The Gospel of John: John 8.31-47

Read and meditate on John 8.31-33.
We’re about to get a lesson in what it means to believe in Jesus.

³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed
in Him, “If you abide in and receive
My Word, you are My followers, indeed.
³²And you shall know the truth, and will be freed
by it.” ³³They answered, “We are Abraham’s seed,
and we have never been in bondage! Freed?
From what? How can You say this?”

- John 8.31-33

Reflect
1.  We recall (v. 30) that many of the Jews who were at the Feast of Tabernacles, as they listened to the exchanges between Jesus and the Pharisees, “believed in Him.” It’s just like Jesus to make sure they understood what they were doing. Between “believed Him” and “My disciples indeed” is a crucial bridge. How would you explain this? Complete this prayer: As Your disciple, Lord, I want to abide in Your Word. That is, I want…

2.  According to the first part of verse 32, what is the result of abiding in the Word of Jesus? Explain know as Jesus used it here. Lord, I know that I know the truth when…

3.  From what does the truth we abide in set us free? To what? How does that happen? Today, Lord, please set me free from…

4.  Jesus’ use of the future tense (“shall make you free”) suggests that this is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. We are made free, but we shall be made free. Explain. Today, Lord, make me free to…

5.  Looking at verse 33, we might say these “believers” either had a poor memory, or they were willfully blind. On what basis do they object to Jesus? Does that cut any ice with Jesus? Had Abraham’s descendants ever been slaves before? More than once? Even in Jesus’ day? How had their slavery ended during the Old Testament? How would they be free from slavery, according to Jesus? Bring together into one the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“But the Lord did not say, ‘You shall be free,’ but ‘The truth shall make you free.’ However, that word [free]—because, as I have said, it is clearly so in the Greek—they understood as pointing only to freedom. They puffed themselves up as Abraham’s seed and said, ‘We are Abraham’s seed and were never in bondage to anyone: how is it that you say, “You shall be free”?’ O inflated skin! This is not magnanimity; it is hot air! For even if you want to talk about freedom in this life, how were you truthful when you said, ‘We were never in bondage to anyone’? Wasn’t Joseph sold? Weren’t the holy prophets led into captivity? And again, didn’t that very nation, when making bricks in Egypt, also serve hard rulers, not only in gold and silver but also in clay? If you were never in bondage to anyone, ungrateful people, why is it that God is continually reminding you that he delivered you from the house of bondage? Or do you perhaps mean that your ancestors were in bondage, but you who speak were never in bondage to anyone? How then were you now paying tribute to the Romans, out of which also you formed a trap for the truth himself, as if to ensnare him?” Augustine (354-430 AD)

Obviously, these “believers” didn’t quite understand what Jesus required of those who believed in Him. Do you? Explain.

Closing Prayer
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

Psalm 51.6-13

Psalm 51.4-9 (Passion Chorale: O Sacred Head Now Wounded)
Against You only, Savior, have I become unclean;
Thus just the condemnation which You pronounce on me.
Lord, I was born to sinning, while You seek truth within;
To wisdom my heart winning, release me from my sin!

In Jesus’ blood and mercy, Lord, cleanse my evil heart!
Let me washed, cleansed, renewed be, and pure in whole and part.
Bring joy again and gladness; look not upon my sin.
Deliver me from sadness; renew me yet again!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.