ACC ~ John 8 v31 - 41A

OVERVIEW:

Our Lord tests the faith of the believers (CHRYSOSTOM). It is easier to come to Christ than to continue in him (AUGUSTINE). Those who do continue in him shall know the truth, which is Christ, who gives freedom to those who are justified through faith in him (CYPRIAN, CYRIL). This is his promise to us, something that we cannot fully know but that we believe in order to know. The truth is stamped on us even now, although we have rubbed out much of that stamp by our wanderings. Our freedom comes when we subject ourselves to the truth, since the soul can enjoy no freedom unless it enjoys it in peace. The truth of Christ brings freedom from death, corruption and changeableness (AUGUSTINE).

While the Jews may have denied being in bondage, there is a long line of historical fact backing Jesus’ assertion that they were slaves (AUGUSTINE, THEODORE). When Christ says, “Truly, truly” he is taking an oath testifying to his veracity (AUGUSTINE). He tells his hearers then and now that they cannot serve God and sin (IRENAEUS). Sin will enslave (GREGORY OF NYSSA). We must break the bonds of that sin with repentance and wash it away with our tears. Otherwise, if we freely follow sin, we become its slave (GREGORY THE GREAT). Jesus gives us true freedom as sons and daughters (THEODORE) who are freed to love. As long as sin remains, we have only partial freedom (AUGUSTINE). It is only Christ who can bring true freedom (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Once we are free, however, we should not abuse that freedom as license to sin (AUGUSTINE).

Instead of claiming the sonship of Abraham, they should have set their sights on an even higher nobility—that of the king of the universe (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). But they continue to count on their claim to Abraham. Just because one is a descendent of Abraham, however, does not mean he is a child of Abraham (ORIGEN). Jesus reminds them of the present sin they are contemplating against him (CHRYSOSTOM). Had they understood and believed his words, the Word would have sunk into their hearts, catching them for salvation (AUGUSTINE). Instead, his Word has found no place in them. What he is saying comes from the Father, with whom he shares not only his divine substance but also the truth (CHRYSOSTOM). Our Lord wants us to understand the truth through understanding him because he is the truth (AUGUSTINE) and an eyewitness to what the Father has done (ORIGEN). They too by their actions show who their father is, although Christ as of yet has not chosen to name him (AUGUSTINE).

Jesus was still referring to their father as God, but they make a humbler assertion in claiming Abraham (ORIGEN) as if to say, what can you say against Abraham (AUGUSTINE)? But Jesus refutes this claim (ORIGEN)—not the fact that their lineage comes from Abraham—but that they bear any resemblance to him in how they are living (AUGUSTINE). If they really wanted to be children of Abraham, they should do all the works of Abraham (ORIGEN). The fact that they are seeking to kill Jesus shows they are not his children, nor do they have access to the truth (EUSEBIUS).They instead are seeking to kill “a man,” he says, who has told the truth, asserting his humanity (ORIGEN) while at the same time asserting his equality with the Father because he has heard this truth from the Father (CHRYSOSTOM). Their hatred of Jesus is the antithesis of what Abraham did when he longed to see Jesus’ day arrive. In other words, they may be children of Abraham, but the fruit they produce shows whose children they really are (ORIGEN).

8:31 | Disciples Continue in Christ’s Word

TESTING THE FAITH OF THE BELIEVERS

CHRYSOSTOM: Beloved, our condition needs much endurance; and endurance is best produced when doctrines are deeply rooted. For just as there is no wind that is able to tear up an oak tree by its assaults because it sends down its root deep into the earth, so too the soul that is nailed by the fear of God—not just rooted but nailed—will not be able to be overturned…. Our Lord wanted to test the faith of those who believed so that it might not be merely superficial, and so he digs deeper into their souls by a more striking word…. And so, when he said, “If you continue,” he made it clear what was in their hearts. He knew that some believed but would not continue. And he makes them a magnificent promise, that is, that they shall become his disciples indeed. These words are a tacit rebuke to some who had believed and afterwards withdrawn because they could not continue. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 54.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:193**.

