The Children of God versus the children of the devil

John 8:42–50 (NKJV)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

Messages

I. The children of God love the Son of God Jesus and the children of the devil hate Him (42)

See v42.

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Jesus said that ‘He came from God’ and ‘God sent Him’. We studied these two points when we learnt John 7:29.

‘nor have I come of Myself’ was also already mentioned in John 7:28^b. The Jews wouldn’t love Jesus and this proves that God was not their father (42^a, also see 1 John 4:7-8, 5:1). Instead of loving Him, they sought to kill Him (John 8:37, 40).

II. The children of God believe the truth and the children of the devil believe a lie (43-50)

See v43.

⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.

They even didn’t like to listen and didn’t (couldn’t) hear His word.

See v44.

⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The devil

• is a murderer from the beginning
• does not stand in the truth (has always hated the truth (NLT))
• has no truth in him
• speaks from his own resources when he lies
• is a liar
• is the father of lies

See v45.

⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

Even though Jesus said the truth that people could understand, the Jews did not understand (43^a) because they were not able to hear His word (the truth) (43^b) because they belonged to the devil who hates the truth because there is no truth in him (44).

As a result, the Jews did not believe Jesus when He told them the truth, which they did not hear (properly) and so they did not understand.

See v46.

⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

46^b (And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?) can be answered by looking at v44 and v45.

They believed the lie of their father, the devil (44). The reason they didn’t believe Jesus was that Jesus said not a lie but the truth (45).

See v47.

⁴⁷ He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Whether one belongs to God or not depends on whether one hears God’s words or not.

III. The children of the devil dishonored the Son of God Jesus (48-50)

See v48.

⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

This verse shows their response to what Jesus said in v42-47.

• The Jews said, 'You are a Samaritan' (48)
  This may be the response to
  • Which of you convicts Me of sin? (46^a)
  • The desire of your father you want to do (44^b)

• The Jews said, 'You have a demon' (48)
  This may be the response to
  • You are of your father the devil … (44)
  • You do not hear because you are not of God (47)

What is the answer of Jesus? See v49.

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

What Jesus said (the truth) was what Jesus heard from the Father (John 8:40). But the Jews said v48, dishonoring Jesus (49). Dishonoring Jesus is dishonoring the Father (See Matthew 10:40).

See v50.

⁵⁰ And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

God the Father seeks His own glory (50). He judges those dishonoring Him (See Exodus 20:7).