John 8:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’” And He answers, “You know neither Me nor My Father.” Since, while knowing, they spoke as though they did not know and were tempting Him, He does not deem them worthy of an answer.

For this reason, at last, He speaks of everything more clearly and with greater boldness. He has testimony concerning Himself in the signs and in the teaching of His followers, and He knows that the Cross is already near.

Of course, the Jews will say that they too worship God. But this cannot be said. None of the Jews worships God. Who says this? The Son of God. “If you had known My Father,” He says, “you would have known Me also. You know neither Me nor My Father.” What testimony more trustworthy than this can I bring?

Some think that the Jews said to the Lord, “Where is Your Father?” as an insult and reproach. Since His supposed father Joseph was poor, by the words “Where is Your Father?” the Jews speak as though saying: “Your father is obscure and of low birth. Why, then, do You constantly remind us of him?”

Since they asked Him about the Father by way of temptation, and not in order to learn the truth, He does not deem them worthy of an answer. Instead He says, “You know neither Me nor My Father,” that is, you cannot know My Father without Me.

They said to Him, "Where is Thy Father?" In the present case also, I think, anyone could with perfect justice accuse the senselessness of the Jews by using the prophetic saying: "Behold, a foolish people, without a heart" (Jer 5:21).

Although our Savior Christ often spoke to them at length, and constantly named in His words the heavenly Father and God, those wretched men reached such madness that they dared to say, "Where is Thy Father?"

They gave no thought at all to God and Father Who is in heaven. Instead, they looked about and sought Joseph, supposing that he, and no other, was the father of Christ. Do you see how rightly they are called a truly foolish and heartless people?

What does this mean: "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also," except that "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30)? When you see that someone resembles another, and you know the one he resembles, you say in amazement, "How like that man this man is!" You would not say this if there were not two.

To show the one he does not know by means of the one he sees, you answer: "You have seen this one; consider that you have seen that one also." When you say this, you do not assert that there is one man or deny that there are two. Because of the likeness, you answer in this way: "You knew this one, and you knew that one. They are very alike, and there is no difference."

So also the Lord says: "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also," not because the Father is the Son, but because the Son is like the Father.

What is briefly said in the Holy Gospel must not be briefly expounded; otherwise what has been heard will remain misunderstood. The Lord's words are truly few, yet they are great. They should be valued not by their number, but by their weight. They should not be neglected because they are few, but pondered because they are weighty.

You who were present yesterday heard how we reasoned, according to our strength, about what the Lord said: "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I bear witness of Myself, and the Father Who sent Me bears witness of Me" (Jn 8:15-18).

Yesterday, as I said, a discourse was built from these words for your ears and hearts. When the Lord spoke these words, those who heard, "You judge according to the flesh," confirmed what they had heard. For they answered the Lord, Who spoke of God as His Father, by asking, "Where is Thy Father?"

They sought Christ's Father in a fleshly way, because they judged Christ's words according to the flesh. Yet He Who was speaking with them was visibly flesh, and secretly the Word; visibly man, and hiddenly God. They saw the veil and despised Him Who wore the veil.

They despised Him because they did not know Him. They did not know Him because they did not see. They did not see because they were blind. They were blind because they did not believe.

Let us see, then, what the Lord answered to this. "Where," they say, "is Thy Father? For we heard Thee say, 'I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me' (Jn 8:16). Yet we see only Thee alone, and do not see Thy Father with Thee. How then dost Thou say that Thou art not alone, but with Thy Father? Show us that Thy Father is with Thee."

And the Lord says, "Do you know Me, that I should show you the Father?" This is what is said next; He answered it in His words which we have already cited. Indeed, see what He said: "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, perhaps you would have known My Father also" (cf. Jn 8:19).

"But you say, 'Where is Thy Father?' as though you already know Me, as though what you see is all that I am. Since you do not know Me, I do not show you My Father.

"You, of course, consider Me a man, and therefore you seek My Father as a man, because you judge according to the flesh. Since according to what you see I am one thing, and according to what you do not see I am another, I speak of My Father as hidden while I Myself am hidden. First you must know Me; then you will also see My Father."

"If you had known Me, perhaps you would have known My Father also." When He Who knows all things says "perhaps," forsitan, He does not doubt, but reproves. See how the qualification "perhaps," which seems to express doubt, is uttered as a rebuke.

It expresses doubt when spoken by a man who doubts because he does not fully know. But when a word of doubt is spoken by God, from Whom nothing is hidden, unbelief is exposed by this doubt; no wavering judgment of the Godhead is expressed.

People sometimes express doubt as a rebuke concerning things about which they do not have exact knowledge. That is, they use a form of doubt while they do not doubt in their heart.

It is the same as if you were angry with your servant and said to him: "You despise me! Consider, perhaps I am not your master?" Therefore the Apostle also, speaking to those who despise him, says: "I think I also have the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 7:40).

