I know that you are the seed of Abraham: yet you seek to kill me, because my word cannot be contained in you. I say what I saw in my father; but you do what you have seen in your father.

You, he says, consider yourselves to be the seed of Abraham. I agree that you preserve a carnal kinship with this saint, but you have no kinship with him in spirit, He is righteous, philanthropic and hospitable, and you (I am silent about other aspects of your life, but I will expose the most obvious thing that you are doing now) breathe murder and hatred for people. For you seek to kill me, and plot against me. How are you his true children, when you are so far from the qualities of your father? If you boast of affinity, then you must imitate his virtue. Lest it be said that we rightly seek to kill You, He gives a reason. You, he says, are mad against Me for no other reason than because My word is beyond your understanding and does not fit into you. Yet for this it would be necessary not to kill, but to respect and revere, and to desire more strongly that I would teach the loftiness of dogmas. Lest it be said to Him again that we hate Thee justly because of Thy word, because Thou speakest to us not from God, but from Thyself, and therefore we cannot accept Thy teaching, He adds: I do not speak of Myself, but I speak what I have seen in My Father; but you do what you have seen in your father. I, he says, declare the divine and the heavenly things, and thereby manifest My Father, and by your works you manifest your father, that is, the devil. When you hear these words: "I say what I have seen," do not think about bodily vision, but understand natural, true, and most certain knowledge. As the eyes that see the matter and the truth see truly, and are not deceived, so do I truly say what I have learned from the Father.

And they answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said to them, "If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." And now seek to kill Me, the Man who told you the truth which I heard from God, that Abraham did not do it. You do the works of your father. And they said to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, God.

He makes the devil their father, because in their deeds he sees them like him; and they constantly put Abraham out. The Lord often reminds them of their criminal intent and denies their kinship with the righteous in order to stop their excessive boastfulness and convince them that hope should be placed not in vain pride in carnal kinship, but in the similarity of will. Verily, as the Physician of souls, He calms in them the inflammation arising from the dream of kinship with Abraham and preventing them from coming to Christ, for they considered this affinity sufficient for their salvation. Therefore you who breathe murder and seek to kill Me are not the children of Abraham. Then, lest anyone should say that they are rightly seeking to kill You, He says: I am a Man, not rebelling against God, not seeking My own glory, but speaking what I have heard from My Father, and telling the truth. What was this truth? That He is equal to the Father and not a slave, like one of the prophets, but the Son, who does not do or say anything of Himself, but everything is from the Father. For for this they sought to kill Him. And again they say: "We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, God." Look, how arrogant! The Lord denies their kinship with Abraham, and they are so vain that in their madness they call themselves children of God Himself. They boast of the sonship of God, probably because they have heard the words: "My son is the firstborn Israel" (Exodus 4:22). But they should have known that God also said in another place: "He begat sons and exalted them, but they rejected Me" (Isaiah 1:2). The Lord could have rebuked them for the fact that many of them were born of fornication, since Jewish wives had relations with Gentiles contrary to the law, and pagan wives with Jews; yet He does not do so. For He did not care to prove their bodily ignorance, but mainly wanted to prove that they were low in soul.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and came; for I did not come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My words.

Since He excluded them from their kinship with Abraham, they rose even higher, calling God their father. He rebuked them as murderers, and they, defending themselves, say that they avenge God and therefore form a council against Him. For this reason the Lord, showing that they do not intercede for God, but by their very design want to kill Him, and are not the children of God, as they thought, but even opponents of God, says: "If God were your Father, you would love Me." For I came down from God into the world, that is, I appeared in the flesh. I am not an opponent of God. I come from Him. Wherefore, when ye rise up against me, ye are enemies of God. Why do you not know My speech, and understand and understand what I say? Without a doubt, not in any other way, than because you cannot hear My words, that is, you do not want to. For "not to be able" is used instead of "not to want". As long as envy and murderous design dwell in you, how can you listen to what I say?

Your father is the devil; and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

He said, "You cannot hear My words instead of, You will not." Then he gives the reason why they did not want to listen, that they have their own father, namely the devil. Though you are mad and ascribe yourselves as children to God as your father, yet your deeds testify that the devil is a father more dear to you. You want to fulfill his lusts. He did not say "works," but "lusts," showing that they are very prone to lying and murder, two kinds of evil that are very characteristic of the devil. "He was a murderer from the beginning." Wherefore ye also, seeking to kill me, are like unto him that slew Adam. "He is not tired of the truth," but is the father of lies. And you, when you lie against Me and say that I am not of God, do not stand in the truth, do not abide in My word, you are the children of Him, who begat the lie. For he also slandered God against men, when he told Eve that he had forbidden them the tree of the knowledge of good and evil out of envy. Likewise, he slandered God against people, for example, against Job, saying that Job does not honor God for nothing. "When he tells a lie, he says his own." When people lie, they use someone else's lie, as it were. And the devil uses lies as property, for they are his offspring; and the liar in the proper sense and the father of lies is himself. He said to Eve, "In the day ye shall eat, ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5). And they (Adam and Eve) received death. But you do not believe Me, because I speak the truth. Not having to accuse Me of anything else but the truth, you rise up against Me for this very thing, as sons of the father of lies.

Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness? but if I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; you do not listen because you are not of God. To this the Jews answered and said to Him, "Is it not true that we say that You are a Samaritan, and that a demon is in You? Jesus answered, "There is no demon in Me, but I honor My Father; but you dishonor me. However, I do not seek My glory: there is the Seeker and the Judge.

Они сами себя называли сынами Бога. Он говорит: если вы сыны Бога, вы, конечно, должны ненавидеть грешника. Если и Меня, которого ненавидите, можете обличить во грехе, очевидно, ненавидите Меня справедливо. Если же никто не может обличить явно, вы ненавидите Меня за истину. За какую истину? Без сомнения, за ту, что Он Сам Себя называл Сыном Божиим, что совершенно истинно. «Кто от Бога, тот слушает слова Божии». Посему, если бы и вы были сынами Божиими, вы не отвращались бы от Меня, Сына Божия, сшедшего с неба и возвышающего слова Божии.

Так кротко говорит им Господь, а они позволяют себе дерзости. Они говорят: не правду ли мы говорили, что Ты Самарянин и беса имеешь в Себе? Называли Его Самарянином как нарушителя иудейских обычаев, например субботнего покоя, так как самаряне не соблюдали в точности иудейского закона. А беснующимся называют Его, может быть, подобно тому, как говорили, что Он и бесов изгонял силою князя бесовского (Лк. 11, 15). Ибо все клеветавшие, что Он изгонял бесов силою веельзевула, говорили, что Он имел в Себе веельзевулова беса, которым и совершал чудеса. А как Он открывал их помыслы и пожелания, то, может быть, считали Его беснующимся и потому, что думали, будто тайны сердца их открываемы Ему были бесами.

Когда же называли Его Самарянином? Евангелист нигде об этом не упомянул. Отсюда видно, что евангелисты не все записали, а многое и опустили, как мы о сем самом заметили в другом месте. Так они обижают Его, а Он незлобливо принимает от них обиды. Впрочем, когда они сами себя называют сынами Божиими, Он сильно обличает их, вступаясь за истину; а когда Его обижают, Он не защищается. Сим научает Он и нас вступаться за славу Бога и кротко переносить обиды, касающиеся нас самих, подобно как и Он кротко говорит: «во Мне нет беса, но Я чту Отца Моего». Как же Он чтит Отца? Вступаясь за Него и не позволяя убийцам и лжецам называться сынами Спасителя и Истины. Вы, говорит, бесчестите Меня за то, что Я чту Отца Моего, поносимого вами, так как вы клевещете, что Он отец ваш. Но, если Я и не отмщаю за Себя, а переношу обиды, вы не думайте, что эта обида останется без отмщения. Есть Отец, Который накажет за такую обиду, наносимую Мне потому, что Я вступаюсь за Него и не позволяю вам называть самих себя сынами Его. Есть Ищущий Моей славы, и не только Ищущий, но и Могущий судить и наказать обижающих Меня без основания. Часто иной ищет взыскания за обиду, но сам не может судить. А Отец и ищет славы Сына, и может судить. Посему и сказал: «есть Ищущий и Судящий».

Истинно, истинно говорю вам: кто соблюдет слово Мое, тот не увидит смерти вовек. Иудеи сказали Ему: теперь узнали мы, что бес в Тебе; Авраам умер и пророки, а Ты говоришь: «кто соблюдет слово Мое, тот не вкусит смерти вовек».

Какое человеколюбие! Его обижают, а Он искание Своей славы и отмщение предоставляя Отцу, обращается к увещанию и учению и таким образом благотворит тем, кои наносят Ему обиды. Так и мы должны платить своим врагам. Что же он сказал им? «Кто соблюдет Мое слово», то есть с верою соединит и жизнь чистую (ибо тот только истинно соблюдает учение Господне, кто имеет и жизнь чистую), такой не увидит смерти, которою умирают грешники, предаваемые в будущем веке бесконечному мучению и отпадающие от истинной жизни. Вместе с сим дает им знать, что если соблюдающий слово Мое не умирает, тем более – Я. Зачем же вы хотите убить Меня, над Которым смерть имеет так мало власти, что Я даже и другим дарую истинную жизнь? Ибо, хотя верующие умирают телесно, однако они живы в Боге. Что же говорят на это иудеи? Они считают Его за беснующегося, как будто бы Он от повреждения рассудка говорит какие-то странности. Умерли Авраам и пророки, которые слышали слова Божии, как же не умрут Твои слушатели? Теперь, говорят, мы истинно, то есть вполне и твердо, узнали, что Ты, говоря это, беснуешься.