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

 

 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.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  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 8:33-47 

 

In our present readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, and it is the last, great day of the Feast, the eighth day.  Many images Jesus uses are taken from the rituals of this festival.  It is the final year of Jesus' life.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the Pharisees 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."   

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."   The Pharisees argue against Christ's teaching, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (see yesterday's reading, above).  When Jesus refers to "a son" He is indicating an heir of a house.   He contrasts this with a slave, which He describes as the condition of one who regularly engages in sin; that is, one who serves -- inadvertently or not --  that which is against God the Father.  But as "Son" of the Father, Christ shows us the way to the Father, the way to become an heir in God's house by adoption, and therefore free.

"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."  My study Bible explains that to be a child of Abraham, it is not enough to be simply related by blood; rather, Abraham's true children share his faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  It says that St. John Chrysostom teaches that our Lord wanted to detach the Jews from racial pride and to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature, but to come to faith by their own free will.  Their idea that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was enough for salvation was the very thing that prevented them from coming to Christ.  When Christ says, "You do the deeds of your father," He is referring to the evil one, the father of sin, as they seek to kill Him unjustly.

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."  Proceeded, as my study Bible explains it, refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather in this instance to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.

"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.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  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 explains that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes, these who reject Him share the same attributes as the devil (in particular, a hatred for truth), and thus He says their father is the devil.    The desires of the devil are to destroy the word and message of the Son, but especially to deny the Father's Kingdom in this world.  Note that Jesus speaks of the attributes of the devil, that he was a murderer from the beginning, and that he is a liar and the father of lies.

If we look at aspects of the demonic that appear in the Gospels, we can see more clearly what Jesus seems to be getting at in these final verses.  Where there are examples of the demonic at work, there is affliction.  We can look at the man who called Himself Legion (Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30), as he was afflicted by a legion of demons, uncontrollable, in complete disorder, and living among the tombs, unable to live in community.  We can look at the child who is brought to Christ by his father, of whom it is said that the boy is often thrown into the fire and into the water (Matthew 17:15).  When we look at demonic activity as it appears to us in Scripture, it is a picture of cruelty, of that which seeks to oppress and afflict human beings.  The word for "evil" or "the evil one" in Greek has many nuances, but perhaps the most significant one is that it also means "pain."  This would apply to all kinds of pain in life, including oppressive toil.  In today's reading, Jesus contrasts the murderous impulse and the love of lies of the devil with the truth and freedom that He is offering.  When Jesus says that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, He's again describing the oppressive nature of evil and in particular of the devil, who has no love for human beings, and therefore subjects them to a kind of slavery.  While these are images of spiritual realities, we don't need literally to see demons and devils at work in order to understand the nature of sin and affliction in this sense.  We have terrible examples all around us of the affliction of addiction, of drugs and alcohol which seem to offer people a panacea or escape from pain, but simply work to enslave people in systematic habits that make life so much worse in so many ways, a destruction that reaches into all kinds of areas of life and into relationships with loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and colleagues.   There are connections to the destruction of family life, to violence and domestic abuse, that have been documented for so long in our societies.  If we want to look at criminal life, we can see the merciless environment created for so many.  I was once told by a psychologist who professed atheism that pernicious self-destructive patterns of thought really do work "like demons" within people.   Jesus ties in lies and the love of lies with murder here in today's reading, and this is something important to consider.  Everything is rooted in a love of truth in our hearts, a willingness to start first with the love of God which teaches us to hold onto truth.  He offers us all the dignity of that love in our hearts, the capacity to raise ourselves above whatever forms of "slavery" we might see around ourselves (or that we'd be tempted to), and live with that knowledge that we are also children by adoption, we can live in God's house of love and truth, where we are beloved and nurtured to be something other than slaves.   This applies to all human beings, but it starts with the humility to love God first, to seek truth, and to hold Christ's love and word dear to our hearts.  He teaches us to abide in His word, for that is the road we need.  He offers us a choice for truth and freedom, and the faith and strength that come with it from God who is love, our true Father.