Then said they unto him, Where is your Father? Jesus answered,
You neither know me, nor my Father: if you had known me, you should have known my Father also.
All Commentaries on John 8:19 Go To John 8
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
They said therefore unto Him, Where is Thy Father?
In this too most especially may one, I deem, and with good reason cry out against the stolidity of the Jews, uttering that word of the Prophet, Behold O foolish people and without heart. For after much discourse and often with them from our Saviour Christ, Who over and over makes mention of God the Father in Heaven, the wretched ones sink down into so great folly as to dare to say, Where is Thy Father? For they think nought at all of Him Who is His God and Father in the Heavens, but look round at and seek for Joseph, believing him to be Christ's father and no otherwise. Thou seest then how they have been with reason called a people verily foolish and heartless: for able not so much as to raise the eye of their understanding above things of earth, they shew that true it is which was said of them, Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and bow Thou down their back alway. For of irrational creatures is the back bowed, for they have this form from nature, and there is nothing of uprightness in them. And the mind of the Jews has become in some way like the beasts and has declined ever downwards, seeing nothing of heavenly things. For shall we not by the very fact itself, instructed aright in this matter, think and judge truly concerning them? for if they had at all thought of God the Father in Heaven, how would they have sought in place the Unembodied? how (tell me) would they, saying most unadvisedly of God Who filleth all things, Where is He, not fight with the whole Divine Scripture, albeit the Divine-speaking Psalmist, going through (as he was able) his words about God, and attributing to Him the power of filling all things, says, Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, and from Thy Presence whither shall I flee? if I ascend up into heaven, THOU art there, if I go down to hell, behold Thou, if I take my wings at morning and depart unto the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy Hand lead me and Thy Right Hand shall hold me. Yea and God Himself Who is over all, shewing clearly that He possesseth not nature circumscribed by space, saith to those so unholy Jews, Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? what house will ye build Me, or what the place of My rest? Heaven is My Throne and earth My footstool. One may therefore see the Jews in all things without understanding, when they say to the Saviour Christ, Where is Thy Father? except they say this of His reputed father after the flesh, in this too doting.
But it is likely that the words of the Jews had some other deep meaning. For since they thought that the holy Virgin had committed adultery before marriage, therefore they rail most bitterly against Christ as not even knowing from whom He is, saying, Where is Thy father? doting
