> “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”
— John 8:44
1. Jesus vs. the God of This World
John 8 records one of the most shocking confrontations in the New Testament. Jesus tells the religious authorities — the experts in Scripture and tradition — that their father is not God, but the devil. He identifies this “father” as one who murders, lies, and has no truth in him.
This claim is not isolated. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus repeatedly says he comes from a Father who is not of this world (John 8:23), and contrasts this Father with the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), who is to be cast out.
Paul echoes this when he describes “the god of this world” as blinding people from seeing the light of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). These statements suggest a deep opposition between the true Father of Jesus and the dominant spiritual power of the world — which Jesus identifies as a liar and murderer.
But who, in Scripture, is described as a murderer from the beginning?
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2. A Murderer from the Beginning?
The serpent in Genesis 3 is often retrospectively identified with Satan — but this is not in the original text. The serpent never murders or kills. He questions God’s command and brings knowledge.
The first actual act of divine punishment — leading to death — comes from God himself:
He curses Adam and Eve with mortality.
He floods the earth.
He destroys cities.
He commands genocides.
He kills children in Egypt.
Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is Satan the agent of these actions. These acts are attributed to YHWH, the national deity of Israel. From a narrative standpoint, YHWH — not Satan — is the one who brings death from the beginning.
So when Jesus refers to “your father, the devil, a murderer from the beginning,” this could be read as a critique of the violent deity portrayed in Israel’s early scriptures.
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3. “No One Has Seen the Father” — But Moses Saw YHWH
John makes another bold theological claim:
> “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:18)
“Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.” (John 6:46)
These verses assert that no one has seen the true Father — except Jesus.
But this stands in clear contrast with the Hebrew Bible. Moses, for example, speaks with YHWH face to face (Exodus 33:11). The elders of Israel are said to have seen the God of Israel on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:10). The prophets hear and see YHWH in visions.
If Jesus says that no one has ever seen the Father, then whom did they see?
The implication is startling: they saw a different being — not the true Father, but a lower, partial, or even deceptive divine figure. This idea is consistent with many early Christian Gnostic readings and some radical interpretations of John’s Gospel.
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4. Elohim and YHWH: Father and Deceiver?
This tension is deepened by the structure of Genesis itself, which opens with two different creation accounts.
In Genesis 1, the world is created by Elohim, a transcendent creator who brings order and calls creation “very good.”
In Genesis 2–3, the narrative shifts to YHWH, who forms man from dust, imposes a prohibition, hides knowledge, and punishes disobedience with death.
These are not the same deity. Scholarly consensus (e.g., the Documentary Hypothesis) sees these stories as coming from different sources — with Elohim connected to the Priestly tradition and YHWH to the Yahwist.
Historical Insights
Ancient Near Eastern scholarship reveals:
Elohim derives from El, the high god of the Canaanite pantheon — a distant, paternal creator.
YHWH appears later, possibly beginning as a volcano and war god of the Shasu nomads, associated with fire, storms, and holy mountains (e.g., Sinai).
These two traditions — El and YHWH — were eventually fused in Israelite religion. But the violent, jealous, and punitive traits of YHWH remained distinct from the unseen Father Jesus describes.
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5. A Radical Conclusion: The God of Jesus vs. the God of Religion
John 8:44, when taken seriously, is not just an insult aimed at corrupt authorities. It is a theological accusation: that the god they worship — the one who demands obedience, punishes sin with death, and operates through fear — is not the true Father.
This is consistent with Jesus’ radical ethic of mercy, forgiveness, and love — which stands in stark contrast to the laws and violence of much of the Old Testament.
This view was not foreign to early Christians. The Gnostics, especially those influenced by Johannine thought, taught that Jesus revealed a higher God — a God of love and truth — in contrast to the Demiurge, the lesser god of this world.
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Final Thought
Jesus did not come to reinforce existing religious power. He came to reveal a new Father, one who had never been truly seen before, whose nature is pure light, without darkness.
When he says “your father is the devil,” he may be speaking not only to a group of Pharisees, but to all religious systems that perpetuate fear, control, violence, and death in the name of God.
