Freed!

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

-- John 8:31-32 (RSV)

Before leaving the region of his home near the Sea of Galilee, before beginning His fateful journey to the cross, Jesus and His followers stopped for a while at the Mount of Olives. He knew His time had not yet come, so He avoided Judea and Jerusalem. Still the people, and especially the Pharisees, came to Him, crowding around to hear His words. For the religious leaders, the interest was more sinister. They sought to trap Jesus, to find in His words and deeds justification for bringing the rule of the law against Him. It was at this point where they took a woman before Him, one they caught in the act of adultery, and challenged Him to obey the law of Moses and declare she must be stoned. They did this to test Him, in hopes that they might now have some charge to bring against Him. To the amazement of all, He uttered the words we know so well: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7b, RSV) One by one, the Pharisees dropped their stones and walked away.

But they returned after Jesus sent the woman away, forgiven and with instructions to sin no more, and once again questioned Him and His motives. He tried to explain to them just who He was and by what authority He serves mankind. Yet these leaders did not understand, nor did they want to. They could not grasp that Jesus spoke of God as the One who speaks through Him, the Father through the Son. So He turned to those who did truly believe in Him and assured them that the knowledge of that simple truth, that Jesus serves us by the authority of God, would indeed set them all free.

Still the Pharisees could not understand this concept, the idea behind the words. They rebuffed Jesus that they were the children of Abraham and had never been in bondage, so how could they be made free if they were never bound? What they failed to realize, as Jesus tried to explain, is that "Every one who commits sin is a slave to sin." (John 8:34b, RSV) By sinning, mankind is bound in slavery to sin. But by believing in Christ, by following His teachings, we will know the truth, and this truth will free us from the chains of sin forever.

Through John and the eighth chapter of his Gospel, Jesus promises us that sin will not last forever, but that God the Father will. His love will endure for eternity. And we, by His grace and the sacrifice of His Son upon the cross, will be freed from sin and death and will live in our Father's house for ever and ever. When we have savored our final breath upon this earth, the binds of this world will loosen and slip from around us. We will be made free by our belief in our risen Savior. What a blessed day that will be!

Freed! Thank you dear Jesus for freeing me!