John 8:31-36
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Are You Really Jesus' Disciple?
“To the Jews who had believed him.”[1] If you were to read those 7 words in English, you’d have to think things were going well for Jesus. This was his whole mission – to preach to his own people, the Jews, so that they would believe him. To read these 7 words, you’d think that’s what was happening.
But what Jesus says to these Jews tells us something else: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”[2] One word from Jesus sets the whole tone of this passage – really. Which implies that even though these Jews had believed in Jesus, they weren’t really his disciples. And what follows proves it.
Jesus promised that his true disciples would know the truth and that the truth would set them free. It sounds good! Who doesn’t like freedom? I’m sure these Jews did, but I’m equally as sure that they didn’t appreciate his implication. If Jesus was offering them freedom, then that implied that they didn’t currently possess it, which is what they say: “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”[3]
You don’t have to know much Bible history to know that what these Jews say to Jesus is 100%, patently false. The Jews had been slaves several times since Abraham’s day. They spent 400 years enslaved to the Egyptians. They were conquered by the Babylonians and carried off into captivity for a generation. And that’s not even to mention the current Roman occupation of Israel!
And yet, you can probably imagine the “Yeah, but”s, can’t you? “Yeah, but we still live in Jerusalem.” “Yeah, but we still worship in the Temple.” “Yeah, but we still have a Jewish High Priest… I think.” “Yeah, but the Romans are everywhere; we have it as good as anybody else does.”
These Jews, who had believed in Jesus – who had started off well – fell off in a hurry because of their own self-delusion and because of their complete reliance on anything and everything other than Jesus, whether it was their ancestry or their lifestyle or their rights or privileges. Whatever it was, they preferred relying on themselves or their circumstances more than on Jesus as their Saviour.
And Jesus is a smart guy. He could have poked a thousand holes in their argument, like I just did, but their history of slavery and the current Roman occupation of Israel just wasn’t Jesus’ concern. Their souls were. And there was a more historic, more oppressive slavery than whatever the Romans or Babylonians or Egyptians had inflicted on them. It was their slavery to sin.
And while the Jews’ response to Jesus’ offer of freedom was nothing short of delusional – not to mention a direct denial of irrefutable fact – it is understandable, if you think about it. Calling someone a slave is deeply offensive. What if someone called you a slave? You’d probably react the same way: “What are you talking about?? I’m a free Canadian. I’m a citizen, not a slave; I have rights and freedoms. I get paid for the work I do; I’m not forced to do it.”
But listen to the way the Apostle Paul talks about our slavery to sin: Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?[4] Or this passage from Peter’s second letter: “People are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”[5]
You are slaves of the one you obey. You are slaves to whatever has mastered you. How many things in your life exercise mastery over you? How many things do you give your obedience to – either because you love it or because you’re afraid not to? Could we understand our jobs as a form of slavery in the sense that I let my job dictate my whole life? Sure, you could quit any time you wanted to, but I’ve heard smokers say the same thing. Could you understand your family as a form of slavery – that you’re willing to sacrifice everything else, that everything else gets put on hold for it? Could you say the same thing about your schooling, or your sports team, or your political interest?
And maybe you’d offer your own “Yeah, but”s: “Yeah, but I have it under control.” “Yeah, but it’s only a temporary thing.” “Yeah, but everyone else is in the same situation; this is just what I have to do to get by.”
There are lots of things in this life – other than God – that try to claim mastery over us. There are lots of things that we willingly or begrudgingly give our obedience to instead of or more than God. In every case, ceding control of our lives to anything other than God is bad and wrong and should be obvious to us, but that’s just the beginning. We don’t just live as slaves to institutions in this life. We are slaves to sin.
This same 2 Peter passage starts out this way: They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity.[6] Peter talks about empty, boastful words, lustful desires of the flesh, living in error. What’s the sin that’s crouching at your door, desiring to have mastery over you? What’s the sin you stopped fighting a long time ago and have given yourself over to? What’s the sin you’re a slave to and can’t fight even if you wanted to?
In the same way that Jesus couldn’t be bothered by the Roman occupation of Israel, his concern for you isn’t about equalization or sovereignty or democracy or your work-life balance. His concern for you is the same as it was for those Jews. He cares about your soul. That’s why he wasn’t and isn’t content with disciples who are disciples in name only. That’s why he wants true disciples who not only understand but hold to the truth.
The truth is that you and I and every human alive has been born into slavery to sin. You’ve never known any other way of life. You were doomed to live a lifetime of subjugation to sin and to dwell for an eternity in condemnation in hell.
But it was exactly because of your slavery to sin, that the Son of God came to dwell with you, i.e. to be more than your God in name only but to demonstrate his love by giving his life, to voluntarily give up his rights and freedoms so that you could be set free from sin, to satisfy sin’s thirst for blood but to give his own so that you go free, so that your identity could change fundamentally from “slave to sin” to “son or daughter of God,” so that death and depravity could no longer claim mastery over you, but so that you could have a permanent place in God’s family, by grace, through faith in Jesus.
That’s what Reformation Sunday is all about. Martin Luther had been one of those Jews who had believed in Jesus. He even took it one step further; he was a Christian in more than just name. He had tried to live as a holy a life as humanly possible. He became a monk. He literally cloistered himself away from temptation, and when he nevertheless fell into it, he spent hours and days in repentance and prayer, trying, seeking some way to throw off the shackles of sin and guilt and shame, and searching for relief and peace and freedom.
He never found it in himself. Like the Apostle Paul, he saw the law of sin at work in his body: I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.[7] Where Luther found freedom was exactly where Jesus told the Jews to look for it: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”[8]
It is true that we are all born into sin. It is true that sin desires – and often succeeds at achieving – mastery over us. But it is equally true that Jesus came to set you free from sin. Jesus came to forgive your sins, with no strings attached. He doesn’t demand that you obey him perfectly. He doesn’t demand that you be better than anyone else. The mark of a true disciple of Jesus is holding to his teaching.
That means that you cherish the truth of the Gospel that we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus. We’re not saved by what we do. We don’t earn our own freedom. It’s a free gift of God’s love. Hold to that truth, because in it you have freedom from the accusations of the devil that you’re not good enough; you’re not, but God’s love for you is unconditional – it doesn’t depend on you, it depends on him. Hold to that truth, because in it you have freedom from the obligation to obey God’s law perfectly; Jesus already did that for you and then died for you. Hold to that truth, because in it you have freedom to enjoy life without fear that punishment is looming; Jesus earned paradise for you.
Hold onto Jesus’ teaching. Don’t just know it. Cling to it. Cherish it. Use it. Remind yourself of it day after day. You’re doing that right now by being in church and listening to his Word. Good! We have another service next week and the week after that. You’re listening to his Word right now. Good! This is just 1 out of 168 hours in a week. Use a few more this week to listen to his Word. That’s how you get to know the truth. That’s how that truth makes a home in your heart. That’s how the truth sets you free, both for this life and eternity.
There’s no question about your identity. You aren’t a slave to sin anymore. It does still crouch at your door. You do still give into it. But that’s not your identity anymore. You are really Jesus’ disciple because you do hold to his teaching. More than that, you are a son or daughter of God who has a permanent place in his family, by grace, through faith in Jesus.
That’s what Reformation Sunday is all about. That’s what the whole Christian faith is all about. Hold to Jesus’ teaching and he will set you free. Amen.
[1] John 8:31
[2] John 8:31
[3] John 8:33
[4] Romans 6:16
[5] 2 Peter 2:19
[6] 2 Peter 2:19
[7] Romans 7:19
[8] John 8:31,32