— John 8:44
1. Jesus vs. the God of This World
John 8 records one of the most shocking confrontations in the New Testament. Jesus tells the religious authorities — the experts in Scripture and tradition — that their father is not God, but the devil. He identifies this “father” as one who murders, lies, and has no truth in him.
This claim is not isolated. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus repeatedly says he comes from a Father who is not of this world (John 8:23), and contrasts this Father with the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), who is to be cast out.
Paul echoes this when he describes “the god of this world” as blinding people from seeing the light of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). These statements suggest a deep opposition between the true Father of Jesus and the dominant spiritual power of the world — which Jesus identifies as a liar and murderer.
But who, in Scripture, is described as a murderer from the beginning?
---
2. A Murderer from the Beginning?
The serpent in Genesis 3 is often retrospectively identified with Satan — but this is not in the original text. The serpent never murders or kills. He questions God’s command and brings knowledge.
The first actual act of divine punishment — leading to death — comes from God himself:
He curses Adam and Eve with mortality.
He floods the earth.
He destroys cities.
He commands genocides.
He kills children in Egypt.
Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is Satan the agent of these actions. These acts are attributed to YHWH, the national deity of Israel. From a narrative standpoint, YHWH — not Satan — is the one who brings death from the beginning.
So when Jesus refers to “your father, the devil, a murderer from the beginning,” this could be read as a critique of the violent deity portrayed in Israel’s early scriptures.
---
3. “No One Has Seen the Father” — But Moses Saw YHWH
John makes another bold theological claim:
> “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:18)
“Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.” (John 6:46)
These verses assert that no one has seen the true Father — except Jesus.
But this stands in clear contrast with the Hebrew Bible. Moses, for example, speaks with YHWH face to face (Exodus 33:11). The elders of Israel are said to have seen the God of Israel on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:10). The prophets hear and see YHWH in visions.
If Jesus says that no one has ever seen the Father, then whom did they see?
The implication is startling: they saw a different being — not the true Father, but a lower, partial, or even deceptive divine figure. This idea is consistent with many early Christian Gnostic readings and some radical interpretations of John’s Gospel.
---
4. Elohim and YHWH: Father and Deceiver?
This tension is deepened by the structure of Genesis itself, which opens with two different creation accounts.
In Genesis 1, the world is created by Elohim, a transcendent creator who brings order and calls creation “very good.”
In Genesis 2–3, the narrative shifts to YHWH, who forms man from dust, imposes a prohibition, hides knowledge, and punishes disobedience with death.
These are not the same deity. Scholarly consensus (e.g., the Documentary Hypothesis) sees these stories as coming from different sources — with Elohim connected to the Priestly tradition and YHWH to the Yahwist.
Historical Insights
Ancient Near Eastern scholarship reveals:
Elohim derives from El, the high god of the Canaanite pantheon — a distant, paternal creator.
YHWH appears later, possibly beginning as a volcano and war god of the Shasu nomads, associated with fire, storms, and holy mountains (e.g., Sinai).
These two traditions — El and YHWH — were eventually fused in Israelite religion. But the violent, jealous, and punitive traits of YHWH remained distinct from the unseen Father Jesus describes.
---
5. A Radical Conclusion: The God of Jesus vs. the God of Religion
John 8:44, when taken seriously, is not just an insult aimed at corrupt authorities. It is a theological accusation: that the god they worship — the one who demands obedience, punishes sin with death, and operates through fear — is not the true Father.
This is consistent with Jesus’ radical ethic of mercy, forgiveness, and love — which stands in stark contrast to the laws and violence of much of the Old Testament.
This view was not foreign to early Christians. The Gnostics, especially those influenced by Johannine thought, taught that Jesus revealed a higher God — a God of love and truth — in contrast to the Demiurge, the lesser god of this world.
---
Final Thought
Jesus did not come to reinforce existing religious power. He came to reveal a new Father, one who had never been truly seen before, whose nature is pure light, without darkness.
When he says “your father is the devil,” he may be speaking not only to a group of Pharisees, but to all religious systems that perpetuate fear, control, violence, and death in the name of God.
