A most bitter controversy then developed over (i) the Jewish attitude to Abraham their ancestor, and (ii) the Jewish understanding of sin. This discourse opens with the statement of Jesus that his disciples would know the truth which would free them from the power of sin (8 :31-32)., The meaning of this was incomprehensible to the Jews who, as the physical descendants of Abraham, believed that they were the people of God, free men, in bondage to no one (8 :33). Jesus then said that all who sinned were the slaves of sin (8 :34); what followed in 8 :35-40 indicated to Jesus' listeners that they were sinners whose physical descent from Abraham could not help them do what was right (8 :35-40). Their outlook was racialist and unspiritual; they equated spiritual goodness with belonging to a particular race, the physical descendants of one good man. Jesus said that if they were true descendants of Abraham, they would be like him in character. Paul described Abraham as a man of faith (Galatians 3:6-7). What Jesus then said (8:41) indicated that his opponents were 'sons of the Devil'. Their reply was that they were true sons of the heavenly Father, but Jesus was not. The Greek here is strong and indicates a deliberate insult to Jesus in his opponents' words. Jesus answered this bitter abuse by saying that if they were sons of the heavenly Father they would love the Son (8:'1:2). He tells them the reason why they cannot understand him, making explicit in 8:44 what was implicit in 8:41. His opponents cannot believe God's truth because they do not know God (8:45-47).

For us to understand what a bitter controversy this was, we need to remember that Jesus was confronting those who were the acknowledged religious authorities of the Jewish nation and who took for granted that they would always be given respect and honour as 'men of God' (Mark 12:38-39).