The Gospel of John | The Truth Will Set You Free – John 8:31-59
Mankind is either a slave to sin despite any factor of their birth or pedigree, or they are born new in Jesus Christ.
As Jesus continued to teach, some believed His teaching and seemingly felt they could easily be classified as having their salvations secured for various reasons. They stood confident in the faith thinking that those who stand in the light referred to them. However, Jesus did not let them continue in that mindset and while scripture confidently states they believed His teaching, Jesus challenged where they stood and whether they stood in right relationship with Him. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV). While this statement from Jesus is often quoted with emphasis on telling the truth, this interpretation would reduce this sentence to a mere morality statement on telling the truth. This statement, in truth, is a more much biting indictment against the people who claimed to be religious but refused to actually follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and they did not follow Jesus, then they did not follow the truth.
The problem for the believer comes down to a problem of slavery. As Jesus continues the indictment against the people, He openly refers to the people as in a state of slavery caused by their sin. While they may have sought to establish themselves through their own authority or their lineage, Jesus sought to reveal the true nature of the spiritual condition for them. They may have started in agreement with the teachings of Jesus Christ, but the people needed to be shocked out of their spiritual blindness to understand the full weight and implications of the teachings of Jesus Christ. We, like the Israelites need to come face to face with the reality of our spiritual condition and the impact of the authority of Jesus Christ. Mankind is either a slave to sin despite any factor of their birth or pedigree, or they are born new in Jesus Christ.
Slave To Sin
The Israelites responded that they were not slaves and had never been slaves. In short, the history of the Jewish people is one that has experienced the pain of slavery at many points. They faced slavery in Egypt, exile in foreign countries, Roman oppression, and various other forms throughout the history of the people. The worst form, though, still ensnared the people of that day. While the people may not have been dealing a physical type of slavery, the spiritual slavery held every last person in bondage. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36, ESV) Only the son and offspring could stay in the house. Jesus, as the Son of the Father, held the rightful authority to remain in the house. Thus, for the Israelites to be free from the bondage of the slavery of sin would need the saving from the perfect Son.
No one wants to wrestle with their state of being a slave to sin. We do everything in our power to try and depict the struggle as anything but what it really is. Our language minimizes the problem by saying its just a mere struggle, or a temptation, or that its just a minor slip up. Then we continue to slide into our own sin with the idea that we can never be free of this sin. We cannot continue to dress up the impact and severity of our sin but must willingly bring our sin before the foot of the cross.. Our flesh is thoroughly and completely ensnared by the effects of sin so much so that we could rightfully be considered slaves to sin. It squeezes our sensibility until we have lost all hope of ever digging ourselves free of its entrapment. Yet, the Christian is not without hope. Jesus, in his rebuke of the Israelites, makes it abundantly clear that there is hope in following Jesus. There is still hope to come to Jesus Christ as the Lord over all things. In Him, we experience a radical transformation of our heart and desires that pours out to our actions.
- What does it mean that we are slaves to sin? What effect does sin have on us?
Familial Lines and Inheritance
The people of Israel often would claim their inheritance as a means of justifying their salvation. Thus, as Jesus gives the striking indictment, the response of the people is to immediately fall back to their lineage. The people revered the faith of Abraham (and rightfully so) that they felt the strength of his faith would descend to them. This comes from the Abrahamic Covenant where Good promises to bless the descendants of Abraham in Genesis 12. Yet, their understanding of the promises God gave to Abraham remained incomplete. Jesus tells the people that, although Abraham had faith, no evidence of faith remained in them. Their actions condemned them as they sought to have Jesus killed for His teachings. Abraham believed God and his actions reflected his faith. Now, the Israelites’s actions were far from perfect, a direct reflection of their faith. Where Abraham held faith firmly in God, even being willing to sacrifice his own son, the people of Israel whom Jesus spoke to, had departed from that faith in their heart. Furthermore, the witness for Jesus Christ originates from the Father, the same Father that Abraham held faith in. To reject Jesus Christ as the Lord would be to deny the historic faith held from generations to generations.
My Father spent years training to be an engineer and then honed his craft after the span of an entire career. He worked hard to understand and apply his knowledge, while continuing to grow in his field and became a stunning leader in his field. As the son of an engineer, I may have had some exposure to the principles of engineering, but am completely unable to ride his coat tails and accomplishments that built up over a life time. This is the same for followers of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, we cannot rest on the faith of someone else, whether a family member, a geographical location, or a pastoral personality to serve as the foundation for our faith. Nor can we watch our children with rose colored glasses that one camp experience or bedtime statement is sufficient training for the fullness of faith. Our salvation is secured not from our lineage, nationality, or parents, but solely by faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins. This is not to say that raising children in a Christian home is a poor choice, but rather that the real work of salvation occurs in the heart. We train up a child to know the know but trust that only God saves.
- What appeals did the Israelites make to Jesus’ claims of being in slavery? Where were they missing the idea of what Jesus was saying?
The Supremacy of Christ Over All
With everything Jesus said, the people sought to find some reason to discredit Him and His message. The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (John 8:48, ESV) Their statement was more of a public rebuke of Jesus rather than a legitimate question. They wanted people to questions the integrity of Jesus and His message attacking first His lineage and then His sanity. However, Jesus responded by asking for specifics. While the people may have been challenging Jesus, they did so without any specifics as to what sin He had committed or where He was demonstratively wrong. The authority of Jesus far surpasses any authority or lineage held by the Israelites or offspring of Abraham. Even more than that Abraham sought after the day when the Messiah would come. Abraham looked forward to the day of Jesus’ arrival. Jesus’ authority comes directly from the Father and Jesus seeks to bring glory to the Father through His being sent to redeem the people of God from their bond of slavery.
The final statement of Jesus Christ to the Israelite’s seemed to be the last straw for the people but emphasized a critical point. While the people attempted to appeal to the authority of Abraham, Jesus reinstated His divine nature. He is existence before all time began and reigns supreme over all creation. He is God made flesh for the glory of God, saving them very people who at one point stood against Him. As those of the faith, we must bear this in mind. The God we serve is not just a mere person or a perfect example of how we should live. Jesus represents the fullness of the person of God with us. When we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we submit to that same authority. Jesus defines right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral, and love and hate. We may have a strong pedigree of understanding and a heritage of fine thinkers but we wrestle with our flesh as slaves to sin. Only when we die to our flesh and believe that when Jesus died on the cross, that death counted on my behalf, that the shackles of our sin are taken off and we come alive in following Jesus Christ. The truth of Jesus Christ as the ultimate authority will free us from the slavery of our sin and set our feet on the foundation of live in Jesus Christ.
- What is the truth that Jesus Christ is referring to when He says the truth shall set you free?
Discussion Questions
- What is sin? How does it effect our relationship with God? How does it affect our own personal well-being?
- Where have you seen the effects of being a slave to sin on your life? What does it look like to be a slave to sin?
- The Israelites brought up many justifications for their behavior and how they were safe. What reasons did they give and why was this an inadequate source of salvation?
- Do we ever create excuses to not deal with our sin? What kind of excuses do we make up? How does Jesus handle our excuses?
- Submitting to the truth of Jesus Christ means bowing to Him in every aspect of our lives. What happens when we submit to the truth that is Jesus Christ?
