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  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 present readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem in the final year of His earthly life; it is the last and great day of that eight-day feast.  This is a day on which great lamps were lit that illumined the city of Jerusalem.  Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees 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 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  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.  My study Bible comments that going away is a reference to Jesus' death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  As Jesus has been making so many references to justice and judgment, we are presented with this clear note of what is to come, and the shadow of the Cross.  Let us note that He is still trying to save them; He warns them about where they are headed and what His mission is.  And once again, Jesus returns to His relationship to the Father, which is the source of all He does, what He teaches, and His identity as Son.

 

 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 is Jesus' clear reference to the Cross; my study Bible explains that lift up has the double meaning of being nailed to the Cross and of being exalted by His Father upon the completion of His work.  Let us note also that John tells us at this juncture that many believed in Him.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."   My study Bible comments on this verse that Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples, that is, learners (this is the literal meaning of the word for disciples in Greek).  To abide in His word is the responsibility of all believers, not only of the clergy or of an elite class of zealots.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  My study Bible tells us that the truth is a reference both to the virtue of truth and, even more importantly, to Christ Himself (see John 14:6).  To be free refers to the freedom from darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death.

"What is truth?" is the question that Pontius Pilate will ask Jesus in John's reporting of events (see John 18:28-40).  So the theme of justice, judgment, and truth is one that profoundly influences this Gospel, one upon which its events and the reporting of Christ's life continuously hover.  Jesus says to Pilate, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice," to which Pilate replies with his question.  So truth takes on different shapes and fills different "places" here in John's Gospel and in the words of Jesus.  In yesterday's reading, focused specifically on the symbolism and quality of "light," we read of the different meanings of light fulfilled in Christ that we read in the Scriptures:  the Father is light (John 1:4-9), light also may be reflected and shone to others through Christ's followers and those who love God (Matthew 5:14).  Here, we may also begin to ask Pilate's question, "What is truth?" as Jesus teaches, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  We can infer that to abide in Christ's word and teachings is to come to know the truth.  In our own experience of our faith, the deeper we come to rest in Christ's words and teachings, the longer we proceed through our lives, working out our salvation with fear and trembling, so to speak, we may find that the more we come to know Christ more deeply, so we also come to discover ourselves more deeply.  All of this covers the understanding of truth:  the things we learn about Christ and from Christ, the things we learn about ourselves, the ways in which spiritual experience in this tradition can inform and teach us about life, especially through a deepening of our prayer lives.  Truth applies directly to Christ Himself, as He teaches, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), and as He is also our way, or road, to the Father.  Moreover, this concept of truth seems to apply to the Kingdom itself, when Jesus says to Pilate, "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."  It implies that participation in this Kingdom means entry into, and a kind of birth from, this truth which He brings to the world, manifest in Himself and in His word, and which operates as a kind of gateway to freedom.  It is not a freedom in some conventional or political sense that implies an open space without rule or order.  Rather, it is, as my study Bible explains it, freedom from the darkness of chaos and confusion, the evil that looks good but does us harm.  It is the freedom to declare oneself not a slave to the crowds, to judgment merely by appearance, to the conventional hatreds and prejudices we might find around ourselves.  It is freedom from merely seeking the "praise of men" and freedom to seek the praise of God (John 12:43).  It is the truth  of the early martyrs which enabled young women to declare they had the freedom not to marry if it endangered their souls, and loyal and decorated Roman soldiers to chose not to worship Caesar.  It is the faith that moved those who were slaves even in the ancient world to know that, nevertheless, their soul belonged to God.  It is the freedom that gives us courage to live our lives as best we can.  It is the freedom to choose the allegiance of our hearts and souls to love what is truly good, and to love the God who loves us.   This is the journey of faith, and the journey of truth.  It is the salvation we work out by working the work of God, the work of faith (John 6:28-29).  He is the truth that leads us along the way, and sets us free from that which would keep us bound to whatever gets in the way.  And that is freedom indeed.