Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 8:52
Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
52. Now we know that thou hast a devil ] ‘It was somewhat of a conjecture before, but now we recognise clear evidence of it.’
Abraham is dead ] Abraham died. Again they shew a gross want of perception and ‘do not understand His speech’ ( Joh 8:43). They cannot discern a spiritual truth, but understand Him to be speaking of physical death. ‘My saying’ should be ‘My word’ as in Joh 8:51.
he shall never taste of death ] In their excitement they exaggerate His language. The metaphor ‘taste of death’ is not taken from a death-cup, but from the general idea of bitterness. It is frequent in the classics.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hast a devil – Art deranged. Because he affirmed a thing which they supposed to be contrary to all experience, and to be impossible.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 8:52-59
Abraham is dead and the prophets
Abraham and Jesus
I.
THE GREATNESS OF ABRAHAM:
1. The ancestor of the Jews. Our father, said they (Joh 8:53); Your father, conceded Christ (Joh 8:56). It was no small distinction to be the progenitor of so renowned a race.
2. The father of the faithful. He believed in Gods promise (Ge Rom 4:20), and became the head of a spiritual progeny who will far outnumber the natural.
3. A conqueror of death. Christs word (Joh 8:51) signified that to all His believing people, who were Abrahams children, and therefore to Abraham himself who had kept Gods word, death was practically abolished Mat 22:32).
4. A beholder of Christs day. Not an exultant anticipator, but an actual witness either prophetically from Moriah or from Paradise.
II. THE SUPERIORITY OF JESUS.
1. Of loftier calling. Abraham, a prophet; Christ, a Saviour; Abraham, the ancestor of the promised seed; Christ, the promised seed; Abraham, the progenitor of Christ, according to the flesh; Christ, the redeemer of Abraham, according to the Spirit. The Jews exulted in their physical connection with Abraham; Abraham in his spiritual connection with Christ.
2. Of nobler name. Abraham, a servant; Christ, the Son. Abraham called the Divine Being God; Christ addressed Him as Father.
3. Of older existence. Abraham was not before He came into this world; Christ was before Abraham was born.
4. Of higher being. Abraham began to be; Christ always was. Abraham was a creature; Christ the Creator, I am.
Lessons:
1. The Supreme Divinity of Christ.
2. The power of faith.
3. The certainty of existence after death.
4. The true secret of soul joy.
5. The one object of faith in all ages and for all peoples–Christs day. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Christ and Abraham
I. CHRIST IS GREATER THAN ABRAHAM (Joh 8:52-53). Notice:
1. The implied denial of the Jews that Christ was greater than Abraham. In this we see
(1) a sensuous interpretation, Abraham is dead. They took death in its mere material sense; they had no profounder idea of it than the dissolution of mind from matter. The dissolution of mind from truth, virtue, happiness, God–which is of all deaths the worst, and of which corporeal death is but the palpable–type, had not entered their carnal souls.
(2) Their ancestral pride (Joh 8:58). This led them to believe that Abraham was the greatest man in the universe, and themselves consequently as the greatest people. These two have always been among the greatest obstructions to the spread of truth.
2. The reply of Christ to this implied denial.
(1) He asserts that He honoured the Father, which they did not (Joh 8:54).
(2) He knew the Father, which they did not (Joh 8:55).
(3) He served the Father, which they did not (Joh 8:55).
