Key verse: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free."
John 8:32
Remember how we ended yesterday? "Even as He spoke,
many put their faith in Him." (John 8:30) Now, Jesus turns His attention
to those to whom He is having an effect and begins speaking for their
edification. "To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, "If you
hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then, you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
The people are confused about what they have been set free
from. Remember, this is the Feast of Tabernacles. This whole feast has been
dedicated to remembering how God set them free from Egypt and provided for them
in the wilderness. In their thinking, they had already been set free, as
Abraham's children, and are enslaved no longer to Egypt. Rome was a different
matter altogether and the hope was that another Moses figure would set them
free again, but that had less to do with truth and more to do with power.
Now however, Jesus addresses the common master of the flesh.
He had already accused the Pharisees of sin, but really we are all enslaved to
sin. It is the condition of man. Jesus is focused on knowing the truth about
who we are and who He is. It is by knowing that truth and yielding to Him
because of it that we can be set free from sin. The people hadn't even
considered that possibility! How could one be set free from their own earthly
urges?
"If you were Abraham's children, then you would do
things Abraham did." (John 8:39B) What did Abraham do? He obeyed God. He
left his home and he wandered a lifetime trusting in God's promise for land and
family. Even after 25 years, the only family he and Sarah received was Isaac
and the only land Abraham owned was the field he buried Sarah in, yet, Abraham
obeyed and trusted in a promise that he would not personally realize.
Jesus often puts love and obedience and trust as a package
deal for His followers. If you love Him, and if He truly is your Lord, you will
obey Him and You will only choose to obey the one you truly trust. This is the
Truth; the truth that will set you free.
To the Pharisee, this was just intellectual sparring in a
public venue. They had hoped to clean up the floor with Jesus, showing the
crowd attending the Feast that Jesus was just another fraud. They were hoping
to put the Jesus problem to rest. The people could go home for the winter,
assured that the religious system that they knew was alive and well and that
their religious leaders were protecting them from unnecessary distress. Jesus
was right to accuse them of wanting to kill Him. To them, Jesus was a
troublemaker who was up to no good. The sooner He was removed, the better.
For Jesus, however, this public gathering was another
opportunity to declare the truth! The people, leaders and all, are hopelessly
lost in their sin. They have strayed far from the example that Abraham set, far
from the life and society that God had intended for His people. Jesus was
offering true hope and change that the world can never give. The truth that He
was revealing could set them free indeed, if they would embrace it.
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