EASIER TO COME THAN CONTINUE

AUGUSTINE: It is a small thing for a disciple to come to him; it is a much greater thing to continue in him. Therefore he does not say if you “hear” or “come” or “praise” my Word. He says, “If you continue in my Word.” What do you think, brothers? Is continuing in the Lord hard work or not? If it is hard work, look at the reward. If it is not, you receive the reward for nothing. Let us then continue in him who continues in us. SERMON 84.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 6:510**.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE

CYPRIAN: We must endure and persevere, beloved brothers, so that once we have the hope of truth and freedom, we may actually attain them. For the very fact that we are Christians is the substance of faith and hope. But if hope and faith are going to achieve their result, there must be patience. For we are not following after present but future glory…. Therefore, waiting and patience are needed so that we may fulfill what we have begun to be and may receive what we believe and hope for according to God’s own appearing. THE GOOD OF PATIENCE 9.13. [1]

[1] ANF 5:487*.

8:32 | The Truth Will Set You Free

THE TRUTH IS CHRIST, THE GIVER OF FREEDOM

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: This saying of Jesus persuades those who believe to leave behind worship that is according to the law. [1] It teaches us that the shadow [i.e., the law] is our guide to the knowledge of him and that, leaving the types and figures behind, we should go resolutely forward to the truth itself, which is Christ the giver of true freedom, who is also our Redeemer….

And so, true salvation is not in the ordinances of the law, nor will anyone win the thrice-longed for freedom from sin by observing the law. Rather, bounding a little above the types and surveying the beauty of worship in the Spirit and acknowledging the truth, that is, Christ, we are justified through faith in him. And justified, we pass over to what is true freedom, no more ranked among the slaves but among the sons of God…. For it is only through this truth, that is, Christ, that they shall be entirely free. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.5. [2]

[1] Cyril’s reference here is to the Jewish sacrificial system.

[2] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

WE BELIEVE IN ORDER TO KNOW

AUGUSTINE: What does he promise believers? “And you shall know the truth.” Why is that? Hadn’t they come to such knowledge when the Lord was speaking? If they had not, how did they believe? They believed, not because they knew but so that they might come to know. For we believe in order that we may know. We do not know in order that we may believe. For what we shall yet know, “neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man [humankind].” [1] For what is faith, but believing what you do not see? Faith then is to believe what you do not see. Truth is seeing what you have believed, as Christ himself says in a certain place. [2] … But isn’t what you [Christ] have been speaking the truth? It is the truth, but as yet it is only believed, not seen. If you abide in what is believed, you shall attain to what is seen. [3] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 40.9. [4]

[1] Is 64:4; 1 Cor 2:9.

[2] Jn 20:29.

[3] He then cites 1 Jn 3:2.

[4] NPNF 1 7:228*.

HOW THE TRUTH IS REPRODUCED IN US

AUGUSTINE: We are God’s money: we have wandered away as coin from the treasury. The impression that was stamped on us has been rubbed out by our wandering. He has come to mint us again, for he is the one who minted us in the first place, and he himself is asking for his money, as Caesar asks for his. Therefore he says, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s,” [1] to Caesar his money, to God yourselves. And then shall the truth be reproduced in us. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 40.9. [2]

[1] Mt 22:21.

[2] NPNF 1 7:228*.

TRUTH BRINGS FREEDOM

AUGUSTINE: Someone might say, And what does it profit me to know the truth? “And the truth shall set you free.” If the truth does not appeal to you, then let freedom have its charms. In the Latin we use the word free chiefly in the sense of escape from danger, relief from care. But the proper signification of “to be free” is “to be made free,” just as “to be saved” is “to be made safe.”… This is plainer in the Greek. SERMON 84(134).2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 6:510*.

