Charts
But What About John 8:54? Does Jesus admit their god is His Father?
Context is everything
| Step | Verse | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| They make a claim | John 8:41 | "We have only one father, God himself." They're claiming their god – Yhwh – is the Most High, the Father of all. That's the assumption Jesus is about to dismantle. |
| Jesus cites it | John 8:54 | "My Father, about whom you say, 'He is our God.'" He's not agreeing. He's quoting them. |
| Jesus refutes it | John 8:55 | "Yet you do not know him, but I know him." They claim the Father, but they have never known Him. Jesus does. |
| Jesus calls it a lie | John 8:55 | "If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you." The comparison only works if they're already lying – and the lie is the claim they just made. |
John 8:41 is their claim. John 8:54 quotes it. The next verse calls it a lie.
You can read this part in the study.
The original language
| Verse | The phrase | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| John 8:54 | "whom you say" | "whom you say is your God" – Jesus quoting their claim. Denied in the next breath. |
| John 9:19 | "whom you say" | "whom you say was born blind" – Pharisees quoting the parents' claim. Not endorsing it – interrogating it. |
| John 10:36 | "you say" | "you say, 'You are blaspheming'" – Jesus quoting the Judeans' charge. Immediately refuted. |
The same reporting phrase in three verses of John. Each time it is what someone else says.
You can read this part in the study.
Where it lands
| Step | Verse | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| They make a claim | John 8:41 | "We have only one father, God himself." They're claiming their god – Yhwh – is the Most High, the Father of all. That's the assumption Jesus is about to dismantle. |
| Jesus cites it | John 8:54 | "My Father, about whom you say, 'He is our God.'" He's not agreeing. He's quoting them. |
| Jesus refutes it | John 8:55 | "Yet you do not know him, but I know him." They claim the Father, but they have never known Him. Jesus does. |
| Jesus calls it a lie | John 8:55 | "If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you." The comparison only works if they're already lying – and the lie is the claim they just made. |
The same four steps, from their claim in John 8:41 to Jesus calling it a lie.
