I speak what I have seen with my Father, and ye then do what ye have seen with your father.
Jesus stands before men who are already plotting His death. He traces His words, and their conduct, back to a source — His to His Father, theirs to theirs. The verse moves the argument off ancestry and onto the origin of character. So what had the Son seen before He ever spoke on earth?
(Several writers below quote an older translation: "what you have seen with your father.")
The phrase "what I have seen with my Father" is not about a vision He received during His ministry. It reaches back behind His birth.
The Son's words were, "I speak what I have seen with My Father" (John 8:38). The character of what He revealed rested on this fact: He was with the Father before He came into the world. The Son was fully aware of that eternal presence with the Father, and of the glory He had with Him before the world was. He has testified to it (John 17:5), so that we may believe that the Father sent the Son — and, believing, adore the Father and the Son.
What He had seen was not a set of facts He passed on. His speech carried the Father to them, because it carried Himself.
Verse 38 sums up the contrast. His words were the moral revelation of what He had seen with His Father, just as their deeds were the moral expression of what they had seen with their father. But what were the things Jesus had seen with His Father? In verse 25 they asked, "Who are You?" Jesus replied (in a more exact translation), "Altogether that which I also say to you." That is, His word, His speech, presented Himself, for He was Himself the truth. And He was the One who revealed the Father. So He could say, "The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works."
The two halves of the verse are not parallel. He testifies; they act.
"I know that you are Abraham's offspring." The Lord acknowledges the order God had set up with Israel, as He always does. But that did not change the truth about moral character, on which everything depended. It is set out clearly here in its cause, its principle, and the way it shows itself. "But you seek to kill Me," Me the Light, the Truth, because "My word" does not dwell in you. That was the great thing. The contrast was complete. He was there in testimony, in His service; they were there in action, working out their will in murder. "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father, and you do the things which you have seen with your father." An intimacy of association — sad on their side, as it is glorious on His.
The men listening really were descended from Abraham, and Jesus granted it. The verse still leaves them exposed, because bloodline decides nothing about nature.
To be Abraham's seed, as the Lord lets the Jews know, is a poor safeguard. A man might come from Abraham and still be the worst enemy of God. Everyone acts according to his source; character follows it. So our Lord graciously says, "I speak what I have seen with My Father; and you therefore do what you have seen with your father." Being of Abraham does not save anyone from Satan. To hear the Son, to believe on Him, is to get one's nature from God and have life eternal.
So in what sense does Jesus use the word "father" here?
The Bible uses the word 'father' as a picture when there is a moral likeness between a leader and his followers. John 8:38-44.
Because conduct follows source, the verse works as a test. Nobody has to guess at another's parentage. The way a person lives shows it.
The words of Jesus to the leaders of the people brought everything to light. A man's origin came to light by the way he lived in this world. Righteousness, truth, and love point out the children of God; sin, falsehood, and hatred proclaim the children of the devil.
Another writer names the two charges that settle it.
They claimed they had no father but Abraham. Yet they proved their true origin by their works, as all men do. On one side, they were seeking to kill the Lord; on the other, they opposed the truth. Murder and the absence of truth are the two great marks of Satan. They prove that these Jews, though children of Abraham by natural descent, were in moral character children of the devil.
- Source. Everyone acts according to his source, and character follows it. The verse sets two sources side by side. Each side's conduct shows which one it came from.
- His source. Jesus had seen with His Father what He speaks, before He entered the world. So His words reveal the Father and present Himself.
- Their source. Here "father" means moral likeness between a leader and his followers, not bloodline. That is why real descent from Abraham was no safeguard.
- The evidence. They wanted to kill Him, and they opposed the truth. Murder and the absence of truth are Satan's two marks. They showed whose children these men were.
- The result. The way a person lives brings everything to light. Righteousness, truth and love mark out the children of God; sin, falsehood and hatred mark out the children of the devil. The way out is to hear the Son and believe on Him.
They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus says to them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham;
They answer Jesus with their family line: Abraham is our father. He grants the descent, then moves the test elsewhere — to what they do.
Jesus never disputes their family tree. But descent is one thing. Being a true child before God is another.
The Jews were bitterly opposed to the Son of God, yet they called Abraham their father. The Lord pointed out that if they had been Abraham's children, they would have done the works of Abraham. They were Abraham's seed by natural birth. But they were not the children of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Their attitude to God and to His Son showed that they belonged to a different family.
A famous ancestor protects no one. The men proudest of Abraham were the ones plotting murder.
To be Abraham's seed, as the Lord lets the Jews know, is a poor safeguard. One might be of Abraham, and be the worst enemy of God. Such were the Jews then, who were seeking to kill Christ because His word had no hold in them. Everyone acts according to his source, and character follows it… The Lord had already allowed that they were descended from the father of the faithful. But did they bear the family likeness? Did it not make their evil worse that they stood in contrast with the man they boasted of coming from?
