John 8:37
Verse
Context
The Truth Will Set You Free
36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.37I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.38I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Sermons
Alan Redpath
Warren WiersbeSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
My word hath no place in you - Or, this doctrine of mine hath no place to you. Ye hear the truths of God, but ye do not heed them: the word of life has no influence over you; and how can it, when you seek to kill me because I proclaim this truth to you? It is a dismal omen when a person is regardless of the truth of God: it is more so to be provoked against it: but to persecute and endeavor to destroy those who preach it is the last degree of perverseness and obduracy. The word of God requires a heart which is empty. A heart filled with earthly projects, carnal interests ambition, thoughts of raising a fortune, and with the love of the superfluities and pleasures of life, is not fit to receive the seed of the kingdom. When a man shuts his heart against it by his passions, he at the same time opens it to all sorts of crimes. Quesnel. From what is here said, it is manifest, says Dr. Lightfoot, that the whole tendency of our Savior's discourse is to show the Jews, that they are the seed of that serpent which was to bruise the heel of the Messiah: else what could that mean, Joh 8:44 : Ye are of your father the devil, i.e. ye are the seed of the serpent.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
ye seek to kill me--He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them. because my word hath no place in you--When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them. But here is One who holds up "His word" as that which ought to find entrance and abiding room for itself in the souls of all who hear it.
John Gill Bible Commentary
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 that Abraham did not reject any truth that was revealed unto him, and much less seek to take away the life of any person that brought it to him; and indeed not the life of any man that deserved not to die: and our Lord suggests, that if he had been on the spot now, he would not have done as these his posterity did, since he saw his day by faith, and rejoiced in the foresight of it, Joh 8:56. The Jew (o) makes an objection from these words against the deity of Christ; "you see (says he) that Jesus declares concerning himself that he is not God, but man; and so says Paul concerning him, Rom 5:15; and so Jesus, in many places, calls himself the son of man: for do we find in any place that he calls himself God, as the Nazarenes believe.'' To which may be replied, that Jesus does not declare in these words, nor in any other place, that he is not God; he says no such thing; he only observes, that he was a man, as he really was: nor is his being man any contradiction to his being God; for he is both God and man; and so those that believe in him affirm: and though Christ does not in express terms call himself God, yet he owned himself to be the Son of God, Mar 14:61, and said such things of himself, as manifestly declared him to be God; and upon account of which the Jews concluded, that he not only made himself equal with God, but that he made himself God, Joh 5:17. Besides, he suffered himself to be called God by a disciple of his, which he would never have done, had he not been really and truly God, Joh 20:28; yea, he seems to call himself so, when being tempted by Satan, he observed to him what is written, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God", Mat 4:7. The reason why he so often calls himself the son of man is, because it was more suitable to him in his state of humiliation; and indeed, there was no need for him to assert his deity in express words, since his works and miracles most clearly proved that he was God: and as for the Apostle Paul, though he sometimes speaks of him as a man, he also says of him, that he is God over all, blessed for ever; and calls him the great God, and our Saviour, and God manifest in the flesh, Rom 9:5. (o) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 48. p. 436. & par. 1. c. 10. p. 118.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
8:37-41 The leaders’ plot to kill Jesus (5:18) unmasked their true identity. They belonged to a different household, and their father was not Jesus’ Father. They were relying on the fact that their ancestral father was Abraham, but Jesus challenged their spiritual pedigree. The climax of his challenge comes in 8:44.
John 8:37
The Truth Will Set You Free
36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.37I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.38I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
(John) 12 - the Light Refused
By Alan Redpath5.7K52:23JohnJHN 8:37JHN 8:58JHN 9:6JHN 9:18JHN 9:33In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. The preacher emphasizes that this story is not just about physical blindness, but also about the ministry of Christ as the light of the world. The sermon begins by highlighting the context of the story, where Jesus had just faced a controversy with the Pharisees and was not afraid to confront them. The preacher then discusses the principle of the man's case, emphasizing Jesus' statement that he came to the world so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. The sermon concludes by reading from John 8:37-59, where Jesus asserts his moral majesty and declares himself as the light of the world.
