The Truth that Frees Us
TRANSLATION
(31) To those Jews who had believed in him Jesus said, “If you hold to my word, then are you truly my disciples, (32) and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (33) They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How can you say that we will be set free?” (34) Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. (35) The slave does not have a permanent place in the family, but the Son belongs to it forever. (36) So if the Son sets you free, you will truly be free. (37) I know that you are Abraham’s offspring. Yet, you are seeking to kill me because my word has no room in your hearts. (38) I speak of the things which I have seen with my Father, and you do the things which you have heard from your father.”
(39) They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. (40) But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which he has heard from God. That is not what Abraham did. (41) You are doing the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born illegitimately. We have one Father, namely God.” (42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come of my own will, but it is God who sent me. (43) Why do you not understand what I am saying? Is it because you cannot bear to hear my word?”
OBSERVATIONS
This passage presents the next stage in the controversy between Jesus and his opponents in which the temperature keeps on rising until it reaches the boiling point at the end of the chapter. Repetitions in this segment include “my word” (vss. 31, 37, & 43), “the truth” (twice in vs. 32 and once in vs. 40), “free”(in vss. 32 & 33 and twice in vs. 36), “Abraham’s offspring” twice (vss. 33 & 37), four more mentions of “Abraham” (vss. 39 & 40), “enslaved/slave” (vss. 33, 34, & 35), “father” (twice in vs. 38, once in vs. 39, twice in vs. 41, and in vs. 42), and “God” (vss. 40, 41, & twice in vs. 42). We should not fail to observe the pronouns that accompany the occurrences of “father,” “my father” (vs. 38), “our father” (vs. 39), “your father” and “one father” (vs. 41), and finally “your father” (vs. 42).
OUTLINE
I. Who is truly free? (31-38)
II. Who can claim God as father? (39-43)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus’ assertion that he offered truth that would set his hearers free sparked a heated discussion with the Jewish leaders regarding who could rightfully claim Abraham’s God as “Father.”
APPLICATION
What is the nature of the freedom that Jesus offers to those who become his disciples? According to verse 31, it is a freedom that comes from not just knowing (head knowledge) but “holding” (heart knowledge) to Jesus’ words, all the truth that he reveals to us about who God is and how we can know him as our loving Heavenly Father. This truth does not contradict what has already been revealed to the patriarchs and in the Old Testament scriptures. Instead, it demonstrates how God’s eternal plan of salvation finds its fulfillment in the redemptive work that the Son would soon accomplish.
The Jews of Jesus’ day believed that the Law of Moses was an end in itself and that by keeping the Law they could somehow enter into a meaningful relationship with God. Instead, they were, in Jesus’ words, “slaves to sin,” blinded to their need for a redeemer. The legalism that Jesus constantly confronted and the pride that such legalism produced in the hearts of those who were striving for righteousness by their own efforts blinded them to the spiritual freedom and family relationship with God that Jesus came to offer. The frustration Jesus expressed in the question that closed this segment (“Why do you not understand…?”) is the same frustration all of us feel when confronting those who “cannot bear to hear (Jesus’) word” because they lack the spiritual capacity to grasp the truth of the Gospel.