1. They knew Him not in His majesty, His infinity, His mercifulness, since they conceived of Him only after a low and material idea.
2. They knew Him as the Maker of the world, but not as the Almighty Father of mankind; they saw in Him only their own God, and refused to think of Him as the God of the whole human race.
3. They knew Him not as He is, one in essence though three in person; as the Eternal Father, by whom the Eternal Son was begotten, and from both of whom proceeds the one Sanctifying and Eternal Spirit. Hence their blindness to the meaning of the words of Christ and their rejection of Him as the Messiah.
4. They knew Him not through the way of obedience to His laws, without which there can be no real knowledge of the Father. Thus, although their faith came from God, and was based upon His revelation of Himself, their works were from Satan, and in this way they proved that they knew not God who is One in His faith and in His works. Thus were they liars, not because they said He had a devil, which is not the meaning here, but because they declared that they knew God whilst every one of their actions declared that they had no true real knowledge of Him.
II. CHRIST’S KNOWLEDGE.
1. As being Himself God, of the same substance and nature with the Father, dwelling from all eternity in the bosom of the Father, and so always beholding Him as He is in His essential Godhead.
2. As the man Christ Jesus He knew Him, since He had the knowledge of Divine things by impartation from the Father.
3. As man, again, He knew Him through His perfect obedience to the whole will of the Father, and His doing all things which were well pleasing in the sight of the Eternal Father. We also, if we would receive and retain
God in our thoughts, and come to the knowledge of Him, must receive and keep His saying. (W. Denton, M. A.)