When he says "I think," he seems to doubt. But he rebukes; he does not express doubt. And the Lord Christ Himself, in another place, rebuking the future unbelief of the human race, said: "When the Son of Man comes, do you think He will find faith on the earth?" (cf. Lk 18:8).

I think you have already understood how "perhaps," forsitan, was used. Let no appraiser of words or investigator of syllables distort the word spoken by the Word of God, as though wishing to show his knowledge of Latin. By refuting the Word of God, he will prove not eloquent, but mute.

For who speaks as the Word speaks, Who in the beginning was with God (Jn 1:1)? Do not examine these words as we use them, and do not dare to measure by them that Word Who is God.

You hear "Word" and despise Him; hear "God" and fear. "In the beginning was the Word." You refer to speech familiar to you and say to yourself, "What is a word? What is great about a word? It sounds and passes away. Through the motion of the air it enters the ear, and it is no more."

Hear further: "The Word was with God." He remained and did not fly away after sounding. Perhaps you still despise this: "The Word was God" (cf. Jn 1:1).

When your own word remains in your heart, O man, it is something other than sound. But the word within you, in order to reach me, seeks sound as a kind of vehicle. It takes sound, sets itself upon it like a vehicle, speeds through the air, reaches me, and yet does not leave you.

The sound, however, in order to reach me, leaves you and does not remain with me either. Did the word that was in your heart disappear as soon as the sound disappeared?

You said what you thought. So that what was hidden in you might reach me, you gave it voice by syllables. The sound of the syllables brought your thought into my ears. Through my ears your thought entered my heart. The sound that served as mediator flew away.

But the word that received the sound was with you before you gave it voice. Since you gave it voice, it came to be with me, yet did not leave you.

Consider this, investigator of sounds. You despise the Word of God, you who do not grasp the word of man. He through Whom all things were made knows all things, and yet He rebukes by doubting: "If you had known Me, perhaps you would have known My Father also." He rebukes unbelievers.

He expressed the same judgment to the disciples, but there the word of doubt is absent, because there was no occasion to rebuke unbelief. What He had just said to the Jews, "If you had known Me, perhaps you would have known My Father also," He also said to the disciples when Philip asked Him, or rather demanded of Him: "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us" (Jn 14:8).

It was as though he were saying: "We already know Thee. Thou hast already manifested Thyself to us. We see Thee. Thou hast deigned to choose us. We have followed Thee. We have seen Thy miracles. We have heard the words of salvation. We have received Thy commandments. We hope in Thy promises. Thou hast specially deemed us worthy of Thy presence.

"Yet, although we have known Thee, because we do not yet know the Father, we burn with desire to see Him Whom we do not yet know. Therefore, since we know Thee, but this is not enough for us until we see the Father, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

So that they might understand that they did not know what they thought they already knew, the Lord said: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9).

Does this statement contain doubt? Did He say, "He who has seen Me has perhaps seen the Father"? Why does it contain no doubt? Because one who believed, and not a persecutor of the faith, was listening to Him. Therefore the Lord was not a rebuker, but a healer.

"He who has seen Me has seen the Father." And here: "If you had known Me, perhaps you would have known My Father also." Let us remove the word indicating the unbelief of the hearers, and the meaning remains the same.

Yesterday, beloved, we already entrusted to your attention and voiced the sayings of the Evangelist John, through which he tells us what he learned from the Lord. There would be no need to discuss them if the deceits of heretics did not compel us.

Yesterday, beloved, we briefly mentioned to you that there are heretics called Patripassians, or, after the author of the false teaching, Sabellians. They say that the Father is the same as the Son: the names differ, but the Person is one.

When He wishes, they say, He is Father; when He wishes, He is Son. Nevertheless, He is one person. There are also other heretics called Arians. They do confess our Lord Jesus Christ as the only Son of the Father: one is the Father of the Son, another is the Son of the Father.

He Who is the Father is not the Son, and He Who is the Son is not the Father. They confess the Son's birth from the Father, but deny equality.

We, that is, the Catholic faith which came from the teaching of the Apostles, was planted in us, and reached us through a succession, carry the truth unharmed between the two errors, so that it may pass to descendants.

According to the Sabellian error, there is only one person: He Who is the Father is the same as the Son. According to the Arian error, the Father is one Person and the Son another. Yet the Son is not only a distinct Person, but also something else in essence.

What must you do, standing in the middle? You have rejected the Sabellian; reject the Arian also. The Father is the Father, and the Son is the Son: another Person, but not another thing, for He says, "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30).

As far as I could, I impressed this upon you yesterday. Let the troubled Sabellian depart when he hears "We are," sumus. Let the troubled Arian depart when he hears "one." Let the Orthodox man steer the ship of his faith between the two, since shipwreck must be feared on both sides.

Say what the Gospel says: "I and the Father are one." Not different, because "one"; and not one person, because "We are." A little earlier He said: "My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father Who sent Me" (Jn 8:16), as though saying: "My judgment is true because I am the Son of God, because I speak what is true, because I am the Truth."

