John 8:53

Art thou greater ? The Greek construction indicates that a negative answer is expected. They probably suspected that Jesus would set forth the claim that He was the Messiah (cf. ch. 5:18). In later tradition the Jews had no objection to the thought that the Messiah would be greater than Abraham (Midrash Ps. 18, sec. 29 [79a], Strack and Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, vol. 1, p. 980), and such an objection may not now have existed. However, they were not willing to grant that Jesus was the true Messiah. He did not meet their expectations regarding the role of the Messiah. Compare the Samaritan woman’s question, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob?” (ch. 4:12).