What truth? What word? What freedom does Jesus offer us now?
By Dean Collins
The Bible gets quoted a lot. I was listening to a podcast the other day where author Christopher Paolini was being interviewed on storytelling. Paolini wrote his first book at age 15. He self-published, and later the book was picked up by a publisher and became a phenomenal success. He has written many more books, and some have been turned into movies. In the interview, Paolini shared that he had several reference books he keeps close by when writing, including the works of Shakespeare and a King James Version of the Bible. More than once in the interview he mentioned how much of classic and modern literature originates from scripture.
Speeches, books, movies, and media often use Bible verses or phrases to make a point, even when they have no idea that they’re quoting the Bible. (And some quote things they think are in the Bible that actually aren't.) Examples I’ve heard :
Judge not or you will be judged
Do unto others as you would have them do to you
What is truth?
An eye for an eye
The truth will set you free
What truth?
“The truth will set you free” was in my morning reading of John chapter 8. The entire sentence fills two verses and says this: “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.’”
I have heard Christians and non-Christians alike quote those last six words to support whatever “truth” they may be advocating. They might be referencing the truth about a political position, a social or cultural stance, an accounting rule, or any number of topics. Of course “the truth” aligns with their opinion. Many times this line is quoted and has nothing to do with Jesus at all.
Jesus, however, delivered this line in a broader discussion with Jewish priests, Pharisees, and teachers of Jewish law. Some in this audience had begun to accept some of his teachings; to those who had believed him, he said that abiding in his word forms them into disciples and gives them understanding of the truth that will set them free.
What word?
A question for us is, “Exactly what word are we to abide in?” It can’t be the Bible because the Bible as we know it didn’t yet exist when Jesus spoke these words. Many Old Testament scriptures had been written, but none of the New Testament was yet recorded. John was reporting what he had seen lived out in Jesus. “Abiding in my word,” then, must be more about abiding in all that Jesus was, all that he said, and in all of his claims:
I am the bread of life
I am the light of the world
I am the good shepherd
I am the resurrection and the life
I am the way, the truth, and the life
I am the true vine
All of these come from John’s Gospel. To abide in the word of Jesus is to be all-in on all things Jesus claimed. We cannot be disciples of Jesus or call ourselves Christian and accept only some of what Jesus claimed. He is all God or not God. We are all-in or simply trying to grab some of his goodness but not really follow his teachings.
Where freedom?
Jesus was and is not some version of a 1970s rock star who sang about being a free bird or a freedom fighter, or free to indulge in whatever could be imagined. Jesus came to set us free from one thing: our bondage to sin. Living free of that bondage will in fact give us freedom to do more than we can possibly imagine, and it will be centered in our freedom to love and serve others.
The songwriter said they were looking for love in all the wrong places. I suspect that could be said of modern pursuits of freedom as well. Real freedom is rooted in the work of Jesus on the cross. It is the kind of freedom that takes slaves to sin and transforms them into sons and daughters of God.
Your time with God’s Word
John 8:31-38 ESV
Photo by Oksana Manych at Unsplash.com.
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