3. The declaration of His superiority to Abraham (Joh 8:56).
II. CHRIST IS OLDER THAN ABRAHAM (Joh 8:58). This declaration struck them:
1. As absurd (Joh 8:57).
2. As blasphemous, and to be punished as such (Joh 8:59). (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Thou hast a devil: this is the third time we have met with this blasphemous imputation from these wretched men, Joh 7:20, in this chapter, Joh 8:48, and here. What we have here, may strongly incline us to believe, that by the phrase they did not intend that he was possessed with the devil; for they here declare themselves confirmed in what they said, from his speaking that which was contrary to sense and demonstration. Abraham was dead, (though the father of the faithful), and the prophets were dead; and therefore to speak of any mortal mans not seeing death, was contrary to every days experience, and to the experience of the holiest men who ever lived. To them therefore who understood him speaking of a natural dissolution of the soul and body, this looked like the language of one beside himself; which probably was all they meant, when they said he had a devil, unless they used it as a term of reproach and passion; of all which none can give any just account.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
52, 53. Then said the Jews unto him,Now we know that thou hast a devil, c.”Thou art nowself-convicted only a demoniac could speak so; the most illustriousof our fathers are dead, and Thou promisest exemption from death toanyone who will keep Thy saying! pray, who art Thou?”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said the Jews unto him,…. Upon these last words that he spake, giving assurance, that whoever kept his saying, should not die:
now we know that thou hast a devil; they thought and said so before, but now they were assured, that he must be under diabolical influence, must be possessed with the devil, and mad, and out of his senses; for they thought no man in his senses would ever talk at this rate:
Abraham is dead, and the prophets; that is, they are dead also, as the Ethiopic version adds; see Zec 1:5;
and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death: Abraham and the prophets were so far from pretending by their doctrine to communicate life and secure men from death, that they could not keep themselves from dying; and therefore it must be diabolical madness and frenzy to assert anything of this kind.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now we know ( ). Perfect active indicative of , state of completion, “Now since such talk we have come to certain knowledge that thou hast a demon” (verse 48).
Is dead (). Second aorist active indicative of . “Abraham died.”
And thou sayest ( ). Adversative use of , “and yet.” Emphatic position of (thou). Same condition quoted as in verse 51.
He shall never taste of death ( ). Same emphatic negative with subjunctive as in verse 51, but (first aorist middle subjunctive of with genitive case (death). Another Hebraism for dying like (see) in verse 51. Used in Heb 2:9 of the death of Jesus and in Synoptics (Matt 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). It occurs in the Talmud, but not in the O.T. The Pharisees thus did not misquote Jesus, though they misunderstood him.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Now. Looking back to ver. 48. If we were too hasty then in saying that you have a demon, your words now fully justify us. They understood Him to be speaking of natural death.
Is dead [] . Better, died : referring to the historical fact.
Taste of death. They change the form of Jesus ‘ statement. The Lord himself tasted of death. See Heb 2:9. The phrase taste of death does not occur in the Old Testament, but is common in Rabbinic writings. “The angel of death,” say the Rabbis, “holdeth his sword in his hand at the bed ‘s head, having on the end thereof three drops of gall. The sick man, spying this deadly angel, openeth his mouth with fear; and then those drops fall in, of which one killeth him, the second maketh him pale, the third rotteth.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then said the Jews unto him,” (eipan auto hoi loudaioi) “The Jews said to him,” in response to His statement that one believing or trusting in Him should never see death or separation from God, Joh 8:51; the same as they shall never perish,” Joh 10:27-28.
2) “Now we know that thou hast a devil.” (nun egnokamen hoti diamonion echeis) “Now and hereafter we know you have a demon, are demon obsessed,” or a demon has control on Him, because they could not comprehend or would not accept His words, though the Sadducees among them denied existence of angels and demon spirits, Act 23:8.
3) “Abraham is dead, and the prophets;” (Abraam apethanen kai hoi prophetai) “Abraham and the prophets died,” Zec 1:5; Heb 11:13; in Adam, Rom 5:12; 1Co 15:22; Ecc 9:5; Heb 9:27.
4) “And thou sayest, If a man keep my saying,” (kai su legeis ean tis ton logon mou terese) “And you assert, if anyone keeps or guards my word,” my sayings, or my teaching, Joh 8:51; not “my word,” which they quote, to make what He said to be His personally, apart from the Father, Joh 5:30; Joh 5:37; Joh 5:43; Joh 8:28.
