Posts
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
At the present time, John's Gospel is set in Jerusalem, and Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles. (See earlier readings from Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.) Yesterday, we read that Jesus spoke to leadership yet again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and know 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 is 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." These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on 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." By going away, here, Jesus is of course referring to His death and Resurrection. In yesterday's reading, and today's, we come closer to the realization that Jesus knows exactly what is coming. His words are given in the shadow of that knowledge, that future event. These words here are a warning to them.
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?" My study bible notes the words of St. John Chrysostom here: "Oh, what stupidity! After so long a time and miracles, and teaching, they asked 'Who art thou?'" Let us once again recall that in John's Gospel, the Jews refers to the leadership or those who rule in the Council, not the people.
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. My study bible points out here 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. Let us note again the division among the people. The Pharisees insistently question Him (and we know by name one of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, who is a believer), while "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." My study bible tells us: "Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples (learners). Abiding in His word is not something reserved for an elite class of zealots." It adds here, "Being free refers specifically to freedom from bondage to sin, granted by the Redeemer through His death and Resurrection."
Let us consider what it means to be free, in Jesus' context here. First of all, we have to go back to His warning to the people He's speaking to: "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." My study bible points out that "being free" is freed from the bondage of sin. I can't help but feel that the sin He's referring to here isn't only sin in general but very specifically the sin of not believing which will lead to crucifixion. Sin is in some related sense here a kind of blindness, and in this case, a deliberate and willful blindness, referred to by St. John Chrysostom in the quotation here, "Oh, what stupidity!" referring to their asking yet again, "Who are You?" There is so much of Him that they should know and understand. When Jesus refers over and over again to witnesses, such as Scripture, and Moses, and John the Baptist -- and to the Father -- these are the experts in these subjects to whom He's speaking. The Pharisees regarded themselves as the guardians of the Law, those who were expert in the Scriptures. They are the ones who are expert in what is prophesied of the Messiah. When Jesus says, "I have many things to say and to judge concerning you," it is yet another warning. Judgment comes of hard-heartedness. They should and must know better, and we are told that "many believed in Him." Jesus' testimony extends yet again to His closeness to the Father. He repeats Himself, "He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." And, "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." He abides in the Father's word, and it is this "trueness," this truth that can both free and convict of sin. It all depends on how one accepts it or not. Let us remember that Jesus is speaking in the face of crucifixion, to those who are seeking and will seek His death. Therefore the urgency of what they are about to do is pressing in upon them, and this He warns them about here. When the text tells us, 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," I believe it's letting us know that among the leadership there were "many" who believed, more than just Nicodemus who is named in the Gospel. If they will abide by His word, the things He teaches, they are free from the bondage of sin and all that goes with it in this story: the fierce desire to protect their places, the resentment and envy of Jesus who is not one of them, and the refusal therefore to acknowledge His holiness. These are the things they are enslaved to. They're not free, really, to think and judge and consider what is before them. They're too driven and blinded by their own positions, their fears and their envy. How can one be free to know truth, to truly consider and judge with good judgment, when one is ultimately driven by such passions? Thereby we get a real sense of what Jesus is talking about when He speaks of slavery to sin. Simply listening to what He teaches, without worrying about power or position, abiding in His word -- those things that He has taught -- is enough to break the bondage of sin, to take the focus off of their need to protect their positions, their envy of His following. Jesus does not come to the world asking for political position, to become a ruler or king, but rather He is the suffering servant of Isaiah, the man of sorrows. What He stresses isn't position, but His word, the word given to Him by the Father, the thing that is ultimately true: it is this that makes free, this that is our focus, and should be theirs. Holding fast to the truth, abiding in His word, keeps us in a kind of freedom that allows us to recognize where we're caught in the things that make for sin, the things that blind us to what we do when we're tempted to love something more than God: an image of ourselves reflected back falsely in the eyes of the world, something that is without real honor, for which we may commit any manner of "bad deed" with a murderous intent. None of us are immune to temptation and potential blindness. The people He's warning here are sliding into great error: into slander and false conviction, and murderous hearts after innocent blood. Let us remember His truth and His freedom, and the chains they break in us.
