Charles Ellicott Commentary John 8:37

"I know that ye are Abraham`s seed: yet ye seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you." — John 8:37 (ASV)

I know that you are Abraham’s seed.—He uses the word which they had used in John 8:33, acknowledging their merely physical descent from Abraham. He has since used the word “Son,” but does not apply it to them. In John 8:39 He refuses to acknowledge that they are Abraham’s “children.”

But you seek to kill me.—The difficulty of understanding these words as referring to those who believed in Him (John 8:30–31) has led to the opinion that others of the hierarchy answer in John 8:33. This seems unnatural and is opposed to the words which immediately follow.

As a party, they had been, and still were, seeking to kill Him. These believers, by their question in John 8:33, were showing the spirit which declined discipleship, identifying themselves with His opponents.

Because my word has no place in you.—Better, makes no progress in you, “does not advance, does not gain ground in you.” That meaning is established by undoubted examples, and is in exact agreement with the thought of the context. In John 8:31 the test was, If you abide in My word. Their question proves that their faith was momentary. The word had only penetrated the surface of their thoughts, but they had not received it in such a way as to allow it to advance into the mind and influence their conduct.