Neville Goddard on John 8:37-47 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read John 8 in context

Scripture Focus

37I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

39They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

41Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

43Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

45And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

47He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

John 8:37-47

Biblical Context

Its core teaching is that true kinship is not biological but a state of alignment with the truth God voices within. Those who resist that inner word reveal a false lineage ruled by ego and fear.

Neville's Inner Vision

To Neville’s sensibility, the scene is not about bloodlines but inner dynasties of consciousness. Abraham’s seed becomes those who live by the faith that hears its Father within—God—rather than clinging to an inherited name. The crowd claims Abraham as father, yet their deeds show allegiance to a lower image—an egoic lineage that loves control and fear. The word Jesus speaks is the living word in you, the memory of the higher Self, which the ego cannot possess. When you claim to hear from God and yet reject the truth you’ve just heard, you expose an inner 'father' of lies, a counterfeit stream that says you are far from the truth. In Neville’s terms, God is the I AM behind every thought; to be of God is to listen to that inner word and to align your feelings with it. The moment you revise the belief that you are separate from Truth, you become receptive again; you realize you are Abraham’s seed in truth, united with the Father by faith, and you act from that inner authority rather than from fear. Your state of consciousness determines whether truth speaks through you or is silenced by doubt.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Sit quietly and declare, 'I am the I AM; I am Abraham's seed by faith; I hear the inner word from God within me now.' Then feel the truth as a warm assurance expanding through your chest until action flows from that inner alignment.