βYe do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even Godβ (John 8:41).
Like the Bible scoffers of today, those during Christβs earthly ministry rejected the notion of the virgin conception of a human (His own conception).
βThen Joseph her husband, being a just [righteous, fair] man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privilyβ (Matthew 1:19). Joseph, still wondering what happened to Mary, decides to divorce her in secret to spare her from becoming a public spectacle. Suddenly, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and informs him that the Holy Ghost has generated the Christ child in Mary (verse 20).
Imagine the humiliating rumors that circulated: βMary was a pregnant virgin before she consummated her marriage to Joseph.β The story just did not make sense to most. Evidently, the general Israeli public, unwilling to believe Godβs fulfilled Word, believed Mary was unfaithful to Joseph. That gossip lingered for over three decades, which is why the Pharisees said to Jesus what they did in todayβs Scripture: βWe be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.β In other words, they called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, an illegitimate child, and they claimed they were Godβs children! (You can sense the vicious attitude these self-righteous religionists had toward our Lord Jesus, another attempt to intimidate Him into silence, seeing as to they are all in the Temple and a crowd of people is listening to this entire conversation.)
At this point, we need to remember that Satan is actively working in and through these Pharisees. Jesus Christβs deity is being questioned and His credibility is being attacked, which causes those in the Temple to doubt Godβs Word (thereby leaving room for Satanβs error to creep in). Our Lord is aware of this, but He does not waver in His Fatherβs Word. Let us see how He wisely responds to this insultβ¦ source
