NOTES for Joh 8:39-40

Jews have always considered themselves children, descendants, of Abraham, and this is an undoubted historical fact. This fact was enough for every Jew in every age to consider himself belonging to the people of God. But then the Messiah comes and poses the question differently.

It turns out that it is not enough to be a descendant of Abraham by blood; one must also be his successor in spirit. And that is more difficult. Indeed, what did Abraham do? He followed God, who called him. But what did this mean for him? Abraham knew nothing about the God who called him; for him the God of Israel was still an unknown God. Abraham came to know Him already on the road to Palestine and later in Palestine itself. At the beginning, he simply had to entrust himself to the One he did not know. To believe at the first encounter. Abraham, of course, heard God's voice, but in those days hearing the voice of some god or spirit was not so rare.

There were many gods and spirits, and many voices as well; whom to trust was for each person to decide. The voice that called Abraham after itself was the voice of the Unknown. This voice promised much, but could it be trusted? Abraham believed. His heart told him that the Unknown One was not deceiving him. And in this he is the complete opposite of those deeply religious but very distrustful Pharisees who constantly demanded proofs of Jesus' messiahship, and proofs that matched their own ideas about the Messiah.

If Abraham had been like that, there would have been no Jewish people, simply because such an Abraham would never have believed the unknown God. And of course, with the openness that characterized Abraham, he would never have begun to persecute, much less try to kill, a person attempting to tell him something new about his God. This is what distinguishes Abraham from those who turned out to be his descendants by blood but not by spirit. Abraham had every possibility of entering the Kingdom. His descendants, however, had serious problems with this. Not all of them, of course, but many. Especially those who considered themselves completely ready both to meet the Messiah and for the Kingdom.

The next, harshest words of Jesus are addressed to... Jews who had believed in Him. Evidently, they believed in some way other than the Lord wanted. Therefore we too need to think: do we believe rightly or not? They proudly declare that they were born free, being children of Abraham, the chosen people. Therefore they do not need freedom, for they are not slaves, and they do not need the truth, for they already know it. They call God their father, but this already follows from their belonging to the holy people; no step is required of them in order to be adopted by the Lord.

And what is most frightening is that all this is characteristic not only of the Jews. Do we not believe in the same way? Do we not consider ourselves chosen people who have freedom and truth in our pocket, and who have long since been God’s own people? If so, why do we need to believe in Jesus? Let us think about this...

Very many people—even those who have not read the Gospel—know Jesus’ words: “The truth will make you free.” At first glance, the meaning of these words seems quite accessible and captivates us with an illusion of permissiveness; yet the longer we reflect on them, the more mysterious they become.

Christ joins in one complex chain of reasoning two concepts that, from our human point of view, are incomparable: truth and sin. It follows that being under the power of sin is incompatible with truth, with the light of God’s righteousness. In other words, sin becomes synonymous with deception. Indeed, when we sin, it most likely seems to us that we are choosing what we like and indulging our desires. But it turns out that sin rules over us: by satisfying our self-will, we submit our will to a terrible, destructive power. We therefore no longer have mastery over ourselves—“everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” And the Lord shows us only one way out: to abide in His word, keep His commandments, and live according to the law of mutual love that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper. Only by making at least one small personal choice in favor of good does a person take a small step toward truth, toward freedom.

How often unbelievers say that Christianity is nothing but problems. And sometimes we believers feel somewhat hurt: wherever we turn, everything seems forbidden... The problem is that in the supposedly convenient system of this world, one very quickly discovers that everything may appear to be permitted, yet nothing is truly within reach. Jesus says it simply: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” It seems that we may allow ourselves anything, but enslaved to sin, we find within ourselves the strength for almost nothing. Our life moves by inertia... Jesus promises to free us from that inertia. What He gives is genuine freedom: the freedom to be ourselves, to make our choices not automatically but truly. He paid for this freedom of ours with His Blood. It is worth asking ourselves: do we value His sacrifice, or do we fail to notice it?

If we separate what the Lord says in today's passage from the discussion with the Jews who do not want to accept His words, we will see an astonishing revelation of what salvation is. The Lord calls us to know the truth, saying that it will make us free. Repeating the same thing in another form, He says that if the Son of God sets us free, then we will be truly free. And we need liberation, because everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

Only a person thinks that he freely chooses to sin; in reality this is genuine slavery, from which only the Son of God can deliver us. It is absolutely necessary to acknowledge this fact, but it is very hard and unpleasant. That is why the Jews argue with Jesus.

All Jews consider themselves "children of Abraham," and every believing Jew is ready to declare loyalty to Moses. So it was in Gospel times, and before that, before Christ came into the world, and today nothing has changed in this respect in Jewish self-understanding. But Jesus seems to call into question things that are obvious to every Jew. He speaks of slavery, and they answer Him that the children of Abraham have never been slaves to anyone.

The point here is not only that Israel really never knew slavery in its classical, Greco-Roman or Egyptian, form, but that everyone who is faithful to the God of Abraham and the Torah of Moses is free by definition. "We are God's children; we are not children of fornication," the people listening to Jesus tell Him. And the point is not that immorality was in principle unknown to Israel (unfortunately, that is far from true), but that everyone who belongs to the people of God is a spiritual child of the God to whom he belongs from birth.

But Jesus is speaking about something else. He has in mind not the external, religious side of the matter, but its spiritual essence. You have no slavery, you are not slaves; but if you are slaves of sin, what freedom can one speak of? You say about yourselves that you are children of Abraham. But Abraham knew how to listen to God and hear Him; he did not place customs and traditions dear to the heart above the word of God, above revelation. And you? You say that your Father is God, Jesus says to His listeners, but He is My Father too; so why do you accept neither Me nor what I say? After all, you have had many chances to be convinced that I came from God. So what then?

The people listening to Jesus have nothing to answer to these questions. And they continue to accuse and doubt. This is what people often do when they have no answer on the substance.

Jesus speaks about slavery to sin and liberation from it. The phrase "...everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" completely sweeps away arguments like the claim of a person who smokes or drinks that he can quit smoking or drinking at any moment. Yes, one can stop sinning, but after committing a sin, a person becomes its slave, and being freed is no simple matter. Only the Son can make us free and help us stop. Abiding in His word and knowing the truth, we become His disciples.

It is striking how Jesus emphasizes His role in this liberation. If a master releases a slave (and an evil master will never do this of his own will), the slave ends up on the street, perhaps without means of support or a roof over his head, and anyone can enslave him again in his weakness (see Matt 12:43-45).

In order to receive true liberation, we need the One who will redeem us from the evil master and bring us into His Father's house. Redeemed by His blood, we become sons instead of slaves, but for this our consent and our striving toward the Son are necessary. And then Jesus will share His dwellings with us (see John 14:2).