John 8:40

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. BUT NOW YE SEEK TO KILL ME, A MAN THAT HATH TOLD YOU THE TRUTH, WHICH I HAVE HEARD [OR 'WHICH I HEARD' eekousa (G191 )] OF GOD: THIS DID NOT ABRAHAM. In so doing ye act in direct opposition to him....

40._But now you seek to kill me. _He proves from the effect, that they are not the children of God, as they boasted, because they oppose God. And, indeed, is there any thing in Abraham that is more highly commended than the obedience of faith? (237) This then is the mark of distinction, whenever we are required to distinguish between his children and strangers; for empty titles, whatever estimation they may procure before the world, are of no account with God. Christ therefore concludes again, that they are the children of the devil, because they hate with deadly hatred (238) true and sound doctrine....

37-40 Our Lord opposed the proud and vain confidence of these Jews, showing that their descent from Abraham could not profit those of a contrary spirit to him. Where the word of God has no place, no good is to be expected; room is left there for all wickedness. A sick person who turns from his physician, and will take neither remedies nor food, is past hope of recovery. The truth both heals and nourishes the hearts of those who receive it. The truth taught by philosophers has not this power and effect, but only the truth of God. Those who claim the privileges of Abraham, must do Abraham's works; must be strangers and sojourners in this world; keep up the worship of God in their families, and always walk before God....

YE SEEK TO KILL ME - See John 8:37. THIS DID NOT ABRAHAM - Or such things Abraham did not do. There are two things noted here in which they differed from Abraham: 1. In seeking to kill him, or in possessing a murderous and bloody purpose. 2. In rejecting the truth as God revealed it. Abraham was distinguished for love to man as well as God. He liberated the captives Genesis 14:14; was distinguished for hospitality to strangers Genesis 18:1; and received the revelations of God to him, however mysterious, or however trying their observance,...

EXPOSITION Verses 7:53-8:11 (8) _The pericope adulterae. _(A)_ Excursus on the genuineness of _John 7:53-43__John 7:53-43. It is our duty to examine the various grounds on which this passage has been almost universally concluded to have formed no portion of the original Fourth Gospel; and then the internal grounds on which it has been rejected, and some of the speculations as to its origin and value. Doubts have beset the authenticity of the passage from the fourth and fifth centuries in the Eastern Church, both on external and internal grounds. The authority and practice of Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome gave it a secure resting place till the criticism of Erasmus re-awakened doubt. Calvin expressed a more favourable opinion con

BUT NOW YE SEEK TO KILL ME,.... A temper and disposition very foreign from that of Abraham's: A MAN THAT HATH TOLD YOU THE TRUTH, WHICH I HAVE HEARD OF GOD; to seek to kill a man is a very great crime, and punishable with death; to kill an innocent one, that had done no sin, who was pure, holy, harmless, and inoffensive to God and man, was an aggravation of the iniquity; and to kill a prophet, and one more than a prophet, who brought a revelation from God himself, and declared the whole truth of the Gospel, and particularly that of his divine, eternal sonship, which incensed them against him, and put them upon seeking to take away his life, still increased the sin. THIS DID NOT ABRAHAM: the sense is not, that Abraham did not tell the truth he had heard of God; for he did instruct, and command his children after him, to walk in the ways of the Lord, which he had learned from him; but th...

John 8:28. _Then said Jesus unto them;_ That is, to the Jews who were questioning and opposing him,- John 8:28. _When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things._ Blessed be God, there were many, after the crucifixion of Christ, who did. believe in him! Yet, alas! in others, the blindness of heart continued, and they would not see the Messiah in him who was crucified. We, who believe in the uplifted Saviour, can see the Father in the Son; and to us, faith has become a most blessed thing; and we know that he does nothing of himself, and that, as the Father has taught him, so he speaks....

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. The Woman Taken in Adultery. (John 8:1 .)_ 2. The Light of the World. (John 8:12 .) 3. His Testimony Concerning Himself and the Father. (John 8:13 .) 4. His Solemn Declarations. (John 8:21 .) 5. Before Abraham Was, I Am. (John 8:48 .) The first verse belongs to the preceding chapter. The officers returned without Him, bearing their testimony that “never man spake like this man.” Nicodemus ventured his timid defense. Then every man went to his own house while the Lord went to the Mount of Olives. The story of the woman

CONTROVERSY WITH THE JEWS WHO BELIEVED. Many are convinced by this appeal. The following section summarises the teaching by which Jesus tried to bring the more favourably disposed of the Jewish party to a fuller faith. If they will make Christ's teaching a real part of their lives, they will gain the truth which sets men free. They take offence. If they have had to submit to foreign power, they have never been reduced to slavery. Sin is slavery, Jesus replies, and the slave has no secure place in the house as the son has. The author adds that true freedom is the gift of the Son. Jesus admits their physical descent from Abraham (John 8:37). But their conduct does not correspond to their parentage. They do not dissociate themselves from their party's policy of trying to get rid of one whose teaching is unacceptable. He follows His Father's example. Let them follow the example of theirs. Th...

39-43. ABRAHAM IS OUR FATHER. To Christ's allusion to their father they again assert that they are Abraham's offspring. This might be true according to the flesh, but spiritually they had another father. See verse 44. YE SEEK TO KILL ME. A thing totally unlike Abraham, and showing that they are not his spiritual children. YE DO THE DEEDS OF YOUR FATHER. The father named in verse 44. IF GOD WERE YOUR FATHER. This is in reply to their claim that they are God's children. Their assertion is disproved by their hate of him who was sent from God. God's spiritual children would welcome "God manifest in the flesh." CANNOT HEAR MY WORD. They could not understand him, because they were morally incapable of hearing him. Satan, their father, had them captive, and their minds were so preoccupied, that they could not receive Christ's truth....