5) He shall never taste of death.” (ou me geusetai thanatou eis ton haima) “He will by no means taste death into the age,” for Jesus has tasted if for him, Heb 2:9, never perish, come into condemnation, or be spiritually alienated from God; One “dead in trespasses and in sins,” once trusting in Jesus as Savior, once born again, once quickened to spiritual life, receives everlasting and eternal life, a possession never to be lost, or that can never be abolished or lost, Joh 5:24; Joh 11:26; 1Jn 5:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
52. Now we know. The reprobate persist in their stupidity, and are not moved by promises any more than by threatenings; so that they can neither be led nor drawn to Christ. Some think that they slanderously torture his words, by using the expression, taste of death, which Christ had not used; but this appears to me to be groundless. I rather think that both of the phrases, to taste of death and to see death, were used by the Hebrews in the same sense; namely, to die But they are false interpreters in this respect, that they apply the spiritual doctrine of Christ to the body. No believer shall see death, because believers, having been born again of incorruptible seed, (1Pe 1:23,) live even when they die; because, united to Christ their Head, they cannot be extinguished by death; because death is to them a passage into the heavenly kingdom; because
the Spirit, dwelling in them, is life on account of righteousness, (Rom 8:10,)
until he swallow up all that remains of death. But those men, being carnal, cannot perceive any deliverance from death, unless it appear manifestly in the body. And it is a disease too common in the world, that the greatest part of men care almost nothing about the grace of Christ, because they judge of it only by their carnal perception. That the same thing may not happen to us, we must arouse our minds, that they may discern spiritual life in the midst of death.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(52) Abraham is dead, and the prophets.They still do not understand His speech, and take His words in a merely physical sense. In that sense they were impossible, for they are contradicted by the fact that death came to the great Patriarch and the prophets, and if to them, then surely, much more to ordinary men. They regard it as conclusive that their assertion in Joh. 8:48 is correct. No one, except a man under the influence of a demon, would make an assertion so opposed to the almost unbroken experience of mankind.
If a man keep my saying.Better, If a man keep My word, as in last verse.
He shall never taste of death.The expression is stronger than that which He had used, shall never see death. They use it to put in the strongest way their wonder at the impossible promise which He had uttered. It has occurred before in Mat. 16:28. (See Note there.) It occurs again in the New Testament only in Heb. 2:9.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
52. Now we know We had been frightened by the boldness of our blasphemy, but now, now we know! They put on a new amount of forced bravado in order to override and silence his high claims, flouting them as the supremest, maddest arrogance. Superior, forsooth, to Abraham and all the prophets!
Abraham The greatest to them of human names. And he who was greater than Abraham was greater than all Israel, than all the human race. Stupendous claim for this young Galilean to assert!
Never taste of death As Israelites they could not but understand that life in the midst of death, glorious immortality, was a true doctrine. But they chose to put a mere bodily meaning to his words, to sustain their charge of stupendous arrogance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The Judaisers said to him, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed. Abraham is dead, and so are the prophets. And you say, ‘If a man keep my word he will never taste of death’. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who are you making yourself out to be?” ’
The Judaisers tried to ridicule His teaching. They must have known what He really meant but they were as aware as He was that others were listening. So they altered ‘see death’ to ‘taste of death’ with the intention of emphasising physical death, as their comments about Abraham and the prophets demonstrated. They were refusing to acknowledge that He was speaking of ‘the second death’, something that they too believed in.
‘Are you greater than our father Abraham?’ In the Greek the question is put in such a way as to assume a negative answer.
‘Who is dead, and the prophets are dead.’ The Pharisees believed in the resurrection from the dead. Thus on this at least they should have acknowledged what Jesus meant. They too believed that Abraham and the prophets would live again. But caricature is the weapon of deceivers, and that was what they were. So they pretended to believe that He meant physical death. They were playing to the crowds. How could He say that true believers would never taste of death when both Abraham and the prophets were all dead?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The attempt to kill the Lord:
v. 52. Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and Thou sayest, If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death.
v. 53. Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom makest Thou Thyself?
v. 54. Jesus answered, If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing; it is My Father that honoreth Me; of whom ye say that He is your God;
v. 55. yet ye have not known Him. But I know Him; and if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know Him, and keep His saying.
v. 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it and was glad.
v. 57. Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?
