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 in 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 current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn festival.  It is now the final year of His earthly life.  He has been disputing with the religious leaders in the temple, who have unsuccessfully sought to have Him arrested.  Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to them 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 tells them, "I am going away."  My study Bible comments that going away refers to Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  

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.   The expression lift up has a double meaning here.  It includes both Christ being nailed to the Cross, and also of being exalted by the Father upon completion of His work.

 

 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."  My study Bible comments that Jesus expects all who follow Him to be disciples; in other words, learners.  (The Greek word translated as "disciple" is μαθητής/mathetes, literally meaning "learner.") To abide in His word is the responsibility of all believers, it says, not only of the clergy or 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 refers both to the virtue of truth and, more importantly to Christ Himself (John 14:6).  To be free is a reference to the freedom from darkness, confusion, and lies, as well as the freedom from the bondage of sin and death.  

Jesus says, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   An interesting observation regarding this verse comes in the study of the word for truth here.  It is the Greek word ἀλήθεια/aletheia.  In studying the etymology of this Greek word, one comes to understand that it is rooted in the concept of being unconcealed, unhidden -- meaning something that cannot be hidden.  In other words, this truth is reality itself.  When applied to the concept of God, it is synchronous with an understanding of the name of God, I AM, as given to Moses in Exodus 3:14, and used by Jesus a little further along in this chapter, at John 8:58.  This name of God, I AM, is the foundational nature of God we're given to understand, that indicating pure being, true ultimate reality -- against which all else must be tested.  This is reality as contrasted with illusion, with lies and deception.  In yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus declared, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  In other words, so true is He to the Father's will and direction, that He represents the Father to us; if we know Him, we know the Father.  This, of course, is also deeply rooted in concepts of absolute truth, for the ultimate reality -- the I AM -- is the being of God.  In the nimbus surrounding Christ in Orthodox iconography, we see in Greek Ο ΩΝ, meaning "the One that is."  This is the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (meaning "four letters" in Greek), from which we derive "Yahweh."  In John 1:18, we read, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."  The "only begotten" is Ο ΩΝ in the Greek.  Therefore, the truth that makes us truly free is coming to know Christ, and thereby also the Father and the Spirit.  To come to know true being, the pillar and ground of reality, is to become freed from illusion, deception, darkness, falsehoods, things that keep us in the dark and from seeing our way in life.  We want to be firmly grounded in reality, and in order to get there, we must know Christ and His word.  This takes faithfulness, and growth in that faithfulness, in discipleship.  It reminds us of the words with which this Gospel so clearly and carefully begins, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).  A light shining into the darkness banishes darkness and shadow, revealing what is.  Therefore let us endeavor to align with what is, the light that shines in the darkness.