as if one said, that an eye which saw right was different in kind from an eye which saw wrong. For just as in these there is no difference of kind, only one of them for some reason sees wrong; so, in the other case, whether a man receives a doctrine, or whether he does not, he is of the same nature.

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 21 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!