Yet you have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
All Commentaries on John 8:55 Go To John 8
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Because He desired to show that they not only knew not His Father, but that they knew not God.
But I know Him.
So that to say, 'I know Him,' is not a boast, while to say, 'I know Him not,' would be a falsehood; but you when you say that you know Him, lie; as then ye, when you say that you know Him, lie, so also should I, were I to say that I know Him not.
If I honor Myself. Since they said, Whom makest you yourself? He replies, If I make (Myself anything,) My honor is nothing. As then I know Him exactly, so ye know Him not. And as in the case of Abraham, He did not take away their whole assertion, but said, I know that you are Abraham's seed, so as to make the charge against them heavier; thus here He does not remove the whole, but what? Whom ye say. By granting to them their boast of words, He increases the force of the accusation against them. How then do ye not know Him? Because ye insult One who says and does everything that He may be glorified, even when that One is sent from Him. This assertion is unsupported by testimony, but what follows serves to establish it.
And I keep His saying.
Here they might, if at least they had anything to say, have refuted Him, for it was the strongest proof of His having been sent by God.