v. 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
v. 59. Then took they up stones to cast at Him; but. Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. The saying of Jesus that the believer in Him was sure of obtaining eternal life was beyond the comprehension of the Jews. And it increased their anger and resentment to note that Jesus ascribed such power to Himself. They concluded rightly that the Lord here claimed to possess supernatural attributes. And so they repeat their Blander and blasphemy that He is possessed of an evil spirit. They understood the saying of temporal death, and since they supposed Jesus to be a mere man and surely of smaller importance than Abraham and the prophets, they felt that He was arrogating to Himself powers which were altogether out of His reach. If those men had died, He surely could not speak of granting safety and deliverance from death. Their conclusion was a bit of sound arguing. Jesus did indeed place Himself upon a much higher level than the prophets. But the question of the Jews was impudent in spite of all: What do You expect us to take You for? Their words plainly showed their contempt of Him and of the fact that they believed Him to be extolling Himself at the expense of truth. But Jesus insists that He has His honor from His Father. If He were guilty of exalting Himself at the expense of truth, His glory would suffer at once and come to naught. God never permits an unworthy person to arrogate to himself privileges which properly belong to Him alone. But in this case God Himself was giving evidence on every hand that He stood behind His Son, in His preaching and in His miracles. Now the Jews made the boastful statement that God was their Father. If that were true, then they must be conscious of the fact that God is zealous and jealous of the honor of the Son, whom He has sent. But their proud boast cannot be true, they cannot have a correct idea and knowledge of Him. Their entire life and manner of acting shows that. They have not acquired knowledge of the Father, either by observation or by teaching, but the knowledge of Christ is of such a nature as to exclude all possibility of a mistake as to the essence and qualities of God. He has a direct and essential knowledge of His Father. Were He to deny that He has such a direct knowledge of God, then He would be a liar and on a level with the Jews. But He is the possessor of the right knowledge, out of which grows and follows a glad and joyful keeping of His Word. Note: This close connection between the actual knowledge of God by faith and the doing of His will is indispensable in the Christian life; the keeping of God’s Word must follow the acceptance of this Word in faith. And with Jesus this keeping was of a peculiarly wonderful character, since He was carrying out the will of God for the salvation of the world. And now Jesus offers a bit of proof for the fact that He is greater than Abraham. For this patriarch, who was their ancestor according to the flesh, was filled with exultant joy over the fact that he should see the day of Christ. The wonderful promises which were given him with regard to the Messiah filled his heart with joy ineffable. In this way Abraham did see the Lord, His Savior, by faith, and died in happy trust in Him. But this last saying the Jews completely misunderstood. They had the idea that the life of Jesus and that of Abraham on earth had been contemporaneous. Full of indignation they cried out to Him: Fifty years Thou art not yet, and Abraham Thou hast seen! The very idea was preposterous. But Jesus repeats the thought with an unusually strong affirmation, that before Abraham came into being, He was, He is, thus asserting His eternity. Our Savior, the humble and despised Jesus of Nazareth, is the eternal God. That is our comfort, to know that in our redemption the suffering and death of the eternal God is lying in the balance. It is the eternal God that delivered us from eternal damnation. That the eternal God suffered for some hours on the cross, that has taken away the power of hell and damnation. But this was too much for the Jews. They could no longer contain themselves; they picked up stones to put Him to death for what they considered blasphemy. But their murderous intention was not carried out. Jesus did not merely hide Himself, to slip out unobserved, but He made Himself in visible. by His almighty power: Through their very midst He went out, unhindered, while His enemies were struck with temporary blindness and vainly endeavored to harm Him. That same almighty Jesus is the Protector of His own at all times, and may well make use of His power in their interest, whenever He deems it necessary. There must be no lack of trust. in Him.
Summary. Jesus gives an evidence of His redeeming love in the case of the woman taken in adultery, proclaims Himself as the Light of the world, tells of His going to the Father, gives a discourse of the true liberty of the Gospel, and escapes from the wrath of the Jews.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Joh 8:52-53. Now we know that thou hast a devil. “We know now for certain that thou art under diabolic influences; for the most righteous persons that ever lived, are dead; even Abraham and the prophets: yet thou hast hardiness enough to say, If a man keep my saying, he shall never die.” There is a great emphasis on the word my in this place; the Jews using it to insinuate both the folly and the fault of Christ’s boasting, as intimating that his word was more efficacious than that of God himself, which Abraham and the prophets heard, and yet were not able to procure an immunity from death for themselves, far less for their followers. Many of the best copies read the last clause of the 52nd verse interrogatively: “Dost thou, who art not to be compared with Abraham and the prophets, say, If a man keep my saying, &c.?”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 8:52-53 . The Jews understood Him to speak of natural death, and thus found a confirmation of their charge that He was mad in consequence of being possessed with a devil. It is in their view a senseless self-exaltation for Jesus to ascribe to His word, and therefore to Himself, greater power of life than was possessed by Abraham and the prophets, who had not been able to escape death.
