“Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.”
My Notes
What Does John 8:19 Mean?
"Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." The Pharisees ask about Jesus' Father as a challenge — they want him to produce this second witness he's been claiming. Jesus' response links knowledge of himself to knowledge of God so completely that they become inseparable: to know one is to know the other. To miss one is to miss both.
This is one of John's clearest statements of the unity between Father and Son. Jesus isn't saying that knowing about him teaches you something about God, as if he were merely an illustration. He's saying that knowing him IS knowing the Father. The two cannot be separated. Rejecting Jesus doesn't just mean missing a prophet — it means missing God entirely.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever tried to know God apart from Jesus — through religion, morality, or spirituality alone?
- 2.What does it mean that knowing Jesus IS knowing the Father — not just learning about him?
- 3.How does this verse challenge people who claim to believe in God but not in Jesus?
- 4.In what ways has your knowledge of Jesus deepened (or not) your actual experience of God?
Devotional
"If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." Jesus draws a line that eliminates every attempt to separate God from Jesus. You can't have the Father without the Son. You can't claim to know God while rejecting the one he sent. The two are so united that knowing one is the only way to know the other.
The Pharisees thought they knew God. They'd devoted their lives to studying his word, following his law, maintaining his temple. They had more theological education than most people alive. And Jesus looks at them and says: you don't know him. You don't know him because you don't know me, and you can't know him without me.
This is simultaneously the most exclusive and most inclusive claim in religious history. Exclusive because it means there's no alternative path to the Father — Jesus is the way, full stop. Inclusive because it means anyone who comes to Jesus gets the Father — no prerequisites, no credentials, no gatekeepers.
If you've been trying to know God through religion, through theology, through moral effort, through spiritual practices — all without Jesus at the center — this verse says you're building a relationship with someone you haven't actually met. Jesus isn't a supplement to knowing God. He's the access point. Everything else is trying to know the Father while standing outside the door.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Then said Jesus again unto them,.... It may be, immediately after he had said the above words; or rather some time…
Where is thy Father? - This question was asked, doubtless, in derision. Jesus had often given them to understand that by…
Ye neither know me, etc. - Ye know neither the Messiah, nor the God that sent him.
If ye had known me - If ye had…
The rest of the chapter is taken up with debates between Christ and contradicting sinners, who cavilled at the most…
Then said they They said therefore.
Where is thy Father? They do not ask -who" but -where;" they know well enough by…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture