Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 8:39-43

"They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham`s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard from God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? [Even] because ye cannot hear my word." — John 8:39-43 (ASV)

1. After showing that the Jews had a certain spiritual origin, our Lord here rejects certain origins which they had presumptuously attributed to themselves.

   1. He rejects the origin they claimed to have from Abraham.

   2. He rejects the origin they thought they had from God, as when they said therefore to him: we were not born of fornication.

   Regarding the first point, He does two things:

   1. He gives the opinion of the Jews about their origin.

   2. He rejects it, with the words, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.

2. It should be noted that our Lord had said to them, you do the things that you have seen with your father (John 8:38). Glorying in their carnal descent, they therefore aligned themselves with Abraham, saying, Abraham is our father. This is like saying: if we have a spiritual origin, we are good, because our father Abraham is good: O offspring of Abraham his servant (Psalms 105:6). As Augustine says, they tried to provoke Him to say something against Abraham and so give them an excuse for doing what they had planned, namely, to kill Christ.

3. Our Lord rejects their opinion as false with the words, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.

   1. He gives the true sign of being a child of Abraham.

   2. He shows that this sign is not found in the Jews, with the words, but now you seek to kill me.

   3. He draws his conclusion: you do the works of your father.

4. The sign that someone is a child is that he resembles the one whose child he is. Just as children in the flesh resemble their parents in the flesh, so spiritual children (if they are truly children) should imitate their spiritual parents: be imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1). Regarding this, He says, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. This is like saying: if you imitated Abraham, that would be a sign that you are his children: look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isaiah 51:2).

5. Here a question arises. When He says, if you are the sons of Abraham, He seems to be denying that they are the children of Abraham, whereas just previously He had said, I know that you are the sons of Abraham (John 8:37).

   There are two ways of answering this. The first, according to Augustine, is that He previously said they were children of Abraham according to the flesh, but here He is denying that they are children in the sense of imitating his works, especially his faith. Therefore, they took their flesh from him, but not their life: it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7).

   According to Origen, who offers another explanation, both statements refer to their spiritual origin. Where our text reads, I know that you are the sons of Abraham, the Greek has, I know that you are the seed of Abraham (John 8:37). But Christ says here, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham, because the Jews, spiritually speaking, were the seed of Abraham but not his children.

   There is a difference between a seed and a child. A seed is unformed, though it contains the characteristics of its source. A child, however, has a likeness to the parent after the seed has been developed by the formative power acting upon the material provided by the female. In the same way, the Jews were indeed the seed of Abraham, insofar as they had some of the characteristics God had infused into him. But because they had not reached the perfection of Abraham, they were not his children. This is why He said to them, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham, meaning they should strive for a perfect imitation of his works.

6. Again, because He said, do the works of Abraham, it would seem that whatever he did, we should do. Consequently, we should have a number of wives and approach a maidservant, as Abraham did.

   I answer that the chief work of Abraham was faith, by which he was justified before God: he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Thus, the meaning is, do the works of Abraham, that is, believe according to the example of Abraham.

7. One might argue against this interpretation that faith should not be called a work, since it is distinguished from works: faith apart from works is dead (James 2:26).

   I answer that faith can be called a work according to what was said above: this is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he has sent (John 6:29). An internal work is not apparent to man, but only to God, according to the verse, the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). This is the reason we are more accustomed to call external actions works. Thus, faith is not distinguished from all works, but only from external works.

8. But should we do all the works of Abraham?

   I answer that works can be considered in two ways. They can be considered according to the kind of works they are, in which sense we should not imitate all his works. Or, they can be considered according to their root, and in this sense we should imitate the works of Abraham, because whatever he did, he did out of charity. Thus, Augustine says that the celibacy of John was not esteemed above the marriage of Abraham, since the root of each was the same. Or, it might be said that all of Abraham’s works should be imitated in their symbolism, because all these things happen to them in figure (1 Corinthians 10:11).

9. Then, with the words but now you seek to kill me, He shows that they do not have the previously mentioned sign of being children.

   1. The conduct of the Jews is given.

   2. He shows that it does not resemble the conduct of Abraham, with the words, Abraham did not do this.

10. The conduct of the Jews is shown to be wicked and perverse because they were murderers; so He says, now you seek to kill me. This fulfills the prophecy: how the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers (Isaiah 1:21).

    This murder was an unfathomable sin against the person of the Son of God. Yet, because it is said, if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8), our Lord does not say that they sought to kill the Son of God, but a man. For although the Son of God is said to have suffered and died because of the unity of His person, this suffering and death was not in His capacity as the Son of God, but because of His human weakness, as it says: for he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Corinthians 13:4).

11. To further clarify this murder, He shows that they have no reason to put Him to death; thus He adds, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God. This truth is that He said He is equal to God: therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God (John 5:18). He heard this truth from God in that He received from the Father from eternity, through an eternal generation, the same nature that the Father has: for as the Father has life in himself, so he has also given to the Son to have life in himself (John 5:26).

    Furthermore, He excludes the two reasons for which the law commanded that prophets were to be killed. First, for lying, for Deuteronomy commands that a prophet should be killed for speaking a lie or feigning dreams (Deuteronomy 13:5). Our Lord excludes this from Himself, saying, a man who has spoken the truth to you, for my mouth will utter truth (Proverbs 8:7). Second, a prophet was to be killed if he spoke in the name of false gods, or said in the name of God things that God did not command (Deuteronomy 13:5). Our Lord excludes this from Himself when He says, which I have heard from God.

