To the people 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)
There is a descriptive phrase here that occurs only once in Scripture: “the Jews who had believed in him.” When the author of this gospel refers to “the Jews” he is speaking about a group within the group. (Painting all Jews with the broad brush of unbelief has unleashed bigotry and denies God’s saving power among God’s chosen.) In this instance, the description appears to refer to a subset of Jews who had hoped Jesus was a particular kind of Messiah, only to realize Jesus was not the Messiah they had created in their minds. Perhaps that is why that grammatical tense leaves me feeling that their belief in Jesus is not so strong anymore.
The truth can set us free, but only if we are willing to hear it. This group who “had never been slaves to anyone” clearly forgot (denied) the reality of their time of servitude in Egypt. But more than that, they were trying to play a mind game with Jesus by speaking about literal slavery - when I’m pretty sure they just didn’t want to own up to a bondage of their own making: slavery to sin.
By trying to assert that they weren’t enslaved by any one, they were also refusing to admit that they could be enslaved by any thing. That’s pride gone bad: a refusal to acknowledge the need for God’s saving power (“grace”) in one’s life. No doubt this group felt that if they followed the letter of the law, they had done all they needed to do. Reformer Martin Luther had a lot to say about the problem of believing that we accomplish our own salvation.
The discipline of Lent can serve as a corrective mirror: to help us see our true selves with our shortcomings and failures, and to help us learn of our need for redemption. That’s a necessary dose of reality if we hope to truly be the people we are called to be. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9). Once we acknowledge our weakness, God in Christ will help us become strong - in witness, service, and love.
Lord Jesus, help us to see ourselves as we are, so that, with your guidance, we might become the people you know we can be. Amen.
Pastor Keith Dey
Emanuel Lutheran Church
Southern Shores, NC
There is a descriptive phrase here that occurs only once in Scripture: “the Jews who had believed in him.” When the author of this gospel refers to “the Jews” he is speaking about a group within the group. (Painting all Jews with the broad brush of unbelief has unleashed bigotry and denies God’s saving power among God’s chosen.) In this instance, the description appears to refer to a subset of Jews who had hoped Jesus was a particular kind of Messiah, only to realize Jesus was not the Messiah they had created in their minds. Perhaps that is why that grammatical tense leaves me feeling that their belief in Jesus is not so strong anymore.
The truth can set us free, but only if we are willing to hear it. This group who “had never been slaves to anyone” clearly forgot (denied) the reality of their time of servitude in Egypt. But more than that, they were trying to play a mind game with Jesus by speaking about literal slavery - when I’m pretty sure they just didn’t want to own up to a bondage of their own making: slavery to sin.
By trying to assert that they weren’t enslaved by any one, they were also refusing to admit that they could be enslaved by any thing. That’s pride gone bad: a refusal to acknowledge the need for God’s saving power (“grace”) in one’s life. No doubt this group felt that if they followed the letter of the law, they had done all they needed to do. Reformer Martin Luther had a lot to say about the problem of believing that we accomplish our own salvation.
The discipline of Lent can serve as a corrective mirror: to help us see our true selves with our shortcomings and failures, and to help us learn of our need for redemption. That’s a necessary dose of reality if we hope to truly be the people we are called to be. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9). Once we acknowledge our weakness, God in Christ will help us become strong - in witness, service, and love.
Lord Jesus, help us to see ourselves as we are, so that, with your guidance, we might become the people you know we can be. Amen.
Pastor Keith Dey
Emanuel Lutheran Church
Southern Shores, NC
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