But they, understanding according to the flesh, said: "Where is Thy Father?" Listen now, Arian: "You know neither Me nor My Father, because if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."

What does "if you had known Me, you would have known My Father also" mean, except: "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30)?

When you see some man resembling another, notice, beloved, that this happens every day, so let what is ordinary not be difficult for you. When you see some man resembling another, and you know the one he resembles, you say in amazement: "How like that man this man is!"

You would not say this if they were not two different persons. Then the man who does not know the one of whom you said that this one resembles him says, "Is he really so like him?" And you say to him, "What, do you not know that man?" He answers, "No, I do not know him."

Then, to tell him about the man he does not know, you speak of him on the basis of the man standing before you, and say: "You have seen this one; consider that you have seen that one." Of course, in saying this, you do not assert that both are one man, nor do you deny that there are two.

You answered in this way because of the likeness: "You know this one, therefore you know that one also, because they are very alike, and there is no difference between them."

“Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’” They said this while pretending not to know of what Father Jesus Christ was speaking, and while tempting Him.

“Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father.’” That is, as you pretend. In reality you do know, as was said above. Or else Jesus Christ said this because the Jews were pretending that they knew Him as the son of Joseph.

Accordingly He says: If you truly know as you pretend, then “you know neither Me,” since I am not the Son of Joseph, “nor My Father,” since Joseph is not My father.

“Where is this witness of Yours?” they asked Him. “Your Father?”

Of course, the Lord answered, you would not ask Me this if you understood Me rightly. If you had a clear spiritual eye, you would see the Father in Me. But you do not have this. Therefore you know neither Me nor the Father.

He said this in the very temple whose rulers had commanded that He be seized. Yet no one dared to take Him. After this conversation, perhaps preparing again to leave Jerusalem as unsafe until the appointed time, or at least taking leave of the multitude as the feast was ending, He appeared again in the place of the people’s common assembly in the temple (8:59), on the Sabbath day (9:14).

From their previous conversations with Jesus, the Pharisees certainly knew that when He spoke of His Father, He was speaking of God the Father (see, for example, 5:17-18). Therefore, when they ask Him here, “Where is Your Father?” they deliberately understand Jesus’ words about His Father in the sense of an earthly, bodily father.

They mock Jesus Christ, saying: “Your Father is not here. How, then, can he be a witness for You?” To this Jesus Christ answers them: “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had recognized in Me the Son of God, you would have known My Father also.”

Having heard Jesus speak many times already about the Father, and pretending not to understand, the Pharisees asked Him: “Where is Your Father?”

“If you knew Me, you would know My Father also,” said Jesus. “But since you do not wish to know Me and do not know Me, you do not know My Father either.”

Later, in the farewell discourse with the Apostles, when Philip asked, “Show us the Father,” Jesus said: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” since “I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (Jn 14:8-10).

To the Pharisees’ question, however, Jesus did not repeat what He had said many times about His consubstantiality with the Father. He limited Himself to indicating that they could not know the Father because they did not wish to know the Son.

“Where is Your Father?” This question expresses the mockery and blasphemy of those who asked, for they could not have failed to know that He was speaking of God.

“You say,” the blasphemers said, “that there is another witness concerning You, Your Father. Where is He? He is not here. We do not hear His testimony, and we do not see the witness,” and so forth.

They had neither spiritual hearing nor a spiritual eye for hearing and seeing the testimonies of God the Father concerning Christ. Seeing, they did not see; hearing, they did not hear, and did not understand. This is why the Lord answers their mockery decisively: they know neither Him (cf. Jn 8:14) nor the Father, as they ought to know.

“If you had known Me,” and so forth. This saying is founded on the fact that in Christ the Father revealed Himself (cf. Jn 14:9).

“Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’” Some thought, Augustine among them, that they asked about an earthly father through misunderstanding. This is in vain. Many times the Savior had spoken in everyone’s hearing about the heavenly Father, so that they could not fail to understand Him.

The Savior’s answer also shows that they were not asking about an earthly father. Those who asked understood well that Jesus, in speaking of the Father as witness, was speaking of God. But with malicious mockery they say: Where is this second witness, Your Father? We would like to see Him.

They refused to believe their own eyes and ears, which had seen and heard the miracles performed by Jesus through the power and will of the Godhead. In powerless malice they laughed at all this.

After all that the Lord had said and revealed to the unbelieving Jews, their question only proves that they did not wish to believe, or rather wished not to believe. The Lord tells them that, with such a hardened and malicious heart as theirs, they cannot know either Him or God the Father.

Weak human thought cannot know God, but love and faith can. God cannot be studied or investigated. God cannot serve as the object of science, but one can love God, feel His grace, and be blessed in one’s faith.

Great as the mystery taking place on earth was, the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Word, simple-hearted people, unlearned and ignorant, understood that “the words proceeding from the mouth of the Lord Jesus were words of grace” (Lk 4:22).