John 8:39-41, You Seek to Kill Me

39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God."

What started off as a difficult conversation a gentleman would have avoided is now a full-blown slugfest—rather one-sided, to be sure, but the Jews hit back hard when Jesus exposes the darkness of who they are. The last blow coming from the Jews is an accusation of the immorality of Jesus’ birth. The story is now in the open that Jesus’ mother was not married when she became pregnant, hence the reference to sexual immorality. They use the miracle of the virgin birth personally against Jesus.

What precipitated this line of personal attack is Jesus’ exposing of their sinful plans to kill him. Jesus has pulled back the cover on their true identity, which is not in being children of Abraham. Abraham was righteous and obedient to God. They are not. They cannot and do not do the works of Abraham and are thus not his spiritual descendants. If only they would listen to the voice of Jesus, but they are deaf. In the next verses Jesus proclaims who their true father is—a revelation of the truth that helps lead Jesus to the cross.

Father, we want to be your true children in all that we say and do. Expose in us that which is sinful, that we may repent and return like the prodigal son to our true Father, where we find forgiveness and mercy in your home of sacrificial love. Amen.