John 8:30-38: a reflection

30As he spoke these things, many believed in him. 31Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?” 34Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”

Jesus makes a promise to those beginning to believe 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. His hearers bristle: We are Abraham's descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how can you say we will be set free? And Jesus names the slavery they cannot see: everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. But, he says, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Notice the freedom Jesus is talking about, and the slavery. The slavery is not political or social; it is bondage to sin, a captivity so deep his hearers did not even recognize they were in it. We are the same, often blind to the ways sin holds us, sure we are free while we are bound. And the freedom Jesus offers is not merely a feeling or a philosophy; it is release from that slavery, accomplished by the Son himself: if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed, truly, deeply free.

That is a freedom worth wanting, and it comes from one source. Not from insisting we are already free, as Jesus' hearers did, but from letting the Son free us and abiding in his word and truth. Where sin holds you, in a habit, a pattern, a bondage you cannot break by willpower, the good news is that the Son can set you free, and that his freedom is real. Do not settle for insisting you are fine while sin quietly rules. Come to the Son, abide in his truth, and receive the freedom that is free indeed.

Lord Jesus, you said that everyone who sins is a slave to sin, but that if the Son sets us free, we are free indeed. Show me where sin holds me in a bondage I cannot break by my own strength, even the places I am blind to. Set me free, truly free, and help me abide in your word and your truth. I do not want to insist I am fine while sin rules; I want the freedom only you can give.