If the test is works, which works? Abraham's own work was believing God.
"Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." As believers they already had the very honour they were trying in vain to earn by works. They were "of faith," as Abraham was, and so were his children spiritually… Abraham's sons are those who do the works of Abraham. They work, as he did, the work of God by believing. He believed the One who first gave the promise; they believe the same Promise, now fulfilled by God in Christ.
Their own plan condemns them. They want a man dead for telling them the truth he heard from God.
Our Lord still holds to the moral, the divine character of the relationship. He knew they were Abraham's seed; indeed, He had spent His life towards them because they were. But if they had been Abraham's children they would have acted in Abraham's character, done Abraham's works. Instead, "you seek to kill me." That is, there was a spirit of hostility in their very nature, a spirit of murder, against the truth from God. And it was aimed at "a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God": "this is not what Abraham did." The complete opposition of their two characters comes out with the plain power of truth.
He measures them by their works. Then He puts Himself under the same test.
The evidence of the Son is in the Father's works: "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did." Our Lord submits Himself to the same test. "If I am not doing the works of my Father," whether in power or in love, "good works," "then do not believe me. But if I do" — how could I be anything other than what I claim? If I do them, the evidence is complete: "even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know."
The rule Jesus used on them was not limited to them. It reaches every religious claim, including a Christian one.
A profession that no visible grace backs up deserves no credit from others… The Jews falsely claimed to be Abraham's children. His unanswerable reply was: "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did." The same law still rules, and nothing can revoke it. Those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are known not because they say so, but because they do, in some measure, work the works of Christ. A loveless "saint" is no true child of God… Men are what they habitually do.
Another writer follows the argument where Jesus takes it next, and to the only remedy:
He insists that likeness is essential, and He goes further: "You are of your father the devil" — because that terrible likeness was stamped on them. Is it not a solemn thing that day by day and hour by hour we are showing our parentage?… There is no other way to freedom but sonship, and we cannot be sons of God except by being born of God, receiving the divine nature, which results in likeness.
- Claim. They rest on descent. Jesus grants they are Abraham's seed by birth, but denies they are children of Abraham, the father of the faithful.
- Test. Descent is not the measure — works are. Everyone acts according to his source, and character follows it.
- Content. Abraham's works were the work of believing God; so those who are of faith are his children in the sense that counts.
- Verdict. They plan to kill a man who told them truth heard from God. Abraham never did that. Their conduct names a different father.
- Reach. Jesus accepts the same standard, pointing to His Father's works as proof. Men are what they habitually do, and day by day we show our parentage. The only way in is to be born of God.
but now ye seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God this did not Abraham.
The crowd has just fallen back on their descent from Abraham. The Lord answers by pointing at what they are doing to Him. He calls Himself a man who has brought them the truth. Then He tests their claim to Abraham with one question: would Abraham have acted like this?
No one disputed that they came from Abraham. The Lord asks whether that descent counts for anything when the family likeness is missing.
To be Abraham's seed, as the Lord lets the Jews know, is a poor protection. A person could be of Abraham and still be the worst enemy of God... To be of Abraham does not save anyone from Satan. To hear the Son, to believe on Him, is to draw one's nature from God and have eternal life... It was already admitted that they came from Abraham, the father of the faithful. But did they bear the family likeness? Did it not make their evil worse that they stood in contrast with the man they boasted of coming from? Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. They did not believe; they sought to kill the Man.
The Lord does not deny their family line. He reads their behaviour as evidence of who their true father is. Their plan to kill Him settles the question.
Our Lord still holds to the moral, the divine, character of the link. He knew they were Abraham's seed; yes, He had spent His life on them because they were. But if they had been Abraham's children, they would have acted in Abraham's character and done Abraham's works. Instead of this, "You seek to kill Me" — that is, there was a spirit of hostility at its core, a spirit of murder, against the truth from God.
The name the Lord gives Himself here carries more than it seems.
In verse 40 Jesus speaks of Himself as "a man who has told you the truth." Others spoke of Him as a man and saw no more in Him than that. But it is striking that He should call Himself a man in this Gospel, the Gospel that presents Him as the Word made flesh. So the truth is kept in balance for us, showing both His essential Godhead and His perfect Manhood with full clarity.
He does not present the truth as His own invention. Of all people He had the right to speak on His own authority, and He refused to use it.
He did not speak from Himself. Yet of all men He had the most right to. But if He is the true God, He is also true man, and He came to exalt His Father, not Himself. He had no private ends to serve. Lord of all, He became the servant of all — above all, of God. Self is what blinds the human race, even the faithful, as far as they let it work. Anyone who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but Jesus never did; He always served the glory of the One who sent Him.
Their response to the truth has two parts: a plan to kill, and a refusal of what He says. Together those two marks point to another father.
Despite their claim that they had no father but Abraham, they, like all people, prove their true origin by their works. On the one hand, they sought to kill the Lord; on the other, they opposed the truth. These are the two great marks of Satan: murder and the absence of the truth. They prove that the Jews were children of Abraham by birth, but children of the devil in their moral character.
