John 8:41 Commentary and Bible Study

By your deeds, says Christ, you show that you have another father. ‘Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.’ Now there are many commentators, going right back, who have a very interesting observation to make about verse 41, and they suggest this: that the Jewish leaders had heard about the birth of Christ, and they knew that he was born of Mary, but that Joseph had no part in it, because he was conceived – this was the story – conceived by the Spirit, and God alone was his Father. ‘Nonsense!’ they seem to be saying, ‘He is illegitimate – that’s the truth of it.’ And maybe that is what they are hinting at. ‘Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication’ – ‘we’re not illegitimate.’ Whether it is the right understanding of the verse or not, the point is ‘we have one Father, even God.’