John 8:42 · World English Bible
John 8:42 Meaning Therefore Jesus Said to Them
Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.
What does John 8:42 mean?
Love recognizes love, and a mind that truly knew its Source could not turn against what comes from that same Source. When the awakened teacher is met with rejection, it reveals that the mind has adopted a different origin in its own thought, one it invented and named its own.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
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The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Love recognizes love, and a mind that truly knew its Source could not turn against what comes from that same Source. When the awakened teacher is met with rejection, it reveals that the mind has adopted a different origin in its own thought, one it invented and named its own. What proceeds from love asks to be welcomed, and its welcome is the sign that the mind remembers where it came from.
So rejection is never really aimed at the messenger. It measures which father the mind has claimed, and the remedy is only to accept again the Source that was never truly exchanged.
Father: the Source the mind claims as its origin, either the love it came from or the separate self it invented in its place.
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Live John 8:42 today
- Ask yourself today what kind of person you instinctively admire, and what that says about where you think you come from. Your reactions are more honest than your opinions.
- When you feel that quick flare of dislike for someone who is being genuinely kind or generous, stay with it instead of justifying it. That flare is information about you, not about them.
- Under pressure, when you catch yourself writing someone off, try the thought that you might be rejecting something in them you have given up on in yourself. Then be a little gentler with both.
What good thing have you found hard to welcome lately, and what does that tell you about where you think you belong?
The same truth in other traditions
Sufism · Rumi
Rumi said the longing in you for something good is already proof of your connection to it. What you love tells you where you are from.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
Walking by a stream, Zhuangzi said the fish were enjoying themselves, and his friend asked how he could possibly know. Recognition comes easily to whoever is in it and looks like a riddle to whoever is not.
Bhagavad Gita
A person is made of what they trust, and their loyalties show their nature more honestly than anything they claim. What draws you shows what you have taken yourself to be.
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