dren according to the flesh, and yet not Abraham's children according to the Spirit. — "If ye were true spiritual descendants of Abraham, you would show it by doing such things as Abra- ham did. Your works would be like his, because springing from a like faith."
The distinction here drawn by our Lord is a very important one for Christians to notice. The utter uselessness of carnal relationship, or formal outward succession, is a truth which man does not like to admit, but one that needs to be constantly taught in the Churches. How common to hear men say, " we belong to the one true Church; we are in the direct succession from the Apostles." Such claims are utterly useless, if not accompanied by " works."
We must never forget the importance of " works," if put in their right place. They cannot justify us. They are at best full of imperfection. But they are useful evidences, and serve to show whose we are, and what our religion is worth.
40. — [But now ye seek to kill me, etc.~\ Our Lord in this verse con- firms the charge made in the preceding one, — that His enemies were not Abraham's spiritual children, although carnally de- scended from Abraham. — " At this very moment you are wishing and endeavouring to put Me to death, not for any crime, but simply because I have spoken to you that mighty message of truth which I heard from My Father, and am sent to proclaim to the world as the Messiah. This is the very opposite of what your great forefather Abraham would have done. He longed to see My day. He rejoiced in the prospect of it. He would have hailed My appearance and message with delight. Your conduct, therefore, is an unanswerable proof that you are not Abraham's spiritual children."
Our Lord's argument is the same that St. Paul uses to the Romans. " He is not a Jew which is one outwardly." — " They which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God." (Rom. ii. 28, 29 ; ix. 8.) The importance of it cannot be over- rated. It establishes the great principle that fleshly relation- ship, or ecclesiastical connection, is nothing without grace in the heart, and indeed only adds to a man's condemnation.
The expression " this did not Abraham " is a Hebraism. Of course literally Abraham could not " seek to kill " Christ, because he never lived with Him on earth. The meaning must be " your conduct is the very opposite of what Abraham would have done, and utterly contrary to the general tenor of what he did while he lived." Compare Deut. xvii. 3; Jer. vii. 22 — 31 : xix. 5 ; xxxii. 35, where the same form of speech is used.
When our Lord calls Himself here simply " a man," He uses an expression which He nowhere else employs in the Gospels. As a rule, He calls Himself" the Son of man," when speaking of His human nature. Here, however, He seems to speak of