Jesus is still in the temple courts teaching those who have gathered around. Many have already turned away because they can’t embrace the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. They knew this little boy growing up and he is not the version of the Messiah they are looking for.
“To the ones who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31 Apparently, those were trigger words for the people who were listening. Trigger words generally shut down the mind and bring about reactions that are not based on the circumstance of the moment, but on a history of assumptions. The people did not see their need to be set free but denied vehemently that they were ever slaves.
Here we are again, stuck in the physical world and denying the spiritual world. And here is Jesus again trying to get us out of our rut and turn our thinking to spiritual things. “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.” John 8:34-38
The argument goes on and Jesus’ words become even stronger. “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. 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. Yet because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:43-47
Now if I was trying to gather more followers, I certainly would not be telling those who showed some promise that they are slaves and liars! But here is Jesus, calling them children of the devil himself. I wonder why his words were so strong here.
Maybe it was because their denial was so strong. They were caught in the belief that because they were descendants of Abraham, they were God’s chosen and they had no need for what Jesus was offering them – eternal life through believing in Jesus Christ was the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world. They couldn’t get out of the physical world and into the spiritual world. Maybe Jesus was trying to shake up their belief systems in order to make room for a new belief system. Jesus was a major turning point in the history of mankind, a major intervention in the world; and they were too comfortable with what they believed to be able to make the shift.
I wonder if I get too comfortable in my belief systems to see and hear God’s interventions in my life 2000 years later. I wonder if I get too caught up in my belief systems inherited from my parents and the churches I grew up in to hear God calling me to his truth, his light, his way for me in this moment. Do I need to be shaken up a bit so I can get past the trigger words and hear the real words of truth?
Oh God, please open my eyes and my ears. Don’t let me miss what you are doing in my life today. I want to be a child of the Father of Truth, not the father of lies. I want to make room for your words of truth. Please, Father, shine your bright light on any lies I am holding to and wake me up to your Truth.
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