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Pastor Philip's sermon reminded me of the words of Jesus in John 8. I wanted to share that with you with some of my thoughts:

John 8:31-59

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Truth and Disciples

This statement by Jesus is often quoted and I believe frequently misunderstood. What does it mean to be free?

A True Disciple

The word used here that’s translated “disciple” is “mathetes.” It is a form of “manthano.” Manthano means a pupil, someone who is receiving information (like a student in school). This word is almost never used in the Gospels. Mathetes, on the other hand, describes someone who has adopted the lifestyle of the teacher. In the Gospels, it is used almost exclusively of the 12 disciples.

The problem in our culture today is that we have turned “discipleship” into a learning activity instead of a lifestyle decision. Jesus makes it clear that we are only His “mathetes,” His followers, if we “remain faithful to my teachings.” We are true disciples only if we LIVE Jesus’ teachings.

It reminds me of 1 Peter 2:21 (you should read the entire passage): For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

Set Free

Everyone wants to jump to the “set free” part of verse 32, but they forget the rest. I have frequently read this verse as a standalone phrase on posters, plaques, and calendars. The thing is that it starts with “And”, which means it’s connected to the previous thought.

How do I know the truth? By living out Jesus' teachings. How am I set free? By making myself a slave to Jesus!

You see, many people read this and try to impose a modern idea of freedom. I am free if I am independent and don’t have to answer to anyone. First, this isn’t true, and Second, it isn’t Biblical.

Are any of us truly free? My youngest used to talk about getting out of the house and being free, but I reminded him that no one is really free. I have to pay taxes. I answer to people in my job. I answer to people in the military. I am even bound to my responsibilities to provide for my family. No one is completely free.

The Bible supports this. Jesus tells us in The Sermon on the Mount that everyone serves one of two masters. We either serve God, or we serve ourselves. This goes all the way back to Genesis, where Adam and Eve had a choice to obey God or obey their own desires. True freedom is getting to choose my master. I am set free because once I know the truth that following Jesus is the road to life everlasting, I can choose to follow Him…or not. I can take the easy road, which leads to destruction (and most go down that road), or I can choose the hard road to eternal life (but there are few on that road).

I am as free as I choose to be.

33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

39 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”

They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”

42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! 46 Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”

48 The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?”

49 “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. 50 And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. 51 I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”

52 The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ 55 but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”

57 The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” 59 At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

As I read the rest of this interaction, it made me chuckle because it reads like a series of responses to a post on social media, like Facebook. It’s as if Jesus is being deliberately confusing because He knows they won’t get it, they’re never going to follow Him, and He’s sort of making fun of them.

As an aside, I want to point out something that is particularly interesting to me. Throughout Jesus' ministry, He never spends a lot of time trying to explain Himself in a logical way. He certainly could have walked step by step through the Torah and explained all the Scripture that pointed to Him. He actually did this with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection. He did this with His followers as He explained why he had to die. But He never really did it with the religious people who questioned Him.

Sometimes I think we spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince people with clever arguments. Maybe the best proof is the way we live our lives. Moving on…

Freedom

Abraham’s Children

“We’ve never been slaves to anyone.” What a hilarious statement! The history of Israel is a history of slavery. Yahweh wanted them to be free and gave them a way to do that, but they kept turning away and spent their history moving from subjugation by one power to another. As they spoke those ludicrous words, they were under the power of Rome.

Free indeed

Jesus reminds them that He isn’t talking about political freedom. Everyone is born a slave to sin. Jesus tells them that He has come to set them free, and if He does, they are truly free. Let’s think about this in the context of the people to whom Jesus was speaking.

God calls Abraham out of Ur and tells him that from him He will make a great nation. He establishes a covenant with Abraham, signified by circumcision. Why did Yahweh do this? Later, He tells His people that it wasn’t because they were better, stronger, more numerous, or more righteous. He did it because He wanted to. He leads Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and eventually they go to Egypt.

God calls His people out of Egypt and leads them to the mountain in Saudi Arabia where He gives them His commands…His Torah. They are told that if they follow His commands, God will bless them and they will be a light to the nations. When they finally get to the land of Canaan, they spend the next several hundred years obeying Yahweh for a while, and then turning away to idols.

Eventually, they ask for a king, and they are given Saul, and then David. They live like this until Assyria, and then Babylon carries them off to captivity. When they return, they establish a series of extra rules to create a “fence around the torah” so that they wouldn’t break those commandments again. In doing so, they added to God’s commands and created an unbearable burden for the people.