.] “antea cum dubitatione aliqua locuti erant,” in Joh 8:48 , Bengel.
] a different and stronger designation, not intentionally selected, but the result of excitement. Comp. on the expression Mat 16:28 , and the Rabbis as quoted by Schoettgen and Wetstein; Leon. Alex. 41: . The image employed, probably not derived from a death- cup , a supposition which is not favoured by the very common use of the expression in other connections, serves to set forth to the senses the , the bitterness of experiencing death. Comp. the classical expressions, , Eur. Alc . 1072; , Soph. Trach . 1091; , Luc. Nigr . 28; , Pind. Nem . 6. 41; , Maced. 3; , Hom. Od . , 98, , 181. The kind of experience denoted by is always specified in the context.
Joh 8:53 . Surely thou art not greater (furnished with greater power against death), and so forth; is emphatic. Comp. Joh 4:12 .
] quippe qui , who verily ; assigning the ground.
. ] What sort of one dost thou make thyself? (Joh 5:18 , Joh 10:33 , Joh 19:7 ), “quem te venditas?” (Grotius), that thy word should produce such an effect?
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
Ver. 52. Now we know thou hast a devil ] Thus, whether Christ pipe or weep to these froward children, he prevails nothing. Neither promises nor menaces affect reprobates, neque duci ad Christum, neque trahi possunt, as Calvin here noteth, they will neither be led unto Christ nor drawn to him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
52, 53. ] The Jews, not knowing what death really imports, regard the saying as a decisive proof of their surmise Joh 8:48 . “Their misunderstanding (says De Wette) keeps to the well-known type (ch. Joh 3:4 ; Joh 4:11 ff.), but this time theocratic pride is added to carnal sensuousness: ‘the O.T. Saints died!’ ”
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 8:52 . This confirms the Jews in their opinion that He is not in His right mind, they seem to have now got proof of what they had suspected; “antea cum dubitatione aliqua locuti erant,” Bengel. Their proof is that whereas Jesus says that those who keep His word shall never die, Abraham died and the prophets; therefore Jesus would seem to be making Himself greater than those most highly revered personages.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
is dead = died.
taste of death. They altered the Lord’s words. Not an O.T. term. Occurs five times: here; Mat 16:28. Mar 9:1. Luk 9:27. Heb 2:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
52, 53.] The Jews, not knowing what death really imports, regard the saying as a decisive proof of their surmise Joh 8:48. Their misunderstanding (says De Wette) keeps to the well-known type (ch. Joh 3:4; Joh 4:11 ff.), but this time theocratic pride is added to carnal sensuousness:-the O.T. Saints died!
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 8:52. , now we know) Previously they had spoken with some degree of doubt: Joh 8:48, Say we not well that Thou art, etc.; but now to the solemn asseveration of Jesus, Joh 8:51, they oppose this assertion of theirs.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 8:52
Joh 8:52
The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death.-They, refusing to see his meaning, feel sure that he has a demon to claim exemption for those who believed in him from the death that came to Abraham and the inspired men of old time.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Now: Joh 8:48, Joh 9:24
Abraham: Zec 1:5, Zec 1:6, Heb 11:13
taste: Heb 2:9
Reciprocal: Psa 49:9 – see Pro 23:9 – he Isa 59:15 – maketh himself a prey Mat 10:25 – If Mat 16:28 – taste Mar 3:22 – He hath Mar 9:1 – taste Luk 6:47 – heareth Luk 7:33 – He Luk 9:27 – taste Luk 11:15 – He Joh 7:20 – Thou Joh 8:22 – Will Joh 10:20 – He hath Joh 11:26 – whosoever Act 26:24 – Paul 1Co 2:14 – they Heb 11:5 – translated Heb 12:3 – contradiction
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
The Jews either did not know or they deliberately refused to recognize the two kinds of death. With that as the basis for their speech, they repeated the charge they first made at chapter 7:20, and pretended to ascribe His statement about dying to the effects of the devil in him. Adhering to their notion of there being only the physical death, they referred to the death of Abraham and the prophets as proof against the statement of Jesus.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 8:52-53. The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man have kept my word, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself? The word now looks back to Joh 8:48. Even if we were too hasty then, now we have learnt from thine own words that our charge is true. In attributing to His word a power to preserve His followers from that which had come upon the prophets, and even on Abraham himself, He is clearly placing Himself above Abraham and the prophets. Whom then is He making Himself?The Jews do not quote the words of Jesus with exactness. He had said, shall never behold death,for ever shall be spared the sight of death; they vary the metaphor a little, passing to a still more familiar phrase, taste death; perhaps because it seemed more direct and clear, less susceptible of a figurative meaning.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