This Way to Real Freedom
By Warren Wiersbe4.0K35:10JHN 8:31JHN 8:37JHN 8:44JHN 8:48JHN 8:59In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of embracing God's truth and not being afraid of it. He explains that when our minds are filled with God's truth, our hearts are in love with it, and our wills are aligned with it, we become true disciples of Jesus. The preacher warns against being controlled by lies and encourages listeners to regularly evaluate their beliefs and behaviors in light of God's truth. He emphasizes that the truth of God sets us free from the lies of Satan and leads to a transformed mind, heart, and will.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
My word hath no place in you - Or, this doctrine of mine hath no place to you. Ye hear the truths of God, but ye do not heed them: the word of life has no influence over you; and how can it, when you seek to kill me because I proclaim this truth to you? It is a dismal omen when a person is regardless of the truth of God: it is more so to be provoked against it: but to persecute and endeavor to destroy those who preach it is the last degree of perverseness and obduracy. The word of God requires a heart which is empty. A heart filled with earthly projects, carnal interests ambition, thoughts of raising a fortune, and with the love of the superfluities and pleasures of life, is not fit to receive the seed of the kingdom. When a man shuts his heart against it by his passions, he at the same time opens it to all sorts of crimes. Quesnel. From what is here said, it is manifest, says Dr. Lightfoot, that the whole tendency of our Savior's discourse is to show the Jews, that they are the seed of that serpent which was to bruise the heel of the Messiah: else what could that mean, Joh 8:44 : Ye are of your father the devil, i.e. ye are the seed of the serpent.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
ye seek to kill me--He had said this to their face before: He now repeats it, and they do not deny it; yet are they held back, as by some marvellous spell--it was the awe which His combined dignity, courage, and benignity struck into them. because my word hath no place in you--When did ever human prophet so speak of His words? They tell us of "the word of the Lord" coming to them. But here is One who holds up "His word" as that which ought to find entrance and abiding room for itself in the souls of all who hear it.
John Gill Bible Commentary
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 that Abraham did not reject any truth that was revealed unto him, and much less seek to take away the life of any person that brought it to him; and indeed not the life of any man that deserved not to die: and our Lord suggests, that if he had been on the spot now, he would not have done as these his posterity did, since he saw his day by faith, and rejoiced in the foresight of it, Joh 8:56. The Jew (o) makes an objection from these words against the deity of Christ; "you see (says he) that Jesus declares concerning himself that he is not God, but man; and so says Paul concerning him, Rom 5:15; and so Jesus, in many places, calls himself the son of man: for do we find in any place that he calls himself God, as the Nazarenes believe.'' To which may be replied, that Jesus does not declare in these words, nor in any other place, that he is not God; he says no such thing; he only observes, that he was a man, as he really was: nor is his being man any contradiction to his being God; for he is both God and man; and so those that believe in him affirm: and though Christ does not in express terms call himself God, yet he owned himself to be the Son of God, Mar 14:61, and said such things of himself, as manifestly declared him to be God; and upon account of which the Jews concluded, that he not only made himself equal with God, but that he made himself God, Joh 5:17. Besides, he suffered himself to be called God by a disciple of his, which he would never have done, had he not been really and truly God, Joh 20:28; yea, he seems to call himself so, when being tempted by Satan, he observed to him what is written, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God", Mat 4:7. The reason why he so often calls himself the son of man is, because it was more suitable to him in his state of humiliation; and indeed, there was no need for him to assert his deity in express words, since his works and miracles most clearly proved that he was God: and as for the Apostle Paul, though he sometimes speaks of him as a man, he also says of him, that he is God over all, blessed for ever; and calls him the great God, and our Saviour, and God manifest in the flesh, Rom 9:5. (o) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 48. p. 436. & par. 1. c. 10. p. 118.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
8:37-41 The leaders’ plot to kill Jesus (5:18) unmasked their true identity. They belonged to a different household, and their father was not Jesus’ Father. They were relying on the fact that their ancestral father was Abraham, but Jesus challenged their spiritual pedigree. The climax of his challenge comes in 8:44.