Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”
“Our father is Abraham!” they declared.
“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.”
They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.” (John 8:37-41)
Relate: Do any of you remember this?
I am a child of Abraham. As far as I know my lineage has little to no Jewish ancestry. Although now living in Turkey I was born and raised in America and like most Americans I am a bit of a mongrel. We’ve traced our ancestry down through the years. I have a president in that tree as well as one of the passengers who came over on the Mayflower. We have traced our lineage back to men fighting on both sides of the civil war. Over time that has given a lot of opportunity for many races of immigrants to mingle into my predominantly English heritage, but to my knowledge there isn’t much Jewish blood in my veins. Even still, I am still a child of Abraham.
I worked for years at a college where the Jewish population was a very strong minority. Most of the students loved it because the college took off for all the Jewish holidays and at times it seems like there is another one every other week. It seems like we constantly had a short week for one holiday or another. The thing is, you couldn’t tell most of those who identified as Jews on sight. They looked very… European. It is possible that some of them might have been able to trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham but even in those cases there was clearly a lot of intermingling along the way. Even when the line traces true, it doesn’t breed pure.
It never did. In Deuteronomy the commandment is given that no one with Moabite ancestry as far as ten generations back was allowed in the Temple. Funny. The very man who built the Temple was himself only four generations removed from a Moabitess. Solomon’s father, the greatest and most famous of Israel’s kings was the great grandson of a Moabite. The first six generations of Israel’s kings should not have been allowed in the Temple if this commandment was ever truly followed. There is no such thing as “pure Jewish blood”, or the pure blood of any other race for that matter no matter what Hitler would have liked to believe.
React: That is what the disconnect between the Pharisees and Jesus was all about. They were fixated on racial heritage when He was talking about belief and lifestyle. If they were truly children of Abraham they would have believed in Jesus. It is the same problem I have with St Patrick’s Day. There is nothing Irish about wearing green, getting drunk and acting the fool. If you truly wanted to honor the life of a man who maintained a missional focus and lived a life of self sacrifice, there are definitely better ways of going about it. It is about lifestyle not bloodline. It always has been so. The true children of Abraham are those who by faith are followers of Jesus.
Respond:
God, thank You. Thank You for grafting me in to Your family. Thank You for adopting me. I am Your child. I am Abraham’s seed. Give me the faith to walk as he did. Give me the courage to leave my comfort and walk into the unknown. Give me the audacity to hold on to the promise that everyone else has been calling impossible for decades. Give me the surrender that would lay at Your altar even that which I hold dear. Let me always walk as Abraham did. Let every step I take be one of following after You.
THE RIVER WALK 
Well said!
Yes, it is about lifestyle
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Abraham was Muslim too
Judaism is the foundation. Christianity is the fulfillment. Islam is an innovation.
If by “Muslim” you mean Abraham was submitted to God, then yes. I would agree. If by “Muslim” you mean a follower of Allah as taught in the Quran, not a chance.
Yes in the Quran lord let us know some stories to understand the believing of souls
Forget sections of religions and messengers
I want you to resume our creative existence and destination
So can so one resurrect people
Land near the sun
Calculating all fishes spices…
I have read the Quran and studied what it says about Abraham, Moses, Adam, etc. The stories and timelines are all mixed up, incorrect, and they lack the detail that makes the same characters so authentic in the Tawrat and the Injil. In the Quran, the stories of Abraham sound like half remembered tales that were mis-told to begin with.
No
It’s difficult if u don’t read Arabic first
That is a poor excuse. The second time I read through the Quran it is an English translation recommended by a Sunni Imam. I am working my third way through in a version recommended by a Shiite. The wording might be a little different but it is saying the same thing every time. The only real discrepancy I have noticed is that the English versions are all far less brutally violent as the original Arabic. It is almost like the Quran is being whitewashed for kafirs.
( 62 ) Indeed, this is the true narration. And there is no deity except Allah. And indeed, Allah is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
( 63 ) But if they turn away, then indeed – Allah is Knowing of the corrupters.
( 64 ) Say, “O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you – that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].”
( 65 ) O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason?
( 66 ) Here you are – those who have argued about that of which you have [some] knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you know not.
( 67 ) Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists.
( 68 ) Indeed, the most worthy of Abraham among the people are those who followed him [in submission to Allah] and this prophet, and those who believe [in his message]. And Allah is the ally of the believers.
( 69 ) A faction of the people of the Scripture wish they could mislead you. But they do not mislead except themselves, and they perceive [it] not.
( 70 ) O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the verses of Allah while you witness [to their truth]?
Im ready to continue the truth debate…
I have a question for you. You believe that God gave the “people of the book” the Tawrat, the Zabul, and the Incil, right. They are all three the Word of God but then they were corrupted by men. Is this a correct understanding of your view?
All the people are the same for God
Yes, you raise a good point. The people couldn’t see passed the inherit title of “child of Abraham” to judge whether or not they truly exemplified it or not. Interesting.