These people had professed belief in Him. How they treated His word shows what that profession was worth, and the same pattern runs on today.
These same Jews were Abraham's seed by birth, and they had been seeking to kill the Lord. He knew this attitude had not changed, despite their outward profession of belief. Many today are the same. They claim to believe in Christ, yet they are His enemies: His word has no place in them.
- Seed, not children. No one denied their descent from Abraham, but that descent is "a poor protection" — one can be of Abraham and still be God's worst enemy.
- Likeness is the test. Real children do the father's works. The Lord asks whether they bear the family likeness, and their plan to kill Him answers it.
- A Man with a message. He names Himself "a man who has told you the truth." In this Gospel that name holds His perfect Manhood and His Godhead together.
- Truth received, not invented. He heard it from God. Of all men He had the most right to speak for Himself, yet He came to exalt His Father and never sought His own glory.
- The other father exposed. Murder and hostility to truth are the two marks of Satan. Profession means nothing where His word has no place in the heart.
Ye do the works of your father. They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God.
In the temple, Jesus tells a crowd who boast of descent from Abraham that their deeds point to a different father. They answer with the highest claim they have, and it raises a question that still matters: can inherited religious standing make anyone a child of God?
Before the Jews make their claim, the Lord has already laid down the principle that decides it. Descent from Abraham settles nothing, because conduct traces back to origin.
To be Abraham's seed, as the Lord lets the Jews know, is a poor safeguard. One might be descended from Abraham and be the worst enemy of God. Such were the Jews then, who were seeking to kill Christ because His word had no hold in them. Everyone acts according to his source; character follows it. So our Lord says, "I speak what I have seen with My Father; and you therefore do what you have seen with your father." To be of Abraham does not save from Satan.
Fatherhood language works this way through the whole passage. It names what a person resembles.
Sons are those who show the typical or distinctive traits of their fathers. This idea of a son standing for his father often appears in moral matters. So the "sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2) are those whose conduct displays disobedience as clearly as a son resembles a father. Barnabas showed the features of consolation so plainly that he was called the "son of consolation" (Acts 4:36). The Lord said that the Jews were of their "father, the devil," because they did his lusts and his deeds, showing their moral origin (John 8:41-45).
Their answer appeals to birth. It shows how inherited privilege can hide from a person the very thing he needs to see.
They said to Him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father — even God." How far a man can deceive himself by privileges handed down to him, and by their lawful succession! This happens when the moral character of God is not set before him. And when he is morally corrupt, these privileges hide that from him and keep him from seeing his need of it.
The claim was not invented out of nothing. God had used that language of Israel as a nation, but their boast reached further.
The Lord refused their claim: "If God were your Father, you would love Me: for I came from God; neither did I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My word" (42, 43). God was the Father of Israel as a nation, but in Old Testament times He had never revealed Himself as standing in that relationship to single people. The Lord, the Son, first taught believers that God was their Father. It is the Son who reveals the Father (Matt. 11:27). So although all creatures owe their being to God, no one who does not acknowledge the Son has the right and privilege to call God his Father.
Commentators differ on how far the Lord's reply reaches. Some take it as a flat denial that God is Father to all people:
Notice how the Lord's words completely destroy the false idea, held by so many, of the "universal Fatherhood of God." Even these Jewish religious leaders went no further than claiming a universal fatherhood of Abraham, and so of God, for their nation. Jesus said, "If God were your Father …" It was a denial. The devil was their father. The Fatherhood of God is limited to those who believe, as Galatians 3:26 states.
Others read the reply as aimed at moral condition, not at natural origin. They point to the Lord's same argument about Abraham, whose physical descendants they truly were:
The Lord says the same about their being Abraham's children. By natural birth they truly were his children, however little they were so morally. So it is of their moral condition that He is speaking. The devil was not their father physically, of course.
The failure exposed in the temple was not one nation's failure. It was man's, and a Person was the test that exposed it.
It is really man proved guilty when set against Christ, in every land, language and age. He turns out to be no different when tested by the truth, by the Son. Circumstances differ, but this is always the issue, and it comes out worst where things look fairest. If there was a family on earth that might have seemed furthest from impurity, it was the Jews; if any could claim God as their Father, they could, most of all. But Jesus is the touchstone.
- Source shows. Everyone acts according to his origin. Character follows it, so a person's works name the father he belongs to.
- Descent fails. One could be Abraham's seed and still be God's worst enemy — bloodline is a poor safeguard against Satan.
- Privilege blinds. Handed-down rights can hide a man's moral corruption from himself and keep him from seeing his need.
- Claim tested. God was Father to Israel as a nation. He never revealed Himself that way to single people, so their boast claimed more than He had given.
- Christ decides. Jesus is the touchstone. Love for the One God sent is the proof, and only those who acknowledge the Son may call God their Father.