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

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

In the recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles. At the last, great day of the feast He is teaching. Officers have been sent to arrest Him, but have come back empty-handed, saying, "No Man ever spoke like this!" And Jesus disputes with the leadership and before the people. In yesterday's reading, He told them, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The Pharisees told Him that He could not bear witness of Himself. Jesus said, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men in true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple. No one was able to seize Him, for His hour had not yet come.

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'?" We remember that "the Jews" refers to the leadership in the temple, not the Jewish people nor Jewish spiritual heritage. Here, these leaders are seeking to arrest Jesus and they're contending with Him. John's Gospel frequently uses this sort of dialogue to show us layers of meaning through misunderstanding the surface meaning of words. Jesus is referring to His Passion and Resurrection, and they, of course, have no idea really what He is talking about. The irony that they ask if He will kill Himself is plain; in effect, they seek to kill Him and He will voluntarily go to His death by crucifixion.

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." Let's ask Pilate's question here: "What is truth?" The truth becomes all-important. What do they understand of the Father, that they don't see anything in Jesus but someone who threatens their authority, someone with Whom to contend? What are their real concerns?

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. Who are You? is the real question, isn't it? Jesus has been testifying of Himself, even naming other witnesses such as John the Baptist, the Scriptures, Moses Himself, the prophets who pointed to His coming. But ultimately, Jesus' identity rests in the Father, the One who sent Him, because it is the Father and the Father's will He reflects and through which He judges. It is the Father who is true, and whose words He speaks.

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. Here Jesus affirms again His identity. There is no mistaking. He and the Father are one. He does as the Father says, as the Father asks. What Jesus hears from the Father, this He says and this He does. The Father is with Him. He is not alone, for He always does the things that please the Father. In this is revealed not only the nature of the two, but the relationship, and it is a relationship of love. A relationship of love is the foundation of the world. My study bible points out that "lift up" here has a double meaning: that of being nailed to the Cross and also of being exalted by the Father upon the completion of His work. At least some of the people are convinced by His words; they trust in Him. John's Gospel also tells us that He had followers among the leadership.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." Jesus calls upon us to mirror the love in the relationship that He has with the Father. We must abide in His word in the same way that He abides in the word of the Father -- that Jesus' human nature follows the word of the Father. Christ's word abides in our hearts. My study bible says, "Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples (learners). Abiding in His word is not something reserved for an elite class of zealots." This is something for each of us, all of us.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jesus equates knowing the truth with abiding in His word, learning His word. It's a journey we're on, a Way. His Way. Just as His ministry expands according to His own loyalty to the Father, so as disciples, as learners or students of His, we learn from abiding in His word along the Way of His faith. We trust in Him. Here, we can see something else at work: truth is allied with love. As He abides in the Father's word, so we abide in Him, in His word. This is about love and loyalty. And there is more: no matter what these people have done or how they have sought to persecute Him -- and let us remember He is speaking to those who will seek to have Him crucified -- what He cares about is saving them, that they not die in their sin. "For God so loved the world," we are told in John's Gospel. These were the words spoken to Nicodemus, one of His followers among the leadership.

What is it to be really free? I think this is perhaps the most important question we can ask. Because Christ's freedom takes us far beyond anything else we can imagine. It takes us beyond the constraints of all the shoulds and wants in the world, all the things everybody else will tell us is good for us or what they want us to do for them or for some other reason we're given. It takes us beyond all other agendas. Christ's truth takes us to the heart of every matter, because ultimately it is the truth of love. He wishes to set us free from falsehood, from sin of every order -- big or little, it doesn't matter. Anything that binds us in falsehood becomes a kind of sin, a way of "missing the mark." In His love, we are taught right-relatedness, and this is His truth, the truth that makes us free from our own illusions and short-sightedness. In God's word, the truth begins, and in His word, we abide. This is how we remain disciples. But where that word leads us, we can't really guess. It may lead us to some tough decisions, to leave relationships that are abusive and not really very good for us. It may lead us out of all "political correctness" for want of a better term, and more into a kind of relatedness that sees with the heart, and with love. It may lead us to compassion for ourselves and for others. But ultimately, this freedom and this truth are in God's love, and God's way of asking us to relate and to see one another. How do you go about abiding in His word, following His truth and His freedom? How do you find His love - for you and in you? Our freedom is from all that would keep us from seeing what this truly is.