John 8: 31-47
"So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed." -John 8:36
This was a post on Facebook today who read it on Joyce Meyer
Ministries. As I read it I immediately wanted to read it in context.
John 8: 31-47 NIV
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. 37 I know that you are
Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because
you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have
seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard
from your father.” 39 “Abraham is our father,”
they answered. “If you were Abraham’s
children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is,
you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth
that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are
doing the works of your own father.” “We are not
illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God
himself.” 42 Jesus
said to them, “If God were your Father, you would
love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God
sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father,
the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a
murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no
truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a
liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the
truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me
guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?
47
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear
is that you do not belong to God.”
Wow is all I can say! Let's look at the last part: "the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." That really gets me thinking to today's time and why so many find it hard to believe in the unknown of God. They don't really "hear" what is being told to them. (Wonder if it all of us who say one thing and act a different way?) Makes me want to take back all the times I tried to argue God with someone. I bet both of us were not really hearing.
In this scripture Jesus is talking to Jews who are trying to find a way to bust Jesus. Here Jesus is not speaking in parables, but being honest with them and asking them why they don't understand him. They also did not understand the concept of being a slave to their sins. As I continue to reread these verses I see how Jesus is trying to reach them using their lineage to show them how they claim one thing, but act on another. There is so much here that I truly cannot follow it all. I am going to have to take more time, but again wow.
I do want to go back to the concept of being a slave to sin. How true do we humans fall into traps and become a slave to a sin. That's how the devil does it sometimes. He takes something we do or like that may not even be a sin and uses it to get us off our path a little bit. Think about it this way I love playing games on the computer sometimes I will spend all day on the computer ignoring necessary things that need to be done or skipping time with God. See how something can be turned into an idol.
To read on in scripture the Jews go on to accuse Jesus 48 The Jews answered him,
“Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and
demon-possessed?” Really they called him a Samaritan? I encourage you to study these scriptures for yourself.
Today I was on facebook and in a little post I found God speaking to me!
Let His word speak to you today!
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