Wednesday 24 March 2010

Background

In this passage, Jesus outs the so-called believers of God. WhenJesus confronts them, they defend themselves by saying, "We aredescendants of Abraham". But they misunderstood what Jesus wastrying to say. He was trying to tell them that he had come tofreeall people from sin - all those who hadbecome "slaves to sin". And it would be through Jesus' teachingsthat they would know the truth and thus be set free.

In verse 31 "believed" means to have 'made a formal profession offaith'. But their words show that these people were not truebelievers. "The truth" in verse 32 is not philosophical truth, butthe truth that leads to salvation and thus freedom from sin. Theresponse "[we] have never been slaves" in verse 33 was in defianceof the Jewish people's Roman overlords and oppressors. When Jesusreminds the people that they are "a slave to sin" he is emphasisingthe fact that a sinner cannot break free by their own strength, andthat's why they need him. And that's why we need Jesus, now, as2,000 years ago.

This passage teaches us that we cannot undertake this Christianjourney on our own. We need Jesus and that's what he came to showus.

To Ponder

To what extent are people still "slaves tosin"?

Try writing down a brief profession of yourfaith. What would you include? And what might you omit?

If you are a Christian, is it time for you torenew a formal commitment to Christ?