In the first large part of his Gospel, John intersperses a series of signs with dialogues and discourses that explain and confirm them.
The so-called "sign of the Light", the healing of the man born blind at Siloam (Jn 9:1-17)The first of these is preceded by some controversies with some Jews about the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus presents himself as water and light of the world (= life) (cf. Jn 1:4; 8:12). In an encounter of faith with Jesus, a man born blind is baptized/enlightened. The passage shows the good dispositions of this man and his journey to the confession of faith: "I believe, Lord." (Jn 9:38).
In Jn 7:14 - 8:59 we can identify seven dialogues between Jesus and various groups of Jews. In them, Jesus manifests himself as the one sent by the Father. In the last one (Jn 8:31-59), Jesus offers true freedom to those who have begun to believe, stay tuned to in his word. But, faced with the inability of some of the interlocutors to do so, Jesus directs the dialogue towards the deep cause of this inability.
The way of freedom (Jn 8:31-41a)
Jesus says that the one who remains in what he has preached is his disciple, and that this is the way to know a truth that free; that truth is what Jesus said about himself and about the Father (Jn 1:14,17-18; 8:32,40). But the Jews with whom he speaks tell him that they are descendants of Abraham (Gen. 22:17-18) and that they have always been free.
Jesus tells them that offspring y affiliation are two different things: the son (= the free one), who is the one who remains in the house forever (here, he who receives the Father's blessing; cf. Mt 17:25-26; Gal 4:30; Heb 3:5-6), is the one who listen to the Father, and that listen is manifested in works, so that if one sins, it is because he has listened to sin, and through sin he has been made slave or, in other words, it is slave of sin (cf. Gal 5:1; Rom 6:17; 7:7 ff; 8:2; 2 Pet 2:19; 1 Jn 3:8). Only the Son of truth, Jesus, can dissipate the darkness and release of that slavery.
Jesus accepts that the Jews are lineage from Abraham (Jn 8, 37), but not that they are children (Jn 8:39), because the works that they do, and here they demonstrate their sin, are not those that Abraham did: to listen to God (to listen to the word of God; cf. Jn 5:38; 15:7), to act with faith and to welcome his emissaries (Gen 12:1-9; 18:1-8; 22:1-17; cf. Lk 16:19-31). This is an indirect allusion to their lack of faith (cf. Gal 3:6; Rom 4:3; Heb 11:8, 17; James 2:22-23). What they have done and do is that which have heard to your real fatherThis is what defines his sonship (Jn 1:12). Jesus has seen to the Father (with clarity; Jn 5:19) and from that truth Jews imitate what they have heard (with deception) to another parent.
Sons of the father of lies (Jn 8, 41b-47)
The Jews respond to Jesus, using an image typical of the Prophets (Jn 8:41; cf. Hos 1:2; 4:15; Ezek 16:33-34), that they are children of God because the covenant was sealed with them (Ex 4:22; Dt 14:1; 32:6). Jesus replied that if they were children of GodHis father would be the same as his father and, therefore, they would love him as a brother and listen to him. And then he speaks of provenanceJesus, is (comes) from God (Jn 7:28; 17:8; 1 Jn 5:20) and do his will (Jn 4:34; 5:36), but they are not from God because the desires they want to fulfill are not those of God, but they seek to kill him (Jn 7:19, 20, 25), and in this they show that they are children of the one who introduced murder into the world (thus, Cain killed Abel; Gen 4:8; 1 Jn 3:12-15) by means of lies (deceiving Adam and Eve; Gen 3:1-5): the devil.
Jesus' words address two crucial questions. The first is the identity of the devil, whom these Jews make a father when they imitate him. Jesus alludes to what is stated at the beginning of the Gospel: in the principle was the (true) word, which is the one he always utters (Jn 1:1; cf. 8:25), whereas the devil, who, before he fell, was in the realm of truth, has become home of all falsehood and death so that when he speaks, he does not speak the truth, but brings out from within himself what is proper to him: the lie (Jn 8:44). In seeking the death of Jesus, the Jews are doing the work (purpose) of the devil (cf. Wis 2:24; Si 25:24; Jn 13:2, 27). The other question is the mystery of why the Jews do not listen to him if he speaks the truth and in him there is no sin (cf. Jn 8:7-9; Heb 4:15; Is 53:9). The reason is that they are not from God: he who listens to lies cannot understand and accept the truth, because he is closed to it; indeed, the manifestation of the truth increases in him the rejection of that light, increasing his hardening and blindness (Jn 3:20; 1 Jn 4:6). And only Jesus can bring man out of this dynamic.
Jesus reveals his identity: "I am" (Jn 8:48-59).
The Jews accuse Jesus of being a schismatic and of having the devil inside him. But Jesus reaffirms that he has God as his Father, and that he honors him and does his will (Mk 3:22-25). Moreover, he does not seek his own prestige, and this ensures that he speaks the truth (Jn 7:18).
To the affirmation that he who abides in him will live and will not see death (Jn 5:24; 8:51), the Jews, misunderstanding this "death", take up the figure of Abraham saying that even the greatest people have died. Then Jesus speaks to them of his own death and of his glorification (Jn 12:23, 31; 13:31; 17:1), which will be the condemnation of the devil and his followers (Jn 16:11). But they do not understand. That life, the one given by the Father, is the true life, but since they do not know the Father and do not keep his word, they neither understand it nor will they receive it. With irony, Jesus tells them that Abraham, whom they call father, desired to see the "Day of Jesus" and that, in fact, he has already seen it. And that has filled him with joy. Abraham himself thus testifies to Jesus, who is before Abraham was born. Jesus is the true fulfillment of the history of Israel (Mt 13:17; Jn 5:46; Heb 11:13): "I am" (Jn 8:12, 58).
Professor of New Testament, University of Navarra.