THE SOUL AT PEACE

AUGUSTINE: Our freedom comes when we subject ourselves to the truth. And this truth is our God who frees us from death, that is, from the condition of sin. For he himself spoke of this truth as a man among people when he spoke to those who believed: “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” For the soul enjoys nothing in freedom unless it enjoys it in peace. [1] ON FREE WILL 2.13.37. [2]

[1] Or“security.”

[2] CCL 29:262.

TRUTH FREES US

AUGUSTINE: From what shall the truth free us except from death, corruption and changeableness, since truth itself remains immortal, incorrupt and unchangeable? But true immortality, true incorruptibility, true unchangeableness is eternity itself. ON THE TRINITY 4.18.24. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 3:82**.

8:33 | Descendants of Abraham Are Not Slaves

HISTORY OF BEING IN BONDAGE TO MAN AND SIN

AUGUSTINE: But the Lord did not say, “You shall be free,” but “The truth shall make you free.” However, that word [free]—because, as I have said, it is clearly so in the Greek—they understood as pointing only to freedom. They puffed themselves up as Abraham’s seed and said, “We are Abraham’s seed and were never in bondage to anyone: how is it that you say, ‘You shall be free’?” O inflated skin! This is not magnanimity; it is hot air! For even if you want to talk about freedom in this life, how were you truthful when you said, “We were never in bondage to anyone”? Wasn’t Joseph sold? [1] Weren’t the holy prophets led into captivity? [2] And again, didn’t that very nation, when making bricks in Egypt, also serve hard rulers, not only in gold and silver but also in clay? [3] If you were never in bondage to anyone, ungrateful people, why is it that God is continually reminding you that he delivered you from the house of bondage? [4] Or do you perhaps mean that your ancestors were in bondage, but you who speak were never in bondage to anyone? How then were you now paying tribute to the Romans, out of which also you formed a trap for the truth himself, as if to ensnare him? [5] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41.2. [6]

[1] See Gen 37:28.

[2] See 2 Kings 24.

[3] See Ex 1:14.

[4] Ex 13:3; Deut 5:6.

[5] Mt 22:17.

[6] NPNF 1 7:230*.

THEY LIE ABOUT THEIR FREEDOM

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: They did not speak the truth. They had been freed from the bondage of the Egyptians, who were their neighbors, and from that of the Babylonians. And now, when they were speaking these words, they were subjects to the Romans. But our Lord did not lower himself to rebuke them about it, even though they were lying. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.33. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:173.

8:34 | Speaking Truly to Slaves of Sin

CHRIST’S OATH

AUGUSTINE: This assertion is important. It is, if one may say so, his oath. “Amen” means true but is not translated. Neither the Greek nor the Latin translator has dared to translate it. It is a Hebrew word, and people have abstained from translating it in order to throw a reverential veil over so mysterious a word. It is not that they wished to lock it up but only to prevent it from becoming despised by being exposed. How important the word is, you may see from its being repeated…. Our Lord has recourse to this mode of enforcing his words, in order to rouse people from their state of sleep and indifference. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41.3-4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:230-31**.

THOSE WHO SERVE GOD CANNOT SERVE SIN

IRENAEUS: Inasmuch, then, as he terms those “the slaves of sin” who serve sin but does not certainly call sin itself God, in this way also he terms those who serve mammon as “the slaves of mammon,” not calling mammon God. For mammon is, according to the Jewish language, [1] which the Samaritans also use, a covetous person, and one who wishes to have more than he ought to have. … We cannot serve God and mammon. AGAINST HERESIES 3.8.1. [2]

[1] Irenaeus says he has here in mind the Hebrew word Mamuel, but the etymology of the word is notoriously difficult to trace. The Hebrew usage to which he refers may be reflected in the Targums, which often use mammon in the way of“dishonest gain,”“damage” or“spoiling one’s neighbor’s property.” See TDNT 4:389.

[2] ANF 1:421.

