I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Jesus grants that those listening to him are Abraham's seed after the flesh, acknowledging their bodily descent from him even while exposing their inward condition. He speaks this word rather than directly unmasking their false boast that they had never been in bondage, though they were then living under the Roman yoke. The charge cuts like a sword to the citadel of the soul, and it stirs them to answer angrily that Abraham is their father.
Bodily descent alone does not make them his true children nor prove them spiritually like him, for Abraham's true children are known by faith and obedience and not by lineage alone. Abraham obeyed God and was counted righteous, while seeking to kill Jesus for speaking God's truth is altogether contrary to Abraham's example. That murderous intent to kill him proves that his word has no place in them.
Their unbelief and persistent rejection of truth show that they have disinherited themselves and have no real spiritual relationship to Abraham. Though boasting that they are in bondage to no one, they are bound to the most cruel of all tyrants, having placed themselves under Satan's training and treating God's people as he directs them to treat them. They hear the word of truth yet hate both the message and the messenger, because the truth disturbs them in their deceptive practices.
Jesus grants that those listening to him are Abraham's seed after the flesh, acknowledging their bodily descent from him even while exposing their inward condition. He speaks this word rather than directly unmasking their false boast that they had never been in bondage, though they were then living under the Roman yoke. The charge cuts like a sword to the citadel of the soul, and it stirs them to answer angrily that Abraham is their father.
Bodily descent alone does not make them his true children nor prove them spiritually like him, for Abraham's true children are known by faith and obedience and not by lineage alone. Abraham obeyed God and was counted righteous, while seeking to kill Jesus for speaking God's truth is altogether contrary to Abraham's example. That murderous intent to kill him proves that his word has no place in them.
Their unbelief and persistent rejection of truth show that they have disinherited themselves and have no real spiritual relationship to Abraham. Though boasting that they are in bondage to no one, they are bound to the most cruel of all tyrants, having placed themselves under Satan's training and treating God's people as he directs them to treat them. They hear the word of truth yet hate both the message and the messenger, because the truth disturbs them in their deceptive practices.