Jesus and the fear of God: Why can't you understand what I am saying? It's because you can't even hear me! John 8:43

The Gospel of John relates that Jesus, while preaching in Galilee, was invited to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, but Jesus avoided going to that city because his enemies were lying in wait for him.
Jesus decided to go in secret, and his presence did not go unnoticed in Jerusalem and so the gospel of John relates that Jesus taught the scriptures to the simple and humble people and also saved an adulterous woman from being stoned through the gift of counsel. But his enemies, the Pharisees, sought to find him in some error to accuse him of heresy, and so the Gospel of John recounts a long discourse of Jesus against those who arrogated the religious authority.
Jesus in this discourse, repeated in some way the teaching of the ancient prophets, that when men lose the spiritual gift of fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion), they lose their relationship with the divine and with the spiritual meaning of the scriptures. The hardness of hearts puts a barrier between God and men, thus making it impossible to understand divine law. And so Jesus, with these words, criticized the spiritual blindness of his enemies: "Why can't you understand what I am saying? It's because you can't even hear me!" John 8:43.
The spiritual gift of fear of God, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Sower, is the good soil in which the seed of the gift of faith is planted; it is this gift that makes it possible for faith and the word to bear fruit of life. That is why Jesus, after telling his enemies that they were children of falsehood, persisted with his spiritual teaching: "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am" John 8:58.
The Gospel of John recounts that in response to this, Jesus had to flee the Temple and hide because his enemies tried to stone him. Jesus was immersed in a dangerous game and any mistake could jeopardize his mission: to redeem humanity from its sins. The reality was that not all of Abraham's children could hear and understand his word with their hearts; not all of them had the fear of God as Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea did. This is why, after the death and resurrection of the Lord, others were called, and a teaching of Saint Peter was fulfilled: "God is pleased with everyone who worships him and does right, no matter what nation they come from" Acts 10:35.

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