COMPLETE SPIRITUAL WHOLESOMENESS

GREGORY OF NYSSA: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin,” that is, turning to evil in any matter and situation somehow enslaves a person and puts the stigma of a runaway slave on the person, with scars and brands inflicted by the blows of sin. ON VIRGINITY 18. [1]

[1] FC 58:59.

PIERCE SIN WITH REPENTANCE

GREGORY THE GREAT: Whoever yields to wrong desires puts his formerly free soul under the yoke of the evil one and takes him for his master. But we oppose this master when we struggle against the wickedness that has laid hold on us, when we strongly resist habit, when we pierce sin with repentance and wash away the spots of filth with tears. MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 4.35.71. [1]

[1] LF 18:238*.

FREELY FOLLOWING DESIRE IS SLAVERY

GREGORY THE GREAT: And the more freely people follow their perverse desires, the more closely they are in bondage to them. MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 25.16.34. [1]

[1] LF 23:125*.

JESUS GIVES US TRUE FREEDOM AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: This is what he means: The subject of what I am talking about is not corporeal bondage. I want to talk to you about real freedom. In one instance a master, at his discretion, drives away from the house a servant in whom he sees an evil will and subjects him to any punishment he considers to be appropriate. But… no master drives away his son from the house. So, one who is a slave to sin, since he is far removed from all divine goodness, is given a perpetual punishment. But the one who has been made worthy of freedom and has been given the status of son always enjoys divine goodness and can never be removed from it. If you, he says, are freed through me and are made worthy of the title of sons, then you will possess real freedom. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.34-36. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:173-74.

8:35 | The Son Continues Forever

LIBERATED FOR LOVE

AUGUSTINE: He has greatly alarmed us, my brothers, by saying, “The servant does not remain in the house forever.” He further adds, however, “But the Son remains forever.” Will Christ, then, be alone in his house? Will no people remain at his side? Whose head will he be if there shall be no body? Or is the Son both the head and the body? There is a reason why he inspires both terror and hope: terror so that we do not love sin, and hope so that we should not distrust the remission of sin. “Everyone,” he says, “who commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant does not remain in the house forever.” What hope, then, do we have who are not without sin? Listen to your hope: “The Son remains forever. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, then shall you be free indeed.” Our hope is this, brothers, to be made free by the free One. Our hope is that, in setting us free, he makes us his servants. For we were the servants of lust; but being set free, we are made the servants of love. This is also what the apostle says: “For, brothers, you have been called to liberty. Only do not use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” [1] Do not then let the Christian say: I am free; I have been called to freedom. I was a slave but have been redeemed, and by my very redemption I have been made free. I shall do what I please. No one may deny my will if I am free. But if you commit sin with that kind of a will, you are the servant of sin. Do not then abuse your liberty for freedom in sinning, but use it for the purpose of not sinning. For your will is only free if it is godly. You will be free if you are still a servant— free from sin and the servant of righteousness. This is what the apostle says: “When you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. But now, being made free from sin and having become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end, which is everlasting life.” [2] Let us strive for everlasting life even as we maintain holiness. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41.8. [3]

[1] Gal 5:13.

[2] Rom 6:20-22.

[3] NPNF 1 7:232-33**.

8:36 | Free Indeed

FREE FROM SIN, FREE FOR JOY

AUGUSTINE: The first stage of freedom, then, is to abstain from sins… such as murder, adultery, any sexual sins, theft, fraud, sacrilege, and others of that sort. When someone has started getting free from these (and every Christian ought to be so), he begins to raise his head toward freedom. But that is freedom begun, not completed. Why, says someone, is it not completed freedom? Because “I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind”; “for what I want to do,” he says, “that I do not do; but what I hate, that I do.” [1] “The flesh,” he says, “lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that you do not do the things that you want.” [2] There is partial freedom and partial bondage. This freedom is not yet complete, pure or full freedom because it is not yet in eternity. For we are still partially weak and thus only partially free. Whatever our sin was previously, it was wiped out in baptism. But because all our iniquity has been blotted out, does that mean there is no weakness left? If there were no weakness left, then that would mean that we should be living here without sin. Yet who would venture to say such a thing except someone who is proud but also unworthy of the Deliverer’s mercy? This is the kind of person who wants to be self-deceived and who is destitute of the truth. And so, from the fact that some weakness remains, I venture to say that in whatever measure we serve God, we are free. In whatever measure we serve the law of sin, we are still in bondage. And so too the apostle says what we began to say: “I delight in the law of God after the inward person.” [3] Here it is then. Freedom occurs when we delight in the law of God, for freedom gives you joy. As long as you do what is right out of fear, you find no delight in God. Find your delight in him, and you are free. Do not fear punishment; rather, love righteousness. Are you not yet able to love righteousness? Fear even punishment then so that you may attain to the love of righteousness. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41.10. [4]

