John 8:49Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What then does Christ, this meekness and condescension, say? “I do not have a demon, but I honor the Father who sent Me.” When it was necessary to teach them, humble their great arrogance, and instruct them not to boast in Abraham, He was stern. But when He Himself had to endure their reproach, He shows great meekness. When they said, “We have God and Abraham as our father,” He struck them forcefully. But when they called Him demon-possessed, He answered meekly. Thus He teaches us to avenge what offends God, while disregarding insults directed against ourselves.

Thus they insult Him, while He receives insults from them without malice. Yet when they call themselves sons of God, He strongly rebukes them, defending the truth. But when they insult Him, He does not defend Himself.

By this He teaches us also to defend the glory of God and meekly endure insults that concern ourselves. In the same way He meekly says: "I have no demon, but I honor My Father."

How does He honor the Father? By defending Him and not allowing murderers and liars to be called sons of the Savior and of the Truth.

You, He says, dishonor Me because I honor My Father, whom you revile, since you slanderously claim that He is your father.

But even if I do not avenge Myself and endure insults, do not think that this insult will remain unavenged.

There is the Father, who will punish for such an insult inflicted upon Me because I defend Him and do not allow you to call yourselves His sons.

The speech is marked by meekness, yet also by greater decisiveness. He says with great expressiveness: "I do not have a demon." By setting Himself, as it were, opposite them, He shows Himself free from this reproach.

On the contrary, He shows that in reality it applies to them. For if they truly did not have a demon, they would surely have feared to call demon-possessed the One who, through His works, was testified before them as God.

Therefore He says very fittingly: "I do not have," as though transferring this accusation to them and in reality assigning such a state, that of demonic possession, precisely to them.

When the Jews said to Him, "Do we not rightly say that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" (Jn 8:48), He rejected one of these two accusations and did not reject the other.

For He answered and said: "I have no demon." He did not say, "I am not a Samaritan," although two accusations had been brought forward.

Although He did not answer slander with slander, and although He did not respond to mockery with mockery, He nevertheless chose to reject one accusation and not to reject the other. This was not without reason, brethren.

"Samaritan" is translated as "guardian," custos. He knew that He was our Guardian. For He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 120:4). And: "Unless the Lord guards the city, those who guard it keep vigil in vain" (Ps. 126:1).

The proper characteristic of His hypostasis is that He is the Son, begotten of the Father, and not the unbegotten Father or Begetter.

For He is begotten of the Father impassibly and without composition, that is, without mixture, as light from fire, or more precisely, perfect Light from perfect Light.

Therefore from the Father He has being and all that He has. For this reason He also says: "My Father is greater than I" (Jn 14:28). That is, "for I am from Him, though not after Him, but He is not from Me."

Therefore He also honors the Father.

“Jesus answered: I do not have a demon.” I do not dishonor God as the demons do, nor do I take His honor from Him. “But I honor My Father.” By honoring the Father, I show that you do not have God as your Father, and that you are not of God. To be the father of murderers is a dishonor to the Lover of mankind. “And you dishonor Me,” calling Me a Samaritan and demon-possessed because, by honoring the Father, I have shown that you do not have God as your Father. By dishonoring the Son, you have also dishonored the Father. For it was said above that whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him (Jn 5:23).

But let us hear what the Lord answers to such reproaches. "I have no demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me."

Since "Samaritan" means guardian, truly this is the Guardian of whom the Psalmist says: "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps vigil in vain" (Ps. 126:1). Through Isaiah it is said to Him: "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" (Is. 21:11).

Therefore the Lord did not deign to answer, "I am not a Samaritan," but, "I have no demon." Since two reproaches were made against Him, He refuted one and silently accepted the other.

For He came as the Guardian of the human race. If He had said that He was not a Samaritan, He would have denied that He was the Guardian.

After calmly hearing the extremely insolent words of the Pharisees, Jesus meekly answered them: "I have no demon. On the contrary, by such words, which seem to you the words of a demon-possessed man, I give honor to My heavenly Father.

I am compelled to speak with you in this way because I honor My Father. But you, instead of bowing your head obediently before Him who speaks the truth to you in the Father's name, dishonor Me.

You call Me a Samaritan and demon-possessed. Yet together with this, you dishonor the One in whose name I speak and act, that is, God, whom you nevertheless dare to call your Father.

"Do we not rightly say that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" The Savior showed the true reason why the Jews resist Him.

But the nature of malice is such that the more clearly truth is shown to it, and the more invincible truth appears before its eyes, the more it rages and showers abuse upon the teacher of truth.

So do the rebuked Jews act. They say that they are right to consider Him a Samaritan and a man possessed by a demon.

In Jewish thought, a Samaritan is the same as a "heretic or Epicurean" (Tract Ievamoth f. 47). In other words, he is one who does not know the God of Israel and rejects Israel's right faith.

The more troubled and frantic the enemies of Jesus became, the calmer and meeker heavenly Truth, Christ Jesus, appears in His answers.

The Lord answers the uttered blasphemy so calmly, making no objection at all to the name Samaritan given Him. Judaism is already passing away. Before the Lord, all peoples and tribes are already equal.

The time of unity and equality is already coming. All who honor God in the person of His Son are children of God by calling and adoption.

But those who do not honor God and dishonor the Lord Jesus, how will they appear before God? The Russian Synodal translation of the words ὑμεῖς ἀτιμὰζετε με is closer to the Greek, ἂτιμος, dishonored, than the Slavonic.