If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 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 our recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles.  It is the last, eighth day of the feast, when the great lamps were lit in the courtyard of the temple, illuminating all the neighborhoods of Jerusalem around it.  On Saturday we read that Jesus spoke to the crowd 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 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."  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.   Jesus speaks of going away.  They do not understand that He refers to His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.   In our previous reading, He spoke of where He comes from and where He is going.  All things lead back to the Father.  The way is through crucifixion.

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 comments that lift up has the double meaning of being nailed to the Cross and also of being exalted by His Father upon the completion of His work.  Jesus has used this phrase before, when speaking to Nicodemus the Pharisee as He taught him by night:  "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  (See John 3:1-21.)   Again, the great reliance here upon the relationship with the Father is what Jesus emphasizes over and over again, for both identity (being) and mission (doing).

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  The word for disciples is the plural version of μαθητής/mathetes, meaning literally "learner" (also in modern Greek "student").   My study bible comments that this is what He expects of all of those who follow Him, that we are to be disciples or learners.  To abide in His word, it notes, is the responsibility of all believers, not simply the clergy or an elite class of zealots.  

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  My study bible explains that the truth refers both to the virtue of truth and, more importantly, to Christ Himself (14:6).  Being free refers to the freedom from darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death.

So what is the truth?  Truth, as my study bible reminds us above, is a Person -- specifically it is the Person of Jesus Christ.  In this understanding, the notion of truth takes on deeper and subtler impacts in our lives from simply one that can be debated as an abstract thought or philosophy.  Truth is the word that Christ teaches us, yes, just as He says above ("If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.")  However, Jesus mentions truth not in the context of abstract ideas, but in the context of relationship to Him, just as His own context is always in relation to the Father.  This, as we noted above, applies both to being and doing, to identity and conduct, to His own authority of His being and to His mission.  And so it also applies to us.  As we live in relationship to Him and to the Father (and the Holy Spirit), so we grow both in terms of understanding conduct and choices but also in terms of our own inner being, who we are.  The two go hand in hand.  In Jesus' expression about truth, this freedom comes not simply from an abstract set of teachings but rather from what we learn as disciples, in relationship to Him and therefore in our own identity, even as those who may be adopted through faith.  When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandments in the Law, He also goes straight to the heart of being when He speaks of relationship, of love.  Jesus quotes the commandments as follows:   "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."   Love opens up a relationship of identity, not simply of works.  We take on character influenced by the objects of our love, and we become identified in that love.  Just as Jesus points always to the Father as the point of reference for His own identity, authority, and mission, so we are the same, created as "persons" like the God who is our Creator.  We cannot help but have this ontological (meaning "being") character that is linked to our actions in life, the things we do.  Most especially, if God is love (1 John 4:8), then we who are created in God's image and likeness also share this ontological character which is based on love -- and more importantly for our purposes, what or whom we choose to love.  It is simply the nature of what type of being we are.  We cannot live abstract lives via pure ideology and philosophy.  Therefore our faith is experiential:  it depends on how we live, what we choose to love, and what we experience in that walk of faith that opens our eyes to the world and our relationships with the world.  This is the profound basis for sanity, for doing what produces good fruits, for walking in the truth that makes us free.  It is the root what is truly good for us, the one way to understand ourselves and we are doing in our lives and within our world.   Let us remember that we are to be lifted up with Him for the life He offers; this walk involves bearing our own cross that refines and purifies what is most important, and reveals what we truly love.