The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (121 page)

8:15 according to the flesh:
i.e., on the basis of limited human reason.
See note on Jn 6:63
. 
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8:17 it is written:
Deut 17:6 and 19:15 require two or three witnesses to establish credible legal testimony in court. 
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8:20 his hour:
See topical essay:
The "Hour" of Jesus
at Jn 4. 
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8:23 from below:
Not from hell but from the earth. Jesus comes from heaven above (3:31). 
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8:24 you will die:
An assurance not simply of bodily i death, which is the fate of everyone, but of spiritual death, which irrevocably separates sinners from God for all eternity.
I am:
Recalls the name of Yahweh revealed to Moses at the burning bush.
See note on Jn 6:20
. • Jesus stresses in this context the importance of
believing
(8:24) and
knowing
(8:28) that he is the great "I am". This evokes Is 43:10-11, where witnesses from Israel come to "know" and "believe" that the Lord is truly the God of their forefathers, the sovereign "I am". 
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8:28 lifted up the Son:
i.e., in his Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
See note on Jn 12:32
. 
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8:32 truth will make you free:
Jesus embodies divine truth (14:6) and has come to bear witness to the truth (18:37). Acceptance of him liberates us from the slavery of sin, ignorance, and deception (8:12; CCC 2466). 
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8:33-47
The exchange between Jesus and the Jewish authorities turns around the question of family identity. Jesus is the Son of his heavenly Father, who extends the gift of sonship to those who accept his word (1:12; 8:36). Those claiming that Abraham is their father are denied the status of Abrahamic sonship, not because they have no genealogical ties to the patriarch, but because they do not imitate his faith (8:39-40). They are rather sons of Satan, for the character traits of their father, the devil, are manifest in them as they reject the word of Jesus and seek to kill him (8:40, 44). 
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8:33 never been in bondage:
An almost ridiculous response. Throughout biblical history, Israel had been enslaved by the Egyptians, subjugated by the Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, and was now in the grip of Imperial Rome. These forms of political domination were merely symptoms of Israel's slavery to sin. 
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8:34 slave to sin:
Man is powerless to break free from the devil and the bondage of his own weaknesses. This predicament entangles everyone, Israelites and Gentiles alike (Rom 3:9). Christ alone can liberate slaves of the devil and make them sons of the Father (Gal 4:3-7) (CCC 549, 1741). 
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8:35 The slave . . . the son:
Jesus alludes to the story of Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, to demonstrate that genealogical descent from the patriarch does not guarantee the blessing of divine sonship in the New Covenant. • Ishmael was born to Abraham by a slave woman, Hagar (Gen 16:15), while Isaac was born to Abraham by his lawful wife, Sarah (Gen 21:3). Though both were the natural sons of Abraham, Ishmael was later expelled from Abraham's family, disinherited, and excluded from the blessings of the covenant (Gen 17:19-21; 21:10-14). Jesus applies this narrative to the sons of Abraham in his own day: Unless they accept him in faith and become sons of God (1:12), they will follow the way of Ishmael, being driven out from the house of Abraham and cut off from the blessings promised to his descendants (Gal 4:21-31). 
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8:44 your father the devil:
A bold indictment of Israel's leadership. They are sons neither of Abraham (8:40) nor of God the Father (8:42), but are the offspring of a murderer, liar, and deceiver (CCC 391, 2482). 
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8:46 convicts me of sin?:
Jesus is completely unstained by sin, as is his conscience (Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; CCC 578). 
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8:48 a Samaritan:
An insult implying that Jesus was born of mixed racial parentage and followed a deviant form of religion.
See note on Jn 4:7-42
.
have a demon:
A common charge leveled at Jesus (7:20; 10:20; Mt 9:34; 12:24). •
Morally
(St. Gregory the Great,
Homily
18): Jesus sets the example of perfect composure in the face of insults, since he denied the charge of being a demoniac but did not counter it with an abusive response. If Jesus did not avenge himself, then neither should we return injury for injury when reviled by our neighbor. 
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8:51 never see death:
Not that Jesus exempts believers from the experience of bodily death, but that he saves their souls from spiritual death by the gift of eternal life (Rom 6:23). 
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8:56 to see my day:
Probably a reference to the events in Gen 22:1-18. •
(1)
When Abraham nearly sacrifices Isaac as a holocaust, only to receive him back alive, the patriarch witnessed a
preview
of the Father surrendering his Son to death and receiving him back in the Resurrection (Heb 11:1719).
(2)
In response to this act of faith, Yahweh rewarded Abraham with a sworn covenant
promise
that one of his descendants would arise to bless all nations (Gen 22:16-18). This oath is fulfilled in the dying and rising of Jesus, who offers blessings to every nation (Mt 28:18-20; Gal 3:14; CCC 706). 
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8:57 not yet fifty years old:
Jesus is only in his early thirties (Lk 3:23). 
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8:58 before Abraham was, I am:
Jesus takes for himself the divine name of Yahweh, "I am" (Ex 3:14). He thus claims to be one with God (10:30), whose life in eternity has neither beginning nor end. The Pharisees hear this claim loud and clear and, thinking it outrageous, stand ready to stone him for blasphemy (8:59; Lev 24:16) (CCC 590). See notes on Jn 1:1 and 6:20. 
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9:2 Rabbi, who sinned . . . ?:
Sickness was thought to be a direct consequence of sin (Job 31:3; Ps 107:17). Responsibility for physical ailments was imputed either to one's parents (Tob 3:3) or to the earliest period of one's life, since certain rabbis taught that infants could sin before birth (9:34). Jesus does not deny the
principle
that sickness is brought on by sin, but that a
personal
link can be established in every case. 
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9:3 the works of God:
The man's blindness was part of the providential plan of God (11:4). Giving physical sight to the blind is a sign that Jesus gives us spiritual sight to see earth in light of heaven, time in light of eternity, and our lives in light of our destiny. 
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9:5 I am the light:
Jesus is the source of all truth, faith, and life (1:9; 14:6; 18:37).
See note on Jn 8:12
. 
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9:6 made clay of the spittle:
The use of common materials to serve a holy purpose anticipates Jesus' institution of the seven sacraments.
See note on Mk 6:56
. 
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9:7 Go, wash:
Recalls the miracle of Elisha in 2 Kings 5:10-14. • Elisha commanded Naaman the Syrian to "go and wash" in the Jordan River to be restored to health.
the pool of Siloam:
A rock-hewn reservoir in the southern district of ancient Jerusalem. The pool was built by King Hezekiah to serve as a water supply for the city (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron 32:30). The editorial comment that Siloam means
Sent
suggests that the pool is a symbol of Jesus, the source of living water (4:10) and the One sent by his Father (9:4; 12:44). Its contents are symbolic of the Spirit, who is the living water poured out by Christ (7:38-39) and the One who is sent by the Father and the Son (14:26; 15:26). • The miracle anticipates the administration of Baptism, where catechumens are
washed
(9:7) in water,
anointed
(9:6) with oil, and
enlightened
with grace and truth (9:5; Eph 1:18; Heb 6:4; CCC 1216). 
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