July 19
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THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father.” – John 8:31-38
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In this account Jesus tells them the pre-requisite of being His disciples. They must continue in His word so they can know the truth so they will be free. The Jews didn’t understand what Jesus was saying about being free. As far as they were concerned, none of them were slaves. Jesus was speaking to them about spiritual slavery. When they commit sins, they are slaves of sin. And those who are enslaved by sin will not enter God’s kingdom. Jesus claims his power as the Son of God when He said that if He makes them free, they will be free forever. He confronts them about their claim as Abraham’s descendants because they were seeking to kill Him. In verse 38, Jesus separates Himself from those who do not belong to His Father, insinuating that their father must be the devil because they do not speak of what His Father says.
We get another glimpse of the character of those who do not belong to God’s kingdom. The Jews constantly defy whatever Jesus reveals to them. They reject it and won’t have anything to do with truth. They were relentless in putting a stop to these truth Jesus were telling them. They are so arrogant to claim that they were Abraham’s descendants, yet they do not have the faith like Abraham had. Jesus hates sin and hypocrisy. He confronts them openly and so should all believers do. Sadly, like the Jews, many people do not want to confront sin and truth. They like to stay slaves of sins and lies. When they are faced with these things, they defend themselves and reject the chance to be saved. What a shame when we knowingly choose lies than truth or sin than righteousness.
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REFLECTION
• Why are some people afraid to face truth?