John 8 is a major discourse between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Verse 19 – “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” – could be taken as the theme verse not only here, but probably for the whole book. In chapter 1, John says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John isn’t just saying that we can’t see God with our eyes. Seeing God is knowing God. The Son has come from the Father to show the Father, to make Him known. In chapter 14, Jesus reproves Philip for asking to see the Father, “‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’” He really lays into the Pharisees in chapter 8 for their unbelief. He tells them that they are not sons of God or sons of Abraham, as they suppose, but are sons of the devil because they refuse to see Jesus as the I AM. They do not know him, so they cannot know the Father.
