Church Fathers Commentary John 8:52-56

"The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God; and ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you, a liar: but I know him, and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." — John 8:52-56 (ASV)

St. Gregory the Great: Just as it is necessary that the good should grow better through insult, so the wicked are made worse by kindness. On hearing our Lord’s words, the Jews again blaspheme, saying to Him, “Now we know that you have a devil.”

Origen of Alexandria: Those who believe the Holy Scriptures understand that what people do contrary to right reason is not done without the influence of devils. Thus, the Jews thought that Jesus had spoken under the influence of the devil when He said, “If a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death.” They labored under this idea because they did not know the power of God.

For here He was speaking of that death which is hostility to reason, by which sinners perish, while they understood Him to mean the death that is common to all. Therefore, they blame Him for speaking this way, since it was certain that Abraham and the prophets were dead: “Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my saying, he shall never taste of death.’”

Like careless listeners, they mistake what our Lord said. They say, “shall never taste of death,” instead of, “shall not see death,” though there is a difference between tasting and seeing death. For just as our Lord, because He is the true bread, is good to taste, and because He is wisdom, is beautiful to behold, in the same way His adversary, death, can be both tasted and seen. When a man stands by Christ’s help in the spiritual place shown to him, he will not taste of death if he maintains that state, according to Matthew: “There are some standing here who shall not taste of death.” But when a man hears Christ’s words and keeps them, he shall not see death.

St. John Chrysostom: Again, they resort to the vainglorious argument of their descent: “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?” They might have said, “Are you greater than God, whose words they are dead who heard?” But they do not say this, because they thought Him inferior even to Abraham.

Origen of Alexandria: For they do not see that not only Abraham, but everyone born of women, is less than He who was born of a Virgin. Were the Jews right in saying that Abraham was dead? For he heard the word of Christ and kept it, as did the prophets, whom they say were dead. For they kept the word of the Son of God when the word of the Lord came to Hosea, Isaiah, or Jeremiah; if anyone else kept the word, surely those prophets did. They lie, then, when they say, “We know that you have a devil,” and when they say, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets.”

St. Gregory the Great: Because they were given over to eternal death—a death they could not see—and thought only of the death of the body, their minds were darkened even while the Truth Himself was speaking. They add: “Whom do you make yourself to be?”

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if they were saying, “You, a person of no account, a carpenter’s son from Galilee, are taking glory to yourself!”

The Venerable Bede: “Whom do you make yourself to be?”—that is, “Of what merit or dignity do you want to be considered?” Nevertheless, Abraham died only in the body; his soul lived. And the death of the soul, which is to live forever, is greater than the death of the body, which must die at some time.

Origen of Alexandria: This was the speech of people who were spiritually blind. For Jesus did not make Himself what He was, but received it from the Father. Jesus answered and said, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing.”

St. John Chrysostom: This answers their earlier suspicion, as when He said, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.”

The Venerable Bede: He shows in these words that the glory of this present life is nothing.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This is to answer those who said, “Whom do you make yourself to be?” He refers His glory to the Father, from whom He comes: “It is my Father who honors me.” The Arians take opportunity from these words to slander our faith, saying, “Look, the Father is greater, for He glorifies the Son.” Heretics, have you not read that the Son also glorifies the Father?

Alcuin of York: The Father glorified the Son at His baptism, on the mountain, at the time of His passion (when a voice came to Him in the midst of the crowd), when He raised Him again after His passion, and when He placed Him at the right hand of His Majesty.

St. John Chrysostom: He adds, “of whom you say that he is your God,” meaning to tell them that they were ignorant not only of the Father, but even of God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: For if they had truly known the Father, they would have revered the Son. But they even despise God—who in the Law forbade murder—by their clamors against Christ. Therefore He says, “You have not known him.”

Alcuin of York: It is as if to say, “You call Him your God in a carnal manner, serving Him for temporal rewards. You have not known Him as He ought to be known; you are not able to serve Him spiritually.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: Some heretics say that the God proclaimed in the Old Testament is not the Father of Christ, but a kind of prince of evil angels. Christ contradicts them when He calls the one whom the Jews called their God—and did not know—His Father. For if they had known Him, they would have received His Son.

Of Himself, however, He adds, “But I know him.” Here too, to those judging by the flesh, He might appear arrogant. But we must not guard against arrogance so much that we abandon the truth. Therefore, our Lord says, “And if I should say, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar like you.”

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if to say, “Just as you lie when you say that you know Him, so I would be a liar if I said I did not know Him.” It follows, however—and this is the greatest proof of all that He was sent from God—“But I know him.”

Theophylact of Ohrid: I have that knowledge by nature, for as I am, so is the Father. I know Myself, and therefore I know Him. And He gives the proof that He knows Him: “And I keep his saying”—that is, His commandments. Some understand “I keep his saying” to mean, “I keep the nature of His substance unchanged,” for the substance of the Father and the Son is the same, as their nature is the same; and therefore I know the Father. Here, “and” has the force of “because”: I know Him because I keep His saying.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He spoke the word of the Father as the Son, and He was Himself that Word of the Father which He spoke to humanity.

St. John Chrysostom: In answer to their question, “Are you greater than our father Abraham?” He shows them that He is indeed greater than Abraham: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Abraham must have rejoiced because my day would benefit him, which is an acknowledgment that I am greater than he.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if to say, “He regarded my day as a day to be desired and full of joy, not as if I were an unimportant or common person.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: He did not fear, but rejoiced to see. He rejoiced in hope, believing, and so he saw by faith. It is debatable whether Christ is speaking here of His temporal day—namely, His coming in the flesh—or of that eternal day which knows neither rising nor setting.

I do not doubt, however, that our father Abraham knew the whole matter. As he says to the servant he sent, “Put your hand under my thigh, and swear to me by the God of heaven.” What did that oath signify, if not that the God of heaven was to come in the flesh from the line of Abraham?

St. Gregory the Great: Abraham saw the day of the Lord even then, when he hosted the three angels, who were a figure of the Trinity.

St. John Chrysostom: They are strangers to Abraham if they grieve over that in which he rejoiced. By “my day,” perhaps Christ means the day of the cross, which Abraham prefigured by the offering of Isaac and the ram, thereby indicating that He did not go to His passion unwillingly.

St. Augustine of Hippo: If those to whom the Word appeared in the flesh rejoiced, what must his joy have been, who beheld in spiritual vision the ineffable light, the abiding Word, the bright illumination of pious souls, the unfailing wisdom—still abiding with God the Father, and one day to come in the flesh, yet without leaving the Father's bosom?