And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free

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." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

- John 8:31-47

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued teaching at the temple after the events of the Feast of Tabernacles. (The readings centered upon Jesus' attendance at this feast began with last Friday's reading.) Jesus is in dialogue with the leadership, who have sought to trap Him. He told them that where He is going they cannot follow; they tried to understand this and asked if this means He is going to kill Himself. He said, "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." He told 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 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." What is the truth that makes us free? What are we freed from? Jesus' teachings will elaborate precisely what this means. For now, let us consider the power of faith, and what it brings us. Often it will be a different way of life, a different way of looking at things that pulls us "out of the world."

They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." These are the unbelievers among the leadership who continue to argue -- they are incensed that He could suggest they need freedom from anything. But Jesus' words illumine what He's getting at. Once they fall into the trap of their jealousies and all the things that motivate them to persecute Him and accuse Him, they are slaves to that sin. They must find a way to their freedom.

"And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." By adoption, the Son can make us also sons. Here Jesus combines sonship with discipleship, an invitation to all of us, each of us. My study bible notes that "Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples (learners). Abiding in His word is not something reserved for an elite class of zealots." The freedom of the Son is true freedom, because His invitation is an eternal one of discipleship and sonship. Why does His word have no place in them? They cannot rely on a righteous ancestor (Abraham) but must be like Abraham themselves. They call Abraham their father, but Christ tells them their father is what they follow in their hearts.

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father." My study bible asks, "Who are the true children of Abraham?" There is no middle ground here. We cannot rely on a righteous ancestor, a holy history, even a beautiful church nor Christ Himself -- if we fail to do as He tells us, if we fail to be like Abraham and love the word of God in our own hearts and lives. Their father, He says, is not Abraham because they do not do as he did. Let us consider the great Patriarch Abraham. A visitation from the priest Melchizedek brought Abraham the faith for which he would leave all and start a new life. In this sense, he too was taken out of his own world in exchange for one promised to him by God, through faith.

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word." Jesus speaks of Sonship and relationship, the spiritual reality of His union with the Father. He asks why they cannot hear His word -- that relationship extends to each of us. This implies for each of us that something in us must hear. Just as with the leadership, conceited with pride, we cannot rely merely on the past, an ancestor, a beautiful history. We must hear for ourselves and join this relationship. This is the work of God.

"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." My study bible says, "They are not able to listen to His word because they are not willing to learn from Him. Spiritual truth can be genuinely heard only if there is willingness to know God and to do His will." Jesus makes a great contrast here. Do we embrace lies, or are we willing to face and hear the truth? This passage also makes it clear that we can't rely on anything external to ourselves to make us holy people by some form of inheritance or identity. Rather, identity comes from choice in a spiritual sense, the depths of the choice we make to love God, or not.

I think that John's Gospel really seeks to fathom the reality of the spiritual power of this relationship within us. But it does so with a kind of starkness that is so vivid it is often hard to see and to understand. Here, the Gospel has given us those like Nicodemus, who are willing to hear Christ's word. He himself is a Pharisee. It also tells us in today's reading there are others in the leadership who do believe Him, who may become His disciples. St. Paul has written (in Ephesians 6), "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day . . . And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." In Hebrews 4:12, he writes, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart." John's Gospel today illustrates for us the power of that sword, that it will, indeed, cut through all things, all loyalties, and all that we think we know. We can't rely on the outer trappings of a great faith alone, no matter how wonderful and beautiful, nor all the good things it has given us throughout history, if we fail to do in our hearts what Christ asks, and to heed how we are called. Let us remember the two great commandments He has given us, summing up all the Law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself." It all starts with love, so that we may truly hear. The Pharisees to whom He speaks today should all know this already, and yet many fail. Have we learned to love this truth? It will make us free of whatever seeks to bind us away from it. Christ's Spirit of Truth is here to help us just for this purpose.