JESUS PRE-ABRAHAMIC
Joh 8:52-59. The Jews said to Him, Now we know that Thou hast a demon. Sharpers, sent out for that specific purpose, hung on His lips, like lightning upon the skirts of the clouds, seeking with diabolical chicanery to catch some word on which they could found an accusation, either to arraign Him before the Roman governor or the Sanhedrin. Abraham and the prophets are dead, and You say, That if any one may keep My Word, he shall never taste of death; art Thou greater than our Father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead; whom do You make Yourself? Jesus responded, If I shall glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; there is One who glorifieth Me, whom you say that He is your God, and you do not know Him, but I know Him. Jesus made no mistakes. These people stood at the head of the Church, both clerical and laical; yet they were strangers to saving grace, aliens from God, and traveling the way of death. Never did the sun look down on a people more sanguine that they were right than those scribes and Pharisees, who were in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. If I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you; but I know Him, and I keep His Word. See with what utterly unimpassioned candor our Lord calls them liars! To convict is to convince. As conviction is fundamental in every work of grace, everything else being spurious without it, it becomes pre-eminently important that we call everything by its right name, as otherwise the normal force always goes out of the message. Abraham, your father, rejoiced that He might see My day, and He saw it, and was glad. Then the Jews said to Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Some have concluded that our Lord was much more than thirty-three when crucified, deducing their proof from this statement. We doubt not the correctness of the chronology, making Him thirty years old when John formally introduced Him into His official Messiahship; then His ministry, beginning at the Passover in the purification of the temple, winding up by crucifixion at another Passover, two other festivals transpiring in the interim, making three years in all. Then why do they speak of fifty? From the simple fact that, as thirty was their majority, fifty was their maturity. Hence they think to confound Him outright by the affirmation that He has not so much as reached mature manhood, being comparatively a tyro.
Hence the glaring inconsistency of His claiming, as they construed it, to be contemporary with Abraham. Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. The present tense of the verb to be is peculiar to the Deity, applicable to Him in all ages, and to no one else; hence, in this affirmation, our Lord not only claims to be pre-Abrahamic, but eternal, without beginning or end. Hence the I Am, immutable, through all ages, without beginning or end. Then they took up stones, in order that they may cast them at Him. With the Jews, the penalty of blasphemy was death by stoning. They see from His phraseology that He identifies Himself with God, being even pre-existent to Abraham. Consequently they construe His phraseology into blasphemy, and, apparently in a paroxysm of righteous indignation, take up stones, to vindicate the Mosaic law by His execution. And Jesus was hidden, and passed out from the temple; i. e., as on many other occasions, resorting to His omnipotence, in order to prolong His life and finish His work, He renders Himself invisible, passing through the midst of the crowd unseen, and going away from the Temple Campus. In this miracle He, to the surprise of all, suddenly disappears, all looking for Him, both His friends and His enemies; but no one being able to catch a glimpse of His person, while at the same time He is passing through the crowd unseen. It seems that such a miracle would satisfactorily confirm His Christhood in the estimation of all. However, they well remembered when Elisha, at Dothan, dropped an optical illusion on the whole Syrian army, so that they mistook him for their own commanding officer, obsequiously obeying his marching orders, till he led them to Samaria and turned them over to the king of Israel. Hence the tardiness, even on the part of His own relatives and friends, to acquiesce in His Messiahship, so many of them thinking that He was either a mighty prophet of Israel or one of the prophets risen from the dead.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
8:52 {17} Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
(17) Against those who abuse the glory of the saints to debase Christ’s glory.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Jews interpreted Jesus’ statements as referring to physical death. They did not believe that all people are spiritually dead because of the Fall. [Note: Edersheim, 2:175.] They judged that only a demoniac would claim that His words were more powerful than the revelations that Abraham and the prophets had received and passed on. Tasting death means experiencing death (cf. Heb 2:9).