12. Then when He says, Abraham did not do this, He shows that their works are not like those of Abraham. He is saying, in effect: because you act contrary to Abraham, you show that you are not his children, for it is written about him: he kept the law of the Most High, and was taken into covenant with him .

    Some frivolously object that Christ did not exist before Abraham and therefore Abraham did not do this, since one who did not exist could not be killed.

    I answer that Abraham is not commended for something he did not do to Christ, but for what he did not do to anyone in similar circumstances, that is, to those who spoke the truth in his day.

    Or, it might be answered that although Christ had not come in the flesh during the time of Abraham, He nevertheless had come into his mind, according to the verse: in every generation she passes into souls . And Abraham did not kill wisdom by sinning mortally. Concerning this we read: they crucify the Son of God (Hebrews 6:6).

13. Then when He says, you do the works of your father, He draws His conclusion. It was like saying: from the fact that you do not do the works of Abraham, it follows that you have some other father whose works you are doing. A similar statement is made: fill up, then, the measure of your fathers (Matthew 23:32).

14. Then, when they said to him: we were not born of fornication, He addresses their claim to have their origin from God. Since they knew from our Lord’s words that He was not speaking of carnal descent, they turn to spiritual descent, claiming, we were not born of fornication.

    1. They give their own opinion.

    2. Our Lord rejects it, with the words, Jesus therefore said to them: if God were your Father.

15. According to some, the Jews are denying one thing and affirming another. They are denying that they were born of fornication. According to Origen, they said this tauntingly to Christ, with the unspoken suggestion that He was the product of adultery. It was like saying: we were not born of fornication as you were.

    But it is better to say that the spiritual spouse of the soul is God: I will betroth you to me forever (Hosea 2:19). Just as a bride is guilty of fornication when she admits a man other than her husband, so in Scripture Judea was said to be fornicating when she abandoned the true God and turned to idols: for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord (Hosea 1:2). And so the Jews said: we were not born of fornication. It was like saying: although our mother, the synagogue, may now and then have departed from God and fornicated with idols, we have not departed or fornicated with idols: we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back (Psalms 44:17); but you, draw near here, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the harlot (Isaiah 57:3).

    Further, they affirm that they are children of God, and this seems to follow from the fact that they did not believe they were born of fornication. Thus they say, we have one God, the Father, as it is written: have we not all one father? (Malachi 2:10); and and I thought you would call me, my Father (Jeremiah 3:19).

16. Next, with the words Jesus therefore said to them: if God were your Father, our Lord refutes their opinion.

    1. We see the sign of being a child of God.

    2. The reason for this sign is given, with the words, for I proceeded and came forth from God.

    3. We see that the Jews lack this sign, with the words, why do you not understand my speech?

17. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that our Lord had previously identified the sign of physical childhood in the external actions a person performs. Here, however, He places the sign of being a child of God in one’s internal affections.

    We become children of God by sharing in the Holy Spirit: you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship (Romans 8:15). The Holy Spirit is the cause of our love for God, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Romans 5:5).

    Therefore, the special sign of being a child of God is love: be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love (Ephesians 5:1). This is why He says, if God were your Father, you would indeed love me, for the innocent and the upright in heart, who are the children of God, have clung to me (Psalms 21:4).

18. Then, with the words for I proceeded and came forth from God, He gives the reason for this sign.

    1. He states the truth.

    2. He rejects an error, with the words, for I came not of myself.

19. The truth He asserts is that He proceeded and came forth from God. It should be noted that all friendship is based on union; brothers love one another because they share the same parents. Thus, our Lord is saying: you claim to be children of God, but if this were true, you would indeed love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God. Therefore, anyone who does not love me is not a child of God.

    I say I proceeded from God from eternity as the Only Begotten, of the substance of the Father: from the womb before the daystar I begot you (Psalms 109:4); in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). And I came forth as the Word who was made flesh, sent by God through the incarnation. As He says elsewhere, I came forth from the Father, from eternity as the Word, and have come into the world, when I was made flesh in time (John 16:28).

20. He rejects an error when He says, I came not of myself. First, He rejects the error of Sabellius, who said that Christ did not have His origin from another, for he said that the Father and the Son were the same in person. In regard to this He says, I came not of myself, that is, according to Hilary, I came, not existing of myself, but as one sent by another, that is, the Father. Thus He adds, but he sent me: God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).

    Second, He rejects an error of the Jews who said that Christ was not sent by God, but was a false prophet, of whom we read: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran (Jeremiah 23:21). In regard to this He says, according to Origen, I came not of myself, but he sent me. Indeed, this is what Moses prayed for: I beseech you, Lord, send whom you will send (Exodus 4:13).

21. He shows that they lack this sign when He says, why do you not understand my speech? As was stated above, to love Christ is the sign of being a child of God; but they did not love Christ, so it is obvious that they did not have this sign. That they do not love Christ is shown by the effect of love, for the effect of loving someone is that the lover joyfully hears the words of the beloved. Thus we read: let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet (Song of Solomon 2:14). And again, my companions are listening for your voice; let me hear it (Song of Solomon 8:13). Therefore, because they did not love Christ, it seemed tedious to them even to hear His voice: this saying is hard, and who is able to accept it? (John 6:61); the very sight of him is a burden to us .

    It sometimes happens that a person is not glad to hear the words of another because he cannot weigh them and for that reason does not understand them, and so he contradicts them: answer, I beseech you, without contention . . . and you shall not find iniquity on my tongue (Job 6:29). Therefore He says, why do you not understand my speech? For you asked earlier, what is this that He said, where I go, you cannot come? (John 8:21). I say that you do not understand because you cannot bear to hear my word; that is, your heart is so hardened against me that you do not even want to hear me.