[1] Rom 7:13-15.

[2] Gal 5:17.

[3] Rom 7:22.

[4] NPNF 1 7:233**.

ONLY CHRIST CAN GRANT TRUE FREEDOM

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The power to set free belongs to none other than the one who is the Son by nature—one who is truly free and unconstrained by any bondage. Because he is wisdom and light and power by nature, he makes those who are ignorant wise. He enlightens those in darkness, and he strengthens those who are weak. Therefore, because he is God of God and the genuine and free fruit of the essence that reigns over all, he bestows freedom on whomever he wants to. For no one can become truly free at the hands of one who does not possess freedom by nature. But, when the Son himself wills to free anyone, infusing his own good [into them], they are called free indeed. They receive dignity from the one who possesses authority and not from any of those who have borrowed it from another or those who have been ennobled, as it were, with a grace that was not theirs to begin with. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.5. [1]

[1] LF 43:631-32**.

DO NOT ABUSE YOUR FREEDOM

AUGUSTINE: Do not then abuse your freedom for the purpose of sinning freely. Rather, use it in order not to sin at all. Your will is free only if it is godly. You will be free if you become the servant of righteousness. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 41.8. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:232*.

8:37 | Descendants of Abraham Want to Kill Jesus

ATTAINING DIVINE KINSHIP

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Having clearly shown and demonstrated that their boast of being descendants of Abraham is utterly empty and devoid of any good, Jesus says this so that they might seek the nobility that is true and dear to God…. But how is it that we who are made of earth and “formed from a piece of clay” [1] can be called relatives of the Lord of all, as Paul says,… “God’s offspring”? [2] Admittedly, we have been made God’s offspring because of the flesh that pertains to the mystery of Christ. But it is possible to understand this reality. By thinking his thoughts and earnestly resolving to live godly lives, we are called children of God who is over all. And when we conform our mind to his will, so far as we are able, we are truly like God and indeed truly God’s offspring. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.5. [3]

[1] Job 33:6.

[2] Acts 17:29.

[3] LF 43:632-33**.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BODILY SEED AND A CHILD

ORIGEN: It is also possible for one who happens to be the [biological] seed of Abraham by diligence to become his [spiritual] child. And it is possible, by neglect and poor stewardship, for one to cease to be his seed. There was still hope for them, however, to whom the saying was addressed. Jesus knew that they were the seed of Abraham and saw that they had not yet lost the ability to become children of Abraham. Since it was possible for them to become children of Abraham in addition to being his seed, he said, “If you are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.” But just as some are seed of Abraham, so others are really “seed of Canaan, not of Judah,” as Daniel [1] says….

But if, in addition to being seed of Abraham, they had cultivated the seed of Abraham and given it over to greatness and growth, the word of Jesus would have produced great growth in the seed of Abraham…. But those who wished to kill the Word and to crush him did not contain his greatness…. If any one of us is seed of Abraham and the Word of God does not continue in him still, let him not seek to kill the Word. Let him change from merely being seed of Abraham to becoming a child of Abraham, and he will be able to take in the Word of God, whom he did not have till then. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.32-33, 41, 43, 45. [2]

[1] Sus 56. In the Septuagint, this was part of the book of Daniel.

