If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed

Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?" And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

- John 8:21-32

Jesus has been preaching in the temple at Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles. The crowds are divided over Him - is He a deceiver or a holy man? Is He the one they have been waiting for? The leadership wishes to be rid of Him, and sent the temple police to arrest Him, but they could not do so. Here, Jesus continues his preaching in today's reading. For the beginning of this discourse, see the previous reading, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness.

Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." My study bible notes that going away refers to Jesus' death and Resurrection. Throughout these teachings at the temple, Jesus' remarkable quality of outspokenness is prominently on display. What He preaches, He must know the crowds do not understand - and yet He continues to proclaim Himself. He is aware that those who will believe in Him will eventually come to know the things He's referring to here, and share more deeply in that faith.

So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?" And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" We remember that "the Jews" usually refers to the temple leadership in John's Gospel. Jesus has been referring consistently to the relationship between Himself and the Father: had they known Him, they would also know the Father -- and that faith or understanding of Jesus is given by the Father. So, to "die in their sins" is to fail to have this recognition, to be left in their present condition of blindness and ignorance. To be "of this world" in this sentence is to be unaware of spiritual reality, all that added dimension that brings us "life in abundance." My study bible notes, "St. John Chrysostom writes: 'Oh, what stupidity! After so long a time and miracles, and teaching, they asked 'Who art thou?'"

And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. He has been teaching and preaching about Himself now through many of the readings in John's Gospel. We have observed His repeated outspokenness, and His willingness to express His identity openly to all. Yet they ask again, "Who are You?" To respond, Jesus refers to what He has already taught, but His main response is to go once again to the Father: "He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." This is where Jesus' judgment will come from. The Father is true, Jesus is true - but this truth is not what they want to hear, to see, to understand.

Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. My study bible says that "lift up has the double meaning of being nailed to the Cross and of being exalted by the Father upon the completion of His work." Again, Jesus' emphasis - in responding to the question "Who are You?" - goes back to the Father. He calls Himself the Son of Man, a messianic title they understand from Scripture. But Jesus' emphasis is on the First Person, the Father, the Source of all. Jesus says he can do nothing of Himself, but speaks only as the Father taught. And there is more: the Father has sent Him and is with Him. "The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." Extraordinary and powerful words - and yet in our faith we believe that Christ is also with us. The force of these words, as unbelievable as they are to the leadership, must be very powerful indeed, for, we are told, as He spoke these words, many believed in Him. It's a powerful culmination to His preaching. His authority and power are with Him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." Here, He is addressing His followers, those "many" who "believed in Him." My study bible notes: "Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples (learners). Abiding in His word is not something reserved for an elite class of zealots."

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." My study bible notes, "Being free refers specifically to freedom from bondage to sin (v. 34), granted by the Redeemer through His death and Resurrection." He is also referring back to those who do not believe, whom He said would "die in their sin."

There is so much here about truth, and what is true. Jesus says that He is true to the Father, that He always pleases the Father and so the Father is with Him. He teaches those who believe in Him to abide in His word - to be true to Him and to His word. And those who cannot see, who do not know the Father nor Him are the spiritually blind - those who cannot see what is true, the truth standing before them, nor hear the truth in His words. Jesus has begun this speech with the words "I am the light of the world." To see this light and to abide in this light, and the light of His word, is to be free of spiritual blindness, darkness, ignorance. It is to be enlightened. As Jesus is true to the Father, so He asks us to be true to Him, to abide in Him and His word as He does to the Father. It is a relationship of truth and light that flows through all of us, links all of us to Trinity. This is what He teaches. Are we free enough to do this? What do we do with this freedom? How do we continue to walk in this freedom? It is important to note, I think, what my study bible says here: "Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples (learners). Abiding in His word is not something reserved for an elite class of zealots." We are to continue learning, there is always room to grow. This is the process of repentance (Gk. metanoia, literally "change of mind"). We are not free to declare ourselves liberated and have done with it, a kind of "elite class of zealots." On the contrary, we are here to emulate His humility to the Father. We continue to learn and grow, and this marks us as His disciples. Where does that freedom take you today? What does it ask you to see now?