Your Father Is The Devil

Jesus told the Jews, "Your father is the devil."

JOHN 8 COMMENTARY ◄
John 8:37-42 Father Abraham

John 8:43-47 Your father is the devil

John 8:48-55 Samaritan

JOHN 8:43-44 43 “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you are not able to hear My word. 44 Your father is the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. From the beginning he was a murderer and has not stood in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks from what he is, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Why does Jesus say their real father is “the devil” (John 8:43)?
The devil lied to Eve and caused sin and death to enter into the world. “From the beginning he was a murderer and ... a liar” (John 8:44), so those who want to murder and lie belong to the devil.

What about telling a white lie?
Lie has no color.

JOHN 8:45-47 45 “And because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And since I speak 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.”

To which of the people who rejected Him did Jesus cling?
Jesus implored crowds to believe in Him so that “He who has ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9) can hear and believe. Jesus clung to no one but God the Father and certainly not to anyone who rejected Him. He preached the Gospel with full confidence that “He who is of God” will hear “God’s words” (John 8:46) and believe in Him, while those who “are not of God” (John 8:46) won't.

How do Jesus' words and example impact Gospel preaching and witnessing today?
It frees us to focus on sharing the Gospel accurately and in its entirety, including sin, hell, repentance, and leave who does and doesn't believe entirely up to God.

What does that mean for the myriad modern techniques and strategies aimed at getting unbelievers to say a prayer, which supposedly will turn them into Christians?
They are unbiblical and often driven by the desire to fill the pews with donors. And a Christian telling an unbeliever that he or she is saved is worse than a doctor telling a man who has curable cancer that he is cancer-free.