Now, at any point during this period, were they “free”? Well, that depends on what you mean. For most people reading the Bible today, “freedom” means “independence from others.” I do what I want, when I want, how I want. If that’s what you mean, then there was never a time when they were truly free. They were either bound to Torah, or under the political rule of another. The problem is that this is a false view of freedom.

Nothing could be further from the Hebraic idea of freedom. The Hebrew world is pragmatic, practical, and centered in daily life. What matters most to those treading the pathways of the earth is direction and instruction. A man without a code of conduct is subject to the whims of all kinds of forces, including his own passions. Such a man is a slave in every sense of the term, even if he is king in the land. Therefore, freedom is not the ability to choose as I wish but rather the knowledge that what I am doing is in concert with the design of the universe and the will of God. The key to true freedom is law, for it is instruction according to God’s desires that releases me from the anxiety of not knowing what is right and what is wrong. A man without torah is a slave. A man with torah is free. In the New Testament, this Hebraic concept is captured in the idea that Christ lives in us, we are under His control and the control of the Spirit, and our lives are given over to His lordship. The guarantee of this reality of liberation from the angst of unrighteousness is the defeat of death and the promise of life everlasting.

We are born bound to fear, living in sin. Yahweh set His people free by giving us Torah, and Jesus sets us free by restoring our relationship with the Father. I am set free because I am adopted into God’s family and now have the guidelines given by God to show me the right path. What the religious leaders of the day had done was fence people away from God with their made-up rules. Jesus broke that fence down and permanently opened the door to the playground of God’s kingdom!

The rest of the discussion is just this back and forth. They do not understand. It’s like these discussions I used to have with Mikey sometimes about his algebra.

Josh: “The answer is wrong.”

Mikey: “No it isn’t!”

Josh: “Yes it is.”

Mikey: “I know I have the right answer.”

Josh: “Let me see your work.”

Mikey: “I didn’t do it their way. I have my own way of doing it. I know the answer is right.”

Josh: “Son, I know it isn’t right. I have the score key right in front of me WITH THE ANSWERS. Plus, this is the fourth time I’ve done algebra. I know what I’m talking about. You have to do the problems in a particular way or the answer is going to be wrong.”

Mikey: “Wait a minute…Ohhhhhhhh. Sorry, here’s the answer.”

Jesus knows the truth because HE IS GOD! They just don’t get it, and they don’t want to get it because they want to do things their way. In the end, they cannot handle the truth, and so they do what many people do when faced with an irrefutable truth…they try to kill the messenger.

There’s a whole lot more that could be pulled from this passage, but I think we all get the point. So what’s the point? Well, let me make it with two questions:

  1. Am I a true follower? or
  2. Am I trying to stone Jesus?

It’s really easy to know if you are a true follower. The mark of a true follower is someone who is living the commands of Jesus. And what are the commands of Jesus? Do I really need to spell it out?

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

I could break it down more, but Jesus said everything is summed up in those two commandments. It’s not what you know, it’s what you DO that makes you a true follower.

If I am not a true follower, then I am inevitably on the side of those who are trying to stone Jesus. Why did they want to stone Jesus? Because He showed them the truth that their man-made religion had nothing to do with God.

I am currently working on a Doctor of Ministry. As a part of that, I am doing a lot of reading about ministers who have been abused by congregations. Nearly 100 pastors are fired without cause or forced to resign EVERY WEEK in America. Marilyn and I are a part of that group. Most of them, and their families, experience deep wounds that they often never completely recover from, and most of them leave vocational ministry entirely. Why does this happen?

Because the truth of the Gospel comes in conflict with the made-up rules they follow. They have made a god of their own preferences, which they call "Jesus", and they will destroy anyone who shows them the truth. The truth will not set them free, because they won't allow it. So it has always been throughout the history of the people of God. God calls some to proclaim His messages, and others try to destroy them for it.

That doesn’t mean you should stop. Keep on pressing. Do what Jesus would do, live like Jesus would live, and be willing to suffer as Jesus suffered. Because at the end, the prize is great!

SONGS FOR SUNDAY

Great Things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CY3nf1Mvw&list=RDy4CY3nf1Mvw&start_radio=1

King of Kings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of5IcFWiEpg&list=RDOf5IcFWiEpg&start_radio=1

Build My Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZW4_8_zCBE&list=RDQZW4_8_zCBE&start_radio=1

Worthy of it All

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0bV2t3tUw&list=RDkQ0bV2t3tUw&start_radio=1