[2] FC 89:212-15**; SC 290:172, 176-78.

A REMINDER OF THEIR PRESENT SIN

CHRYSOSTOM: He removes them by degrees from their relationship to Abraham, teaching them not to pride themselves so much on that relationship. For just as bondage and freedom depend on one’s actions, so also does one’s relationship to another. Still, he does not directly say, “You are not the seed of Abraham [because] you are murderers of the righteous.” Instead he goes along with them for awhile, affirming that they are Abraham’s seed…. But then, after the witness of his works shuts their mouths, he speaks more boldly: “You seek to kill me.” And if anyone says, “What of it? They were only trying to act justly”— this is not the case either. And so he adds the reason they acted the way they did: “Because my word has no place in you.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 54.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:194-95**.

LIKE A HOOK TO A FISH

AUGUSTINE: If my word were taken, it would take hold; if you were taken, you would be enclosed like fishes within the nets of faith. What then does it mean that it “takes no hold in you”? It means that it does not take hold of your heart because it is not received by your heart. For this is how the Word of God is and how it ought to be for believers—as a hook to the fish: it takes when it is taken. And it does no injury to those who are caught by it. They are caught for their salvation, not for their destruction. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:235*.

8:38 | My Father and Your Father

THE TRUTH OF THE FATHER

CHRYSOSTOM: He does not say, “You do not take in my words” but “My word has no place in you,” thus declaring the depths of his doctrines. And yet, this is not a reason to kill him. In fact, they should have honored him and waited on him in order to learn. But they might say, Why should we pay attention to you if you are speaking about yourself? And so he adds, “I speak what I have seen with my Father…. As both by my words and by the truth I declare the Father, so also do you by your actions [declare your father].” For I have not only the same substance but also the same truth with the Father. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 54.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:195**.

THE LORD SAW HIMSELF IN THE FATHER

AUGUSTINE: But the Lord wishes God the Father to be understood when he says, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father.” I have seen the truth; I speak the truth because I am the truth. For if the Lord speaks the truth that he has seen with the Father, he has seen himself—he speaks himself because he himself is the truth of the Father, which he saw with the Father. For he is the Word—the Word that was with God. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:235*.

THE SON IS AN EYEWITNESS TO THE FATHER

ORIGEN: The Savior is an eyewitness to what was done with the Father…. “No one has known the Father except the Son,” [1] since they are no longer eyewitnesses to whom the Son has revealed him. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.46. [2]

[1] Mt 11:27; Lk 10:22.

[2] FC 89:215; SC 290:178.

THEIR FATHER IS THE DEVIL

AUGUSTINE: As of this moment, he has not yet named their father. A little above he referred to Abraham, but this referred to their lineage, not to their similarity of life. He is about to speak of that other father of theirs who neither begat them nor created them to be people. But they were still that father’s children in as far as they were evil, not in as far as they were people. In other words, they were his children because of how they imitated him, not because they were created by him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:235-36**.

8:39 | Abraham Is Our Father

A HUMBLER ASSERTION THAN NECESSARY

ORIGEN: They appear to have replied as if they had understood the statement about who their father was in a much lowlier manner than the Lord meant it. For Jesus was referring to God when he declared, “And you, therefore, do the things that you have heard from the Father.” They, however, make a humbler assertion about the father of their own nation when they say, “Abraham is our father.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.57-58. [1]

[1] FC 89:218*; SC 290:184-86.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY AGAINST ABRAHAM?

AUGUSTINE: As if to say: What are you going to say against Abraham?… They seem to be inviting him to say something in disparagement of Abraham and so to give them an opportunity of executing their purpose. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:236**.

JESUS REFUTES THEIR CLAIM

ORIGEN: It is clear, however, that the Savior refutes this too as a false statement by his reply, “If you are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.60. [1]

[1] FC 89:218, SC 290:186.

HE DENIES THEIR WAY OF LIFE

AUGUSTINE: And yet he said above, “I know that you are Abraham’s children.” He does not deny their origin, but he does condemn their deeds. Their flesh was from him but not their life. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:236*.

DO ALL THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM

ORIGEN: Those who fasten on to one of Abraham’s works, such as the statement “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for justice,” [1] think that this is what is referred to in the command, “Do the works of Abraham.” Even if it is conceded to them that faith is a work (which would not be conceded by those who accept the saying, “Faith without works is dead,” [2] as authoritative, nor by those who understand that to be justified by faith differs from being justified by works of law), then let them explain why it was not said in the singular, “If you are children of Abraham, do [3] the work of Abraham.” Rather, it is said in the plural, “Do the works of Abraham.” This is equivalent, I think, to saying, “Do all the works of Abraham.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.66. [4]

[1] Rom 4:3; Gen 15:6; Jas 2:23.

[2] Jas 2:26. The canonicity of the letter of James was still contested by some during Origen’s lifetime.

[3] RSV translates the verb in the imperfect tense. Origen translates the verb as an imperative: If you are children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.

[4] FC 89:219-20; SC 290:188-90.

8:40 | Seeking to Kill the Truth

WHY DO YOU SEEK TO KILL ME?

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: He taught his disciples that he was life and light and truth, and the other conceptions of his divinity. However, to those who were not initiated into the secrets of his nature, he said, “Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth?” PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 10, INTRO 7. [1]

[1] POG 2:191.

THEY ULTIMATELY PLOT AGAINST GOD

ORIGEN: Those who seek to kill him seek to kill a man, [1] since even if they should kill him, God is not killed. And if they seek to kill him when they have not yet killed him, they plot against him as against a man, not thinking that the one against whom they plot is God. For no one would continue to plot against him if he were convinced that the one against whom he plots is God. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.80. [2]

[1] See Tertullian On the Flesh of Christ 15 (ANF 3:534), who uses this passage to prove Christ was truly human.

[2] FC 89:223; SC 290:198.

THE “TRUTH” IS HIS EQUALITY WITH THE FATHER

CHRYSOSTOM: But what is the “truth” of which he speaks? That he was equal with the Father. For this was what ultimately motivated the Jews to kill him. This is why he adds… “which I have heard from my Father,” in order to show that this doctrine is not opposed to the Father. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 54.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:195*.

ABRAHAM REJOICED TO SEE MY DAY

ORIGEN: If Abraham has not done what he could not possibly have done, the words “this Abraham did not do” will seem to have been spoken without purpose. For some would say to this that the statement “this Abraham did not do” is made in vain, since he did not do what by no means [could have] occurred during his time, for Jesus did not exist during his time. But since I assume that the statement “this Abraham did not do” has been made in praise of Abraham, as it were, I would say that, in accordance with the word that teaches, “Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad,” [1] it is possible that there was also a man in Abraham’s time who spoke the truth that he heard from God, and that Abraham, in truth, did not seek to kill this man. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.87-88. [2]

[1] Jn 8:56.

[2] FC 89:225; SC 290:202.

8:41a | Doing the Works of Their Father

OUR FRUIT SHOWS WHOSE CHILDREN WE ARE

ORIGEN: In so far as we commit sins, we have not as yet put off the generation of the devil, even if we are thought to believe in Jesus. Consequently Jesus says to those Jews who have believed, “You do the works of your father,” “father” meaning the devil because of the statement “You are of your father the devil.” Now, if everyone “who commits sin is of the devil,” [1] everyone who is not of the devil does not commit sin. In addition, if “the reason the Son of God appeared was that he might destroy the works of the devil,” [2] to the extent that he has not yet destroyed the works of the devil in us, because we have not presented ourselves to him who destroys the works of the devil, we have not as yet put aside being children of the devil, since it is our fruits that show whose sons we are. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 20.103-5. [3]

[1] 1 Jn 3:8.

[2] 1 Jn 3:8.

[3] FC 